1. ENGLAND

2. Maintenance History Etymology and usage Government and politics
Geography
Economics
Culture
Cuisine
Sport
Language
Religion
Education
Transport
National
symbols

3. History Bones and flint tools found in Norfolk and Suffolk show that
Homo erectus lived in what is now England about 700,000 years
ago. At this time, Great Britain was joined to mainland Europe by
a large land bridge. The current position of the English Channel
was a large river flowing westwards and fed by tributaries that
would later become the Thames and the Seine. This area was
greatly depopulated during the period of the last major ice age,
as were other regions of the British Isles. In the subsequent
recolonisation, after the thawing of the ice, genetic research
shows that present-day England was the last area of the British
Isles to be repopulated, about 13,000 years ago. The migrants
arriving during this period contrast with the other of the
inhabitants of the British Isles, coming across lands from the
south east of Europe, whereas earlier arriving inhabitants came
north along a coastal route from Iberia. These migrants would
later adopt the Celtic culture that came to dominate much of
western Europe.
Stonehenge, a Neolithic and
Bronze Age megalithic monument in
Wiltshire, thought to have been erected
c.2000–2500 BC.

4. Etymology and usage
England is named after the Angles, the largest of the Germanic tribes
who settled in England in the 5th and 6th
centuries, and who are believed to have originated in the
peninsula of Angeln, in what is now Denmark and northern
Germany. (The further etymology of this tribe's name remains
uncertain, although a popular theory holds that it need be
sought no further than the word angle itself, and refers to a
fish-hook-shaped region of Holstein.)
The Angles' name has had various spellings. The earliest
known reference to these people is under the Latinised version
Anglii used by Tacitus in chapter 40 of his Germania, written
around 98 AD. He gives no precise indication of their
geographical position within Germania, but states that, with
six other tribes, they worshipped a goddess named Nerthus,
whose sanctuary was situated on "an island in the Ocean".

5. Government and politics
There has not been a Government of England since 1707, when the Acts of Union 1707,
putting into effect the terms of the Treaty of Union that had been agreed the previous year,
joined the Kingdom of England with the Kingdom of Scotland to form the united Kingdom of
Great Britain. Prior to this, England was ruled by a monarch and the Parliament of England.
However, following the establishment of devolved government for Scotland and Wales in
1999, England was left as the only country within the United Kingdom still governed in
matters by the UK government and the UK parliament in London.
Since Westminster is the UK parliament but also legislates on matters that affect England
alone, devolution of national matters to parliament/assemblies in Scotland, Wales, and
Northern Ireland has refocused attention on the anomaly called the West Lothian question.
The "question" is why Scottish and Welsh MPs should continue to be able to vote on
legislation relating only to England while English MPs have no equivalent right to legislate on
devolved matters. This constitutional arrangement resulted in the Labour government only
winning a 2004 vote to impose higher tuition fees on students in England due to the support
of Scottish Labours MPs. This "question" is also exacerbated by the large number of
Scottish MPs in the government, a group sometimes disparagingly called the Scottish mafia,
and by having a Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, who represents a Scottish constituency that
is unaffected by the policy decisions he takes.

6. There are calls for a devolved English parliament, such as by former
minister Frank Field MP, and there is opinion poll evidence of public
support for the idea. Some minor English parties go further, calling for
the dissolution of the Union. However, the approach favoured by the
current Labour government was (on the basis that England is too large
to be governed as a single sub-state entity) to propose the devolution
of power to the Regions of England. Lord Falconer claimed a devolved
English parliament would dwarf the rest of the United Kingdom. The
Conservative Party, on the other hand, are considering proposals to
ban Scottish MPs from voting on English only legislation in
Westminster.
Today, therefore, England's affairs are managed by a combination of
the UK government, the UK parliament, and England-specific quangos
such as English Heritage.

7. Politics
The Palace of Westminster, the seat of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.
A total of 529 of the current 646 MPs in the House of Commons represent English constituencies, which will rise to 533 out of 650 at the next general
election.
At the 2005 General Election, the Conservative Party won more votes than any other single party, with 35.7% of the vote. However, Labour won a majority of England's MPs, having 284 MPs elected, on the basis of just 35.4% of the popular vote with the Conservative Party winning just 194 MPs. The Liberal Democrats were the third party winning 47 MPs with 22.5% of the vote, and the only other MPs elected were one for Respect and a Kidderminster Hospital campaigner.

8. Subdivisions and local government
The upper-tier subdivisions of England are the nine Regions of England or
European Union government office regions. A London
referendum in 1998 on the question of having a directly elected
assembly and directly elected mayor produced a large majority in
favour and it was intended that other regions would also be given
their own elected regional assemblies. However, a rejection by a
referendum in 2004 of a proposed assembly in the North East region
stopped this idea in its tracks. During the campaign, a common
criticism of the proposals was that England did not need "another tier
of bureaucracy".
Below the regional level, London consists of 32 London boroughs and the rest
of England has either county councils and district councils or unitary
authorities. At the lowest level, much of England is divided into parishes
though parishes are prohibited from existing in Greater London.
Manchester Town Hall

9. Geography
England comprises the central and southern two-thirds of the island of Great
Britain, plus offshore islands of which the largest is the Isle of Wight. It is
bordered to the north by Scotland and to the west by Wales. It is closer to
continental Europe than any other part of mainland Britain, divided from
France only by a 24-statute mile (52 km or 21 nautical mile)sea gap. The
Channel Tunnel, near Folkestone, directly links England to mainland
Europe. The English/French border is halfway along the tunnel.
Much of England consists of rolling hills, but it is generally more mountainous in
the north with a chain of low mountains, the Pennines, dividing east and
west. Other hilly areas in the north and Midlands are the Lake District, the
North York Moors, and the Peak District. The approximate dividing line
between terrain types is often indicated by the Tees-Exe line. To the south
of that line, there are larger areas of flatter land, including East Anglia and the
Fens, although hilly areas include the Cotswolds, the Chilterns, and the
North and South Downs.
The largest natural harbour in England is at Poole, on the south-central coast.
Some regard it as the second largest harbour in the world, after Sydney,
Australia, although this fact is disputed (see harbours for a list of other large
natural harbours).

10. A view of Borrowdale from Grayrigg Forest in the Lake District

11. Climate The rolling terrain of the North York Moors
England has a temperate climate, with plentiful rainfall all year
round, although the seasons are quite variable in
temperature. However, temperatures rarely fall below −5 °C
(23 °F) or rise above 30 °C (86 °F). The prevailing wind is
from the south-west, bringing mild and wet weather to
England regularly from the Atlantic Ocean. It is driest in the
east and warmest in the south, which is closest to the
European mainland. Snowfall can occur in winter and early
spring, although it is not that common away from high
ground.
The highest temperature recorded in England is 38.5 °C
(101.3 °F) on 10 August 2003 at Brogdale, near Faversham,
in Kent. The lowest temperature recorded in England is −26.1 °C
(−15.0 °F) on 10 January 1982 at Edgmond, near Newport, in
Shropshire.

12. Major rivers Major conurbations
The River Avon under the Pulteney Bridge in Bath, Somerset
Major rivers
England has a number of important rivers including the Severn (the longest river and largest river basin in Great Britain), Tees, Thames, Trent, Humber, Tyne, Wear, Ribble, Ouse, Mersey, Dee, Aire, Avon and Medway
Major conurbations
A view of Sheffield, one of England's largest cities
London is by far the largest urban area in England and one of the largest and
busiest cities in the world. Other cities, mainly in central and northern England,
are of substantial size and influence. The list of England's largest cities or
urban areas is open to debate because, although the normal meaning of city is "a
continuously built-up urban area", this can be hard to define, particularly because
administrative areas in England often do not correspond with the limits of urban
development, and many towns and cities have, over the centuries, grown to form
complex urban agglomerations. Various definitions of cities can be used. For the official
definition of a UK (and therefore English) city, see City status in the United Kingdom.

13. Capital:London
Official languages: English
Ethnic groups :
90% White, 5.3% South Asian,
2.7% Black, 1.6% Mixed race,
0.7% Chinese, 0.6% Other
Government:Constitutional
monarchy
Monarch:Queen Elizabeth II  
Prime Minister:Gordon Brown MP
Area:130,395 km2
Population: 51,092,000 

14. Economics
England's economy is the among the largest in in the world. It
follows the Anglo-Saxon economic model. England's economy
is the largest of the four economies of the United Kingdom,
with 100 of Europe's 500 largest corporations based in
London.As part of the United Kingdom, England is a major
centre of world economics. One of the world's most highly
industrialised countries, England is a leader in the chemical
and pharmaceutical sectors and in key technical industries,
particularly aerospace, the arms industry and the
manufacturing side of the software industry.
London exports mainly manufactured goods and imports
materials such as petroleum, tea, wool, raw sugar, timber,
butter, metals, and meat.[55] England exported more than
30,000 tons of beef last year, worth around £75,000,000, with
France, Italy, Greece, the Netherlands, Belgium and Spain
being the largest importers of beef from England.

15. The City of London is a major business and commercial centre, ranking alongside New York City and Tokyo as the leading centre of global finance.

16. Culture
England has a vast and influential culture that encompasses elements both old
and new. The modern culture of England is sometimes difficult to identify and
separate clearly from the culture of the wider United Kingdom, so intertwined
are its composite nations. However the English traditional and historic culture
remains distinct albeit with substantial regional differences.
English Heritage is a governmental body with a broad remit of managing the
historic sites, artefacts and environments of England. London's British Museum,
British Library and National Gallery contain the finest collections in the world.
The English have played a significant role in the development of the arts and
sciences. Many of the most important figures in the history of modern western
scientific and philosophical thought were either born in, or at one time or other
resided in, England. Major English thinkers of international significance include
scientists such as Sir Isaac Newton, Francis Bacon, Michael Faraday, Charles
Darwin and New Zealand-born Ernest Rutherford, philosophers such as John
Locke, John Stuart Mill, Herbert Spencer, Bertrand Russell and Thomas Hobbes, and
economists such as David Ricardo, and John Maynard Keynes. Karl Marx wrote most of
his important works, including Das Kapital, while in exile in Manchester, and the team
that developed the first atomic bomb began their work in England, under the wartime
codename Tube Alloys.

17. The British Museum, London.

18. Architecture
The Broadway Tower is a folly, or mock tower in Worcestershire
England has played a significant part in the advancement of
Western architecture. It is home to the most notable medieval
castles and forts in the world, including Warwick Castle, the
Tower of London and Windsor Castle (the largest inhabited
castle in the world and the oldest in continuous occupation). It
is known for its numerous grand country houses, and for its
many medieval and later churches and cathedrals.
English architects have contributed to many styles over the
centuries, including Tudor architecture, English Baroque, the
Georgian style and Victorian movements such as Gothic
Revival. Among the best-known contemporary English
architects are Norman Foster and Richard Rogers.

19. Cuisine
Sunday roast consisting of roast beef, roast potatoes, vegetables and Yorkshire pudding
Although highly regarded in the Middle Ages, English cuisine
later became a source of fun among Britain's French and
European neighbours, being viewed until the late 20th century
as crude and unsophisticated by comparison with continental
tastes. However, with the influx of non-European immigrants
(particularly those of south and east Asian origins) from the
1950s onwards, the English diet was transformed. Indian and
Chinese cuisine in particular were absorbed into British
culinary life, with restaurants and takeaways appearing in
almost every town in Britain, and 'going for an Indian‘
becoming a regular part of British social life. A distinct hybrid
food style composed of dishes of Asian origin, but adapted to
British tastes, emerged and was subsequently exported to
other parts of the world. Many of the well-known Indian
dishes in the western world, such as Tikka Masala and Balti,
are in fact dishes of this sort.

20. Sport Modern sports were codified in England during the 19th century,
England's new Wembley Stadium. It is the most expensive stadium ever built.
The Wimbledon Championships, a Grand Slam tournament, is held in Wimbledon, London every June/July.
Modern sports were codified in
England during the 19th century,
among them cricket, rugby union and
rugby league, football, tennis and
badminton. Of these, association
football, cricket and rugby remain the
country's most popular spectator
sports.

21. Language Places in the world where English is spoken. Countries
where it is the
majority language
are dark blue;
countries where it is
an official but not
are light blue.

22. As its name suggests, the English language,
today spoken by hundreds of millions of
people around the world, originated as the
language of England, where it remains the
principal tongue today (although not officially
designated as such). An Indo-European language in
the Anglo-Frisian branch of the Germanic family, it
is closely related to Scots and the Frisian
languages. As the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms merged
into England, "Old English" emerged; some of its
literature and poetry has survived.

23. Other languages
There is no UK legislation in respect of language use within
England, but English is the only language used in England for
general official business. The only non-Anglic native spoken
language in England is the Cornish language, a Celtic
language spoken in Cornwall, which became extinct in the
19th century but has been revived and is spoken in various
degrees of fluency, currently by about 2,000 people. This has
no official status (unlike Welsh) and is not required for official
use, but is nonetheless supported by national and local
government under the European Charter for Regional or
Minority Languages. Cornwall County Council has produced a
draft strategy to develop these plans. There is, however, no
programme as yet for public bodies to actively promote the
language. Scots is spoken by some adjacent to the Anglo
Scottish Border, and there are over 100,000 Welsh
speakers in London and areas such as Oswestry on the Welsh
border

24. Other languages have also traditionally
Beowulf is one of the oldest surviving epic poems in what is identifiable as a form of the English language.
Other languages have also traditionally
been spoken by minority populations
in England, including Romany. The use
of Yiddish by the Jewish population has
dwindled, although an increasing
number are able to speak Hebrew.

25. Religion Due to immigration in the past decades, there is an
enormous diversity of religious belief in England, as
well as a growing percentage that have no religious
affiliation. Levels of attendance in various
denominations have begun to decline. England is
classed largely as a secular country even allowing
for the following affiliation percentages :
Christianity: 71.6%, Islam: 3.1%, Hindu: 1.1%,
Sikh: 0.7%, Jewish: 0.5%, and Buddhist: 0.3%, No
religion: 14.6%. The EU Eurobarometer poll of
2005 shows that only 38% of people in the UK
believe in a god, while 40% believe in "some sort of
spirit or life force" and 20% do not believe in either.

26. Christianity
Canterbury Cathedral in Kent, the centre of the Church of England and the worldwide Anglican Communion.
Christianity reached England through missionaries from Scotland and
from Continental Europe; the era of St. Augustine (the first
Archbishop of Canterbury) and the Celtic Christian missionaries in
the north (notably St. Aidan and St. Cuthbert). The Synod of Whitby
in 664 ultimately led to the English Church being fully part of Roman
Catholicism. Early English Christian documents surviving from this
time include the 7th century illuminated Lindisfarne Gospels and the
historical accounts written by the Venerable Bede. England has many
early cathedrals, most notably York Minster (1080), Durham Cathedral (1093)
and Salisbury Cathedral (1220), In 1536, the Church was split from Rome
over the issue of the divorce of King Henry VIII from Catherine of Aragon.
The split led to the emergence of a separate ecclesiastical authority, and later
the influence of the Reformation, resulting in the Church of England and
Anglicanism.

27. Education
There is a long history of the promotion of education in England in schools, colleges and
universities. England is home to the oldest existing schools in the English speaking
world: The King's School, Canterbury and The King's School, Rochester, believed to be
founded in the 6th and 7th century respectively. At least eight existing schools in
England were founded in the first millennium. Sherborne School was granted a royal
charter in 1550, but may have been the site of a school since the 8th century. Most of
these ancient institutions are now fee-paying schools, however some state schools are
also very old, most notably Beverley Grammar School founded in 700. The oldest
surviving girls' school in England is Red Maids' School founded in The most famous
schools in England are now fee-paying institutions, including Winchester College
(founded 1382), Eton College (1440), St Paul's School (1509), Rugby School (1567) and
Harrow School (1572).
England is also home to the two oldest universities in the English speaking world: Oxford
University (12th century) and Cambridge University (early 13th century). There are now
more than 90 universities in England.
Primary and secondary education in England is administered by the Department for
Children, Schools and Families. Schools are of two main types: state schools funded
through taxation and free to all, and private schools (also known as "public" or
"independent" schools) funded through fees. Standards are monitored by regular
inspections of state-funded schools by the Office for Standards in Education, and of
private schools by the Independent Schools Inspectorate.
University education is the responsibility of the Department for Innovation, Universities
and Skills. Students attending English Universities now have to pay tuition fees towards
the cost of their education, as do English students who choose to attend a Scottish
university (though Scottish students attending Scottish universities get their fees paid for them by the
Scottish Government.)

28. Christ Church, University of Oxford.
The chapel of King's College, Cambridge University.

29. Transport
The government department overseeing transport is the Department for Transport.
Heathrow Terminal 5. London Heathrow Airport has the most international passenger traffic of any airport in the world.
A Eurostar high speed train.

30. National symbols
Saint George slaying the dragon, by Paolo Uccello, c
The two main symbols of England are the St George's Cross (the English flag), and the Three Lions coat of arms of England.
Other national symbols exist, but have varying degrees of official usage, such as the oak tree and the rose.
England's National Day is St George's Day (Saint George being the patron saint), which is on 23 April

31. St. George's Cross
The St. George's Cross is a red cross on a white background and is the flag of England.
It is believed to have been adopted for the uniform of English soldiers during the
Crusades of the 11th, 12th and 13th centuries.] From about 1277 it became the national
flag of England.
St. George's Cross was originally the flag of Genoa and was adopted by England and the
City of London in 1190 for their ships entering the Mediterranean to benefit from the protection of the
powerful Genoese fleet. The maritime Republic of Genoa was rising and going to become, with its rival
Venice, one of the most important powers in the world. The English Monarch paid an annual tribute to
the Doge of Genoa for this privilege. The cross of St George would become the official Flag of England.
A red cross acted as a symbol for many Crusaders in the 12th and 13th centuries. It became associated
with St. George and England, along with other countries and cities (such as Georgia, Milan and the
Republic of Genoa), which claimed him as their patron saint and used his cross as a banner. It remained
in national use until 1707, when the Union Flag (also known as the Union Jack, especially at sea) which
English and Scottish ships had used at sea since 1606, was adopted for purposes to unite the whole of
Great Britain under a common flag. The flag of England no longer has much of an official role, but it is
widely flown by Church of England properties and at sporting events.
Until recently, the flag was not commonly flown in England with the British Union Flag being used
instead. This was certainly evident at the 1966 football World Cup when English fans predominantly flew
the latter. However, since devolution in the United Kingdom, the St George Cross has experienced a
growth in popularity and is now the predominant flag used in English sporting events.

32. The flag of England is the St George's Cross
The flag of England is the St George's Cross. The red cross appeared as an emblem of England during the Middle Ages and the Crusades and is one of the earliest known emblems representing England.

33. Three Lions The coat of arms of England are described as gules, three
lions passant guardant or[citation needed]. The earliest
surviving record of their use was by Richard I ("Richard the
Lionheart") in the late 12th century.
Since union with Scotland and Northern Ireland, the arms of
England are no longer used on their own; instead they form a
part of the conjoined Royal coat of arms of the United
Kingdom. However, both the Football Association and the
England and Wales Cricket Board use logos based on the three
lions. In recent years, it has been common to see banners of
the arms flown at English football matches, in the same way
the Lion Rampant is flown in Scotland.
In 1996, Three Lions was the official song of the England football
team for the 1996 European Football Championship, which were held
in England.

34. Rose
The Tudor rose is the national floral emblem of England, and
was adopted as a national emblem of England around the time
of the Wars of the Roses.
The rose is used in a variety of contexts in its use for
England's representation. The Rose of England is a Royal
Badge, and is a Tudor, or half-red-half-white rose,
symbolising the end of the Wars of the Roses and the
subsequent marriage between the House of Lancaster and the
House of York. This symbolism is reflected in the Royal coat of
arms of the United Kingdom and the crest of the FA. However,
the rose of England is often displayed as a red rose (which
also symbolises Lancashire), such as the badge of the England
national rugby union team. A white rose (which also
symbolises Yorkshire) is also used on different occasions.

35. The presentation is done by Vorobieva Irina
11-1 class