England

ENGLAND = =
 * [[image:studiesinenglishlanguage/england_flag_01.gif width="331" height="181"]]

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England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental Europe. Most of England comprises the central and southern part of the island of Great Britain in the North Atlantic. The country also includes over 100 smaller islands such as the Isles of Scilly and the Isle of Wight. The area now called England was first inhabited by modern humans during the Upper Palaeolithic period, but it takes its name from the Angles, one of the Germanic tribes who settled during the 5th and 6th centuries. As part of the United Kingdom, the basic political system in England is a constitutional monarchy and parliamentary system.
 * 1) ** INFORMATION ABOUT ENGLAND **


 * **HISTORY **


 * The earliest known evidence of human presence in the area now known as England was that of // Homo antecessor //, dating to approximately 780,000 years ago.The Beaker culturearrived around 2500 BC, introducing drinking and food vessels constructed from clay, as well as vessels used as reduction pots to smelt copper ores. It was during this time that major Neolithic monuments such as Stonehenge and Avebury were constructed. || [[image:studiesinenglishlanguage/STONE.jpg]] ||

The Romans invaded Britain in AD 43 during the reign of Emperor Claudius. Roman military withdrawals left Britain open to invasion by pagan, seafaring warriors from north-western continental Europe, chiefly the Angles, Saxons and Jutes. During the settlement period the lands ruled by the incomers seem to have been fragmented into numerous tribal territories, but by the 7th century, when substantial evidence of the situation again becomes available, these had coalesced into roughly a dozen kingdoms including Northumbria, Mercia, Wessex, East Anglia, Essex, Kent and Sussex. A dispute over the succession to Edward led to the Norman conquest of England in 1066, accomplished by an army led by Duke William of Normandy. During the Tudor period, the Renaissancereached England through Italian courtiers, who reintroduced artistic, educational and scholarly debate from classical antiquity. During this time England began to develop naval skills, and exploration to the West intensified. ==== During late Modern and contemporary age, London became the largest and most populous metropolitan area in the world during the Victorian era, and trade within the British Empire—as well as the standing of the British military and navy—was prestigious. ====


 * ===LANDSCAPE ===

Geographically England includes the central and southern two-thirds of the island of Great Britain, plus such offshore islands as the Isle of Wight and the Isles of Scilly. It is bordered by two other countries of the United Kingdom—to the north by Scotland and to the west by Wales. England is closer to the European continent than any other part of mainland Britain. It is separated from Franceby a 34-kilometre (21 mi) sea gap, though the two countries are connected by the Channel Tunnel near Folkestone. England also has shores on the Irish Sea, North Sea and Atlantic Ocean.


 * ** A “TYPICAL" ENGLISHMAN **

The most common image people have of a typical Englishman is a man wearing a bowler hat and reading the Times newspaper.
 * ** RELIGION **

christianity is the most widely practiced and declared religion in England. The AnglicanChurch of England is the established church of England holding a special constitutional position for the United Kingdom. After Christianity, religions with the most adherents are Islam, Hinduism, Sikhism, Judaism, Buddhism, the Bahá'í Faith, the Rastafari movement and Neopaganism. There are also organisations which promote irreligion, atheist humanism, and secularism.
 * ** SPORTS **

Sport plays a prominent role in English life. Popular team sports in England are association football, cricket, rugby union and rugby league. Major individual sports include badminton, athletics, tennis, golf, motorsport and horseracing. A number of modern sports were codified in England during the nineteenth century, among them cricket, rugby union, rugby league, football, tennis and badminton.
 * ** CUISINE **

Traditional meals have ancient origins, such as bread and cheese, roasted and stewed meats, meat and game pies, boiled vegetables and broths, and freshwater and saltwater fish. Other meals, such as fish and chips, which were once urban street food eaten from newspaper with salt and malt vinegar, and pies and sausages with mashed potatoes, onions, and gravy, are now matched in popularity by curries from the Bangladesh and Pakistan, and stir-fries based on Chinese and Thai cooking. Italian cuisine and French cuisine are also now widely adapted. Britain was also quick to adopt the innovation of fast food from the United States, and continues to absorb culinary ideas from all over the world while at the same time rediscovering its roots in sustainable rural agriculture.
 * ** CELEBRATIONS AND HOLIDAYS **

Holidays falling on a weekend are celebrated on the Monday following. If two consecutive holidays fall on a Saturday and Sunday, they are observed on the Monday and Tuesday following. Non-holiday observances: February 14 __Valentine's Day,__ April 1 April Fool's Day, April 23 St. George's Day (Patron Saint of England), November 5 Guy Fawkes' Day, November 11 Remembrance Day (2 minutes silence at 11 a.m.), Weekends - Saturday,Sunday.
 * ** Dates 2012 ** || ** Occasion ** ||  ||
 * January 1 || New Year's Day ||
 * April 6 || Good Friday ||
 * April 9 || Easter Monday ||
 * May 7 || Early May Bank Holiday ||
 * June 4 || Spring Bank Holiday ||
 * August 27 || Summer Bank Holiday ||
 * December 25 || Christmas Day ||
 * December 26 || Boxing Day ||  ||


 * ** FOLK MUSIC OF ENGLAND **


 * [[image:studiesinenglishlanguage/LN.jpg width="285" height="214"]] || Folk music of England refers to various types of traditionally based music, often contrasted with courtly, classical and later commercial music, for which evidence exists from the later medieval period. It has been preserved and transmitted orally, through print and later through recordings. The term is used to refer to English traditional music and music composed, or delivered, in a traditional style. English folk music has produced or contributed to several important musical genres, including sea shanties, jigs, hornpipes and dance music, such as that used for Morris dancing. It can be seen as having distinct regional and local variations in content and style, particularly in areas more removed from the cultural and political centres of the English state, as in Northumbria, or the West Country.

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