England

Teacher: Petrisor Adina

School: C.N.E.T
Group formed of:
Balan Andrei, Floroiu Denisa,
Iovita Cristinel, Zestroiu
Adriana

1. Introduction
England (in Latin, Anglia), country and constituent

part of the island of Great Britain, comprising, with

the principality of Wales, the principal division of
the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern
Ireland. England occupies all of the island east of
Wales and south of Scotland, another country and
division of the United Kingdom. United as an
independent monarchy in the 10th century,
England in time achieved political control over the
rest of the island, all the British Isles, and vast
sections of the world, becoming the nucleus of one
of the largest empires in history. The capital,
largest city, and chief port of England is London,
with a population of 6,967,500 (1994 estimate). It
is also the capital of the United Kingdom, and the
site of the headquarters of the Commonwealth of
Nations.

2. Geography
England is very roughly triangular in shape, with its

apex at the mouth of the River Tweed on the northeastern border with Scotland. The eastern side,
bounded by the North Sea, extends generally southeast, via East Anglia, to the North Foreland in Kent,
the northern extremity of the chalk uplands in southeastern England called the Downs. The western side
of the triangle extends generally south-west from the
mouth of the Tweed along the border with Scotland,
via the Irish Sea coast, the border with Wales, and
the Atlantic Ocean coast to Lands End, the
westernmost extremity of England and of the island
of Great Britain. The northern frontier with Scotland
extends from the Solway Firth in the west along the
Cheviot Hills to the mouth of the Tweed on the east.
The base of the triangle fronts the English Channel
and the Strait of Dover along the south-western and
southern coast of England.

The total area of England is 130,423 sq km

(50,356 sq mi), equivalent to 57 per cent of the

area of Great Britain and 54 per cent of the area of
the United Kingdom. This total includes the region
of the Scilly Isles, located south-west of Lands
End in the Atlantic Ocean; the Isle of Wight,
located off the southern coast; and the Isle of Man,
located in the Irish Sea between England and
Northern Ireland.
England's terrain mostly comprises low hills and
plains, especially in central and southern England.
However, there are uplands in the north (for
example, the mountainousLake District,Pennines,
andYorkshire Dales) and in the south west (for
example,Dartmoorand theCotswolds).

The former capital of England

wasWinchesteruntil replaced byLondonin

the 12th century. Today London is the
largest metropolitan area in the United
Kingdom and the largest urban zone in
theEuropean Unionby most measures.

3. History

The area now called England was first inhabited by

modern humans during the Upper Palaeolithicperiod,

but it takes its name from theAngles, one of the
Germanictribes who settled during the 5th and 6th
centuries. England became a unified state in 927 AD,
and since theAge of Discovery, which began during
the 15th century, has had a significant cultural and
legal impact on the wider world.TheEnglish
language, theAnglican Church, andEnglish law the
basis for thecommon lawlegal systems of many
other countries around the world developed in
England, and the country'sparliamentary systemof
government has been widely adopted by other
nations.[5]TheIndustrial Revolutionbegan in 18thcentury England, transforming its society into the
world's first industrialised nation. [6]

TheKingdom of England whichafter 1284included

Wales was asovereign stateuntil 1 May 1707,

when theActs of Unionput into effect the terms
agreed in theTreaty of Union the previous year,
resulting in a political union with theKingdom of
Scotlandto create theKingdom of Great Britain.In
1801, Great Britain was united with theKingdom of
Irelandthrough anotherAct of Unionto become
theUnited Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. In
1922 theIrish Free Stateseceded from the United
Kingdom, leading to the latter beingrenamedthe
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern
Ireland.
A prolonged agricultural depression in Britain at the
end of the 19th century, together with the
introduction in the 20th century of increasingly
heavy levels of taxation on inherited wealth, put an
end to agricultural land as the primary source of
wealth for the upper classes.

Many estates were sold or broken up, and

this trend was accelerated by the

introduction of protection for agricultural
tenancies, encouraging outright sales, from
the mid-20th century.
Following a process ofdecolonisationin the
20th century the vast majority of the empire
became independent; however, its cultural
impact is widespread and deep in many
countries of the present day.
England, as part of the UK, joined
theEuropean Economic Communityin 1973,
which became theEuropean Unionin 1993.

3. Science
Prominent English figures from the field of science and

mathematics include SirIsaac Newton- who is one of the

most influential figures in thehistory of science,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
WilesandRichard Dawkins.
Inventions and discoveries of the English include: thejet
engine, the first industrialspinning machine,the first
computerand the firstmodern computer, theWorld
Wide Webalong withHTML, the first successful
humanblood transfusion, the motorisedvacuum
cleaner, thelawn mower, theseat belt,

thehovercraft, theelectric motor,steam

engines, and theories such as the Darwinian

theory ofevolutionandatomic theory. Newton
developed the ideas ofuniversal
gravitation,Newtonian mechanics,
andinfinitesimal calculus, andRobert
Hookehis eponymously namedlaw of
elasticity. Other inventions include the iron
plate railway, thethermosiphon,tarmac,
therubber band, themousetrap,"cat's
eye"road marker, joint development of
thelight bulb, steamlocomotives, the
modernseed drilland many modern
techniques and technologies used inprecision
engineering.

4. Cuisine
England is known for its bland cuisine. Traditional middle-

class notions of diet put meats at the heart of the main

meal, which usually was eaten at midday. Along with this
main course, there might be a dish such as a meat
casserole, and fish also was consumed. Heavy sauces,
gravies, soups and stews or puddings (savory and sweet),
and pasties and pies also were eaten. Vegetables
included potatoes and carrots, turnips and cabbage, and
salad vegetables. Fruit was also part of the diet, though in
small proportions. Lighter meals included variations of
the sandwich. Breakfast foods ranged from hot cereals to
tea, toast, and marmalade, to steak, eggs, and kidneys.
These foods were not available to most people before
World War II. The rural poor, for example, ate a diet based
on cheese and bread, with bacon eaten a few times a
week,, supplemented by fresh milk

if available, cabbage, and vegetables if a

garden was kept. All the classes drank tea;

beer was drunk by the working classes and
other alcoholic beverages were drunk by
the middle and upper classes.

5.Literature
The elaboration of an expressly English literature

began in the medieval period withGeoffrey

Chaucerand continued into the Renaissance and then
into the Restoration with William Shakespeare, John
Milton, and John Dryden. During those periods, drama
and poetry were the major literary forms, with popular
literature shading into song, cartoons, and storytelling.
The eighteenth century is notable for the emergence
of new literary forms such as the novel, the true crime
tale, light opera, magazines, and new oral traditions
associated with England's port districts. Regionalized
music and storytelling from this era still provide the
foundation for much currently performed folk music in
England.

The nineteenth century is the age of the Romantics and

the Victorians. Artists in both movements were social

realists, with the Romantics known for recovering older
forms and the Victorians known for highly elaborate
language. Popular literature offered the penny dreadful
and a profusion of magazines that published novels and
other literary work serially. New oral traditions sprang
up around labor protest movements such as those of
the Luddites and Chartists.
In the twentieth century, writers born in England shared
the stage with Commonwealth writers such as Derek
Walcott, V.S. Naipaul, and Nadine Gordimer and with
other non-English writers such as James Joyce, Dylan
Thomas, and Alice Walker. The twentieth century also
saw the continuance of the phenomenon of Anglicized
migr writers such as T. S. Eliot. Edwardians such asE.
M. Forsterand moderns such asD. H. Lawrenceand
Virginia Woolf dominated the period 19001950.

 Since World War II, the efforts of writers to stretch the

bounds of genres expanded. Poetry is now performed in

the form of hip-hop music or at poetry slams, while
written poetry may be rooted in jazz and has lost
prominence. Drama has flourished, as have filmed
versions of classic and contemporary works. Novels focus
on the everyday and the autobiographical, a reflection in
part of women's influence on literature.
Famous works of literature include: Much Ado About
Nothing, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Romeo and
Juliet, Othello (William Shakespeare), Robinson
Crusoe (Daniel Defoe), Gulliver's Travels (Jonathan
Swift), Great Expectations, Oliver Twist (Charles
Dickens), Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice
(Jane Austen), Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte), Wuthering
Heights ( Emily Bronte), Pygmalion (George Bernard
Shaw), The Picture Of Dorian Grey (Oscar Wilde),
Lady Chatterley's Lover, Women in Love ( D.H.
Lawrence),

Mrs. Dalloway, Orlando ( Virginia Woolf),

Lord Of The Flies(William Golding),

1984( George Orwell), A Clockwork
Orange( Anthony Burgess), The Lord Of
The Rings Series(J.R.R. Tolkien), The
Harry Potter Series(J.K.Rowling) and
others.

6. Music
The traditionalfolk music of Englandis centuries old

and has contributed to several genres prominently;

mostlysea shanties,jigs, hornpipesanddance music.
In the field ofpopular music, many English bands and
solo artists have been cited as the most influential
and best-selling musicians of all time. Acts such
asThe Beatles,Led Zeppelin,Pink Floyd,Elton
John,Queen,Rod StewartandThe Rolling Stonesare
among the highest selling recording artists in the
world.Many musical genres have origins in (or strong
associations with) England, such asBritish
invasion,progressive rock,hard rock,Mod,glam
rock,heavy metal,Britpop,indie rock,gothic
rock,shoegazing,acid house,garage,trip hop,drum
and bassanddubstep.

7.Personalities
A list of famous english people include: Queen

Elizabeth II, Winston Churchill, Princess Diana of

Wales, Margaret Thatcher, William Shakespeare, Isaac
Newton, Oliver Cromwell, John Lennon, Queen Victoria,
Horatio Nelson, Captain James Cook, Alan Turing,
Queen Elizabeth I, King Henry VIII, Stephen Hawking,
Charles Dickens, Jane Austen, King Arthur, Florence
Nightingale, Freddie Mercury, Julie Andrews, Paul
McCartney, Charlie Chaplin, J.K. Rowling, David
Beckham, Naomi Campbell, Kate Moss, George
Michael, Laurence Olivier, Lewis Hamilton, Anthony
Hopkins, Mick Jagger, Elton John, Kate Winslet, Amy
Winehouse, Stephen Fry, David Bowie, Colin Firth,
Emma Watson, Michael Caine, Audrey Hepburn,
Elizabeth Taylor, Kate Middleton, Keira Knightley,
Alfred Hitchcock,Jamie Oliver amongst others.