Landscape and rivers

Wastwater in the Lake District

The ports of London, Liverpool, and Newcastle lie on the tidal rivers Thames, Mersey and Tyne respectively. At 354 kilometres (220 mi), the Severn is the longest river flowing through England.There are many lakes in England; the largest is Windermere, within the aptly named Lake District.

The Pennines, known as the "backbone of England", are the oldest range of mountains in the country, The highest point in England, at 978 metres (3,209 ft), is Scafell Pike in Cumbria.

Science and technology

Sir Isaac Newton is one of the most influential figures in the history of science.

Famous people:Sir Isaac Newton, Michael Faraday, Robert Hooke, Robert Boyle, Joseph Priestley, J. J. Thomson, Charles Babbage, Charles Darwin, Stephen Hawking, Christopher Wren, Alan Turing, Francis Crick, Joseph Lister, Tim Berners-Lee, Paul Dirac, Andrew Wiles and Richard Dawkins. Famous English engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel, best known for the creation of the Great Western

Railway, a series of famous steamships, and numerous important bridges, hence revolutionising public transport and modern-day engineering.

Inventions and discoveries of the English include: the jet engine, the first industrial spinning machine, the first computer and the first modern computer, the World Wide Web along with HTML, the first successful human blood transfusion, the motorised vacuum cleaner, the lawn mower, the seat belt, the hovercraft, the electric motor, steam engines, and theories such as the Darwinian theory of evolution and atomic theory. Newton developed the ideas of universal gravitation, Newtonian mechanics, and infinitesimal calculus, and Robert Hooke his eponymously named law of elasticity.

Population

With over 53 million inhabitants, England is by far the most populous country of the United Kingdom.

Language

There is no legislation mandating an official language for England,but English is the only language used for official business. Despite the country's relatively small size, there are many distinct regional accents.

Religion

Canterbury Cathedral, seat of the Archbishop of Canterbury

Christianity is the most widely practised religion in England, and today about 59% of English people it Christians.The largest form practised in the present day is Anglicanism, The religion regards itself as both Catholic and Reformed.

There are High Church and Low Church traditions, and some Anglicans regard themselves as Anglo-Catholics. The monarch of the United Kingdom is a titular leader of the Church, acting as its Supreme Governor. It has the status of established church in England. There are around 26 million adherents to the Church of England and they form part of the Anglican Communion with the Archbishop of Canterbury acting as the symbolic worldwide head. Many cathedrals and parish churches are historic buildings of significant architectural importance, such as Westminster Abbey, York Minster, Durham Cathedral and Salisbury Cathedral.

The second largest Christian practice is the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church.

A form of Protestantism known as Methodism is the third largest Christian practice and grew out of Anglicanism through John Wesley. There are other non-conformist minorities, such as Baptists, Quakers, Congregationalists, Unitarians and The Salvation Army.

Especially since the 1950s, Eastern religions from the former British colonies have begun to appear, due to foreign immigration; Islam is the most common of these, accounting for around 3.1% of the population in England.Hinduism

Education

Senate House, the administrative centre of the University of London

The Department for Education is the government department responsible for issues affecting people in England up to the age of 19, including education.[218] State-run and -funded schools are attended by approximately 93% of English schoolchildren.[219] Of these, a minority are faith schools, primarily Church of England or Catholic. Between three and four is nursery school, 4 and 11 is primary school, and 11 to 16 is secondary school. After finishing compulsory education, pupils take a GCSE examination, following which they may decide to continue in further education for two years. Further education colleges, such as sixth form colleges are either separate or attached to the secondary school institution and prepare students to sit A-Level examinations, for higher education at universities.

Around 7.2% of English school children attend private schools, which are funded by private sources.

King's College, University of Cambridge

Students normally enter universities in the United Kingdom from 18 onwards, where they study for an academic degree. There are over 90 universities England.

England's universities include some of the highest-ranked universities in the world; the University of Cambridge, Imperial College London, the University of Oxford and University College London are all ranked in the global top 10 in the 2010 QS World University Rankings.

The King's School, Canterbury and King's School, Rochester are the oldest schools in the English-speaking world. Many of England's better-known schools, such as Winchester College, Eton College, St Paul's School, Rugby School, and Harrow School are fee-paying institutions.

Cuisine

Since the Early Modern Period the food of England has historically been characterised by its simplicity of approach and a reliance on the high quality of natural produce.

Apple pie has been consumed in England since the Middle Ages.

Traditional examples of English food include the Sunday roast, featuring a roasted joint (usually beef, lamb, chicken or pork) served with assorted vegetables, Yorkshire pudding, stuffing and gravy. Other prominent meals include fish and chips and the full English breakfast (generally consisting of bacon, sausages, grilled tomatoes, fried bread, black pudding, baked beans, mushrooms, and eggs). Various meat pies are consumed such as steak and kidney pie, steak and ale pie, cottage pie, pork pie (usually eaten cold) and the Cornish Pasty.

Date: 2015-12-24; view: 781