An Introduction to England

Hello there! How do you do?

In this blog, I will be bringing you into the world of England and everything English. Some topics discussed includes the indigeneous groups, cultures, traditions, languages and more! I hope you will enjoy reading and will learn more about England after your journey here.

Note: References are right at the end.

To begin with, here is an overview of the background and some facts about England.



Map of England and other countries in Great Britain




Country Name: England

The name "England" is derived from the Old English name ‘Engla land’, which means "land of the Angles". The Angles were one of the Germanic tribes that settled in Great Britain during the Early Middle Ages.



Flag of England





Country Flag:



Union Flag



Two common flags used are the Flag of England and the Union Flag (Flag of Great Britain).



The Union Flag was created with the Flag of England overlying the Flag of Scotland.









 

Location: Englad is located on the right side of Europe in the World Map. It is part of Great Britain and United Kingdom (UK). As it is an island, surrounding it are waters of the Irish Sea, North Sea and Atlantic Ocean.

Climate: As it is located in the proximity of the Atlantic Ocean, England has a temperate maritime climate. Temperatures are not much lower than 0 °C in winter and not much higher than 32 °C in summer. The weather is usually damp.

Coldest months are January and February, the latter particularly on the English coast, while July is normally the warmest month. Months with mild to warm weather with least rainfall are May, June, September and October.

Capital: London (the European Union's largest city with a population of 7 million).

Population: 51,446,000 (estimated in 2010) A majority of the English people are British citizens.

Ethnic Groups: Based on data in 2007, there are Whites (88.2%), Asian/Asian British (5.7%), Black/Black British (2.8%), Mixed (1.7%), Chinese including British Chinese (0.8%), Others (0.7%).

Indigenous Tribes: There were many native tribes in England in the past. However, few remain today. Some tribes include the earlier Britons (or Brythons), the Germanic tribes that settled in England such as Angles, Saxons and Jutes (who founded what was to become England from the Old English Englaland), Vikings and Normans.

The Votadini were a large tribe that spread from Scotland to England.

The Deceangli, the Ordovices and the Silures were the three main tribe groups who lived in the mountains of what is today called Wales.

Other Information:
The word ‘England’ is often confused with the words ‘Great Britain’ and ‘United Kingdom’.
Correctly speaking, Great Britain consists of England, Wales, Scotland and all offshore islands (e.g. Isle of Wight, the Isles of Scilly, the Hebrides, Orkney and Shetlands). United Kingdom consists of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

England’s healthcare system has been commended and studied by many countries, for example Singapore.

The London Heathrow Airport (LHR) has more international passenger traffic than any other airports in the world.