Portal:England

The England portal

Flag of England	Royal Standard of England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. England shares a land border with Scotland to the north and another land border with Wales to the west, and is surrounded by the North Sea to the east, the English Channel to the south, the Celtic Sea to the south-west, and the Irish Sea to the west. Continental Europe lies to the south-east, and Ireland to the west. In the 2021 census, the population was 56,490,048. London is both the largest city and the capital.

The area now called England was first inhabited by modern humans during the Upper Paleolithic. It takes its name from the Angles, a Germanic tribe who settled during the 5th and 6th centuries. England became a unified state in the 10th century and has had extensive cultural and legal impact on the wider world since the Age of Discovery, which began during the 15th century. The Kingdom of England, which included Wales after 1535, ceased to be a separate sovereign state on 1 May 1707, when the Acts of Union brought into effect a political union with the Kingdom of Scotland, forming the Kingdom of Great Britain.

England is the origin of the English language, the English legal system (which served as the basis for the common law systems of many other countries), association football, and the Anglican branch of Christianity; its parliamentary system of government has been widely adopted by other nations. The Industrial Revolution began in 18th-century England, transforming its society into the world's first industrialised nation. England is home to the two oldest universities in the English-speaking world: the University of Oxford, founded in 1096, and the University of Cambridge, founded in 1209. Both universities are ranked amongst the most prestigious in the world.

England's terrain chiefly consists of low hills and plains, especially in the centre and south. Upland and mountainous terrain is mostly found in the north and west, including Dartmoor, the Lake District, the Pennines, and the Shropshire Hills. The London metropolitan area has a population of over 15 million as of 2025, representing the United Kingdom's largest metropolitan area. England's population of 56.3 million comprises 84% of the population of the United Kingdom, largely concentrated around London, the South East, and conurbations in the Midlands, the North West, the North East, and Yorkshire, which each developed as major industrial regions during the 19th century. (Full article...)

Refresh with new selections below (purge)

Featured article - show another

This is a Featured article, which represents some of the best content on English Wikipedia..

The Darnley Portrait, c. 1575

Elizabeth I (7 September 1533 – 24 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. She was the last and longest reigning monarch of the House of Tudor. Her eventful reign, and its effect on history and culture, gave name to the Elizabethan era.

Elizabeth was the only surviving child of Henry VIII and his second wife, Anne Boleyn. When Elizabeth was two years old, her parents' marriage was annulled, her mother was executed, and Elizabeth was declared illegitimate. Henry restored her to the line of succession when she was 10. After Henry's death in 1547, Elizabeth's younger half-brother Edward VI ruled until his own death in 1553, bequeathing the crown to a Protestant cousin, Lady Jane Grey, and ignoring the claims of his two half-sisters, Mary and Elizabeth, despite statutes to the contrary. Edward's will was quickly set aside and the Catholic Mary became queen, deposing Jane. During Mary's reign, Elizabeth was imprisoned for nearly a year on suspicion of supporting Protestant rebels. (Full article...)

List of Featured articles

Selected article - show another

A view over Dover from the castle

Dover (/ˈdoʊvər/ DOH-vər) is a town and major ferry port in Kent, England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at 33 kilometres (21 mi) from Cap Gris-Nez in France. It lies southeast of Canterbury and east of Maidstone. The town is the administrative centre of the Dover District and home of the Port of Dover.

Archaeological finds have revealed that the area has always been a focus for peoples entering and leaving Britain. The name derives from the River Dour that flows through it. (Full article...)

List of selected articles

General images

The following are images from various England-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1Durham Cathedral, dating from 1093 (from Culture of England)
Image 2Victory in Europe Day celebrations in London, 8 May 1945 (from History of England)
Image 3Frontispiece of Bede's Life of St Cuthbert, showing King Æthelstan presenting a copy of the book to the saint himself. c. 930 (from History of England)
Image 4Portrait of the Royal Tudors. At left, Henry VII, with Prince Arthur behind him, then Prince Henry (later Henry VIII), and Prince Edmund, who did not survive early childhood. To the right is Elizabeth of York, with Princess Margaret, then Princess Elizabeth who didn't survive childhood, Princess Mary, and Princess Katherine, who died shortly after her birth. (from History of England)
Image 5Francis Bacon led the advancement of both natural philosophy and the scientific method and his works remained deeply influential in the Scientific Revolution. (from Culture of England)
Image 6The Billingsgate Fish Market in London in the early 19th century (from History of England)
Image 7Kingdoms and tribes in Britain, c. AD 600 (from History of England)
Image 8The Ruthwell Cross, 8th century AD (from History of England)
Image 9Canterbury Cathedral nave, 1377 (from History of England)
Image 10View of the ramparts of the hillfort of Maiden Castle (450 BC), as they look today (from History of England)
Image 11A pint of real ale (from Culture of England)
Image 12The Staffordshire Hoard is the largest hoard of Anglo-Saxon gold and silver metalwork yet found^[update]. It consists of almost 4,600 items and metal fragments. (from Culture of England)
Image 13Maps of territory held by Royalists (red) and Parliamentarians (green) during the English Civil War (1642–1645) (from History of England)
Image 14The Royal College of Music is the oldest conservatoire in the UK, established by royal charter in 1882. (from Culture of England)
Image 15The White Tower of the Tower of London, built in 1078 (from History of England)
Image 16Durham Cathedral. The Norman cathedral was built 1093–1133 (from History of England)
Image 17The Great Fire London, 1666. (from History of England)
Image 18Whitehall by Francis Dodd (1920) displaying the Palace of Westminster (from Culture of England)
Image 19A traditional Punch and Judy booth, at Swanage, Dorset, England (from Culture of England)
Image 20Christopher Lee (seen here as Dracula in 1958) starred in many of Hammer's British horror films. (from Culture of England)
Image 21Elizabeth I (from History of England)
Image 22King Charles II (from History of England)
Image 23Interior of Christ Church Cathedral in Oxford (from Culture of England)
Image 24Jack In the Green, a traditional English folk custom being celebrated in Hastings Old Town, known for its many pre-Victorian buildings. (from Culture of England)
Image 25Flatford Mill ('Scene on a Navigable River') by John Constable, c. 1816 (from Culture of England)
Image 26Remains of Hadrian's Wall (from History of England)
Image 27The Roman Baths in Bath; a temple was constructed on the site between 60–70CE in the first few decades of Roman Britain. (from Culture of England)
Image 28The Procession Picture, c. 1600, showing Elizabeth I borne along by her courtiers (from History of England)
Image 29Sir Isaac Newton is regarded as one of the most influential scientists of all time and as a key figure in the Scientific Revolution. (from Culture of England)
Image 30William Hogarth's depiction of a scene from Shakespeare's The Tempest is an example of how English literature influenced English painting in the 18th century. (from Culture of England)
Image 31The first general laws against child labour, the Factory Acts, were passed in Britain in the first half of the 19th century. Children younger than nine were not allowed to work and the work day of youth under the age of 18 was limited to twelve hours. (from History of England)
Image 32Folio 27r from the Lindisfarne Gospels, c. 720 AD (from History of England)
Image 33The epic poem Beowulf, set in 6th century Scandinavia, composed c. 700–1000 AD. (from History of England)
Image 34England in 878 (from History of England)
Image 35Bronze coins of Cunobelin, called "King of the Britons" by Suetonius. 1–42 AD. (from History of England)
Image 36Stonehenge, erected in several stages from c.3000–2500 BC (from History of England)
Image 37First English Civil War at the Battle of Marston Moor, 1644 (from History of England)
Image 38King Charles II, a patron of the arts and sciences, supported the Royal Society, a scientific group whose early members included Robert Hooke, Robert Boyle and Sir Isaac Newton. (from Culture of England)
Image 39Stinking Bishop cheese (from Culture of England)
Image 40Tomb of Richard I of England and Isabella of Angoulême (from History of England)
Image 41King Charles I, who was beheaded in 1649 (from History of England)
Image 42The Lady Chapel of Wells Cathedral (from Culture of England)
Image 43Depiction of the Battle of Hastings (1066) on the Bayeux Tapestry (from History of England)
Image 44The Fairy Ring by William Holmes Sullivan, c.1908 (from Culture of England)
Image 45King James I of England (from History of England)
Image 46Chester, c. 1880 (from History of England)
Image 47The wizard Merlin features as a character in many works of fiction, including the BBC series Merlin. (from Culture of England)
Image 48Sir Francis Drake's voyage 1585–86 (from History of England)
Image 49Gold torc from Snettisham, 70 BC (from History of England)
Image 50Canterbury Cathedral is the seat of the Primate of All England, the Archbishop of Canterbury, the most senior bishop of the Church of England. (It was the property of the Roman Catholic Church before the English Reformation.) (from Culture of England)
Image 51The Spanish Armada and English ships in August 1588, (unknown, 16th-century, English School) (from History of England)
Image 52Anglo-Saxon king with his Witan. Biblical scene in the Old English Hexateuch (11th century) (from History of England)
Image 53Portrait of Edward VI, c. 1550 (from History of England)
Image 54One of only four surviving exemplifications of the 1215 text, Cotton MS. Augustus II. 106, property of the British Library (from History of England)
Image 55Countries where English is natively spoken or has official status (from Culture of England)
Image 56Shoulder clasp from Sutton Hoo, 625 AD (from History of England)
Image 57King Henry VIII (from History of England)
Image 58Procession of characters from Shakespeare's plays (from Culture of England)
Image 59National performing arts are held annually at the Royal Albert Hall, as well as The Proms during the summer. (from Culture of England)
Image 60Alfred Hitchcock is often regarded as the greatest British filmmaker, and was described as "a straightforward middle-class Englishman who just happened to be an artistic genius." (from Culture of England)
Image 61The Alfred Jewel, late 9th century (from History of England)
Image 62First played in 1877, the Wimbledon Championships is the oldest tennis tournament in the world. (from Culture of England)
Image 63England playing Australia at Lord's Cricket Ground in the 2009 Ashes series. After winning the 2019 Cricket World Cup, England became the first country to win the World Cups in football, rugby union and cricket. (from Culture of England)
Image 64Remains of the Roman baths at Bath, England. (from History of England)
Image 65King Alfred the Great statue in Winchester, Hampshire. The 9th-century English king encouraged education in his kingdom. (from Culture of England)
Image 66Anglo-Saxon helmet from the Sutton Hoo ship burial, 625 AD (replica) (from History of England)
Image 67The Lindisfarne Gospels (from Culture of England)
Image 68King's College in Cambridge is regarded as one of the greatest examples of late English Gothic architecture. It has the world's largest fan vault, while the chapel's stained-glass windows and wooden chancel screen are considered some of the finest from their era. (from Culture of England)
Image 69Dover Castle, 12th–13th century (from History of England)
Image 70Silbury Hill, c. 2400 BC (from History of England)
Image 71Morris dancing (from Culture of England)
Image 72The English landscape garden at Stourhead, described as a 'living work of art' when first opened in the 1750s (from Culture of England)
Image 73Josiah Wedgwood was a leading entrepreneur in the Industrial Revolution. (from Culture of England)
Image 74The Mob Quad of Merton College, University of Oxford, 13th–14th century (from History of England)
Image 75Charles Dickens' 1843 novella A Christmas Carol played a major role in reviving the "spirit" of Christmas and seasonal goodwill. (from Culture of England)
Image 76Artefacts from Bush Barrow at Stonehenge. Wessex culture, Early Bronze Age, c. 1900 BC (from History of England)
Image 77Edward Elgar is one of England's most celebrated classical composers. (from Culture of England)
Image 78Geoffrey Chaucer, c. 1340s–1400, author of The Canterbury Tales (from History of England)
Image 79The Battersea Shield (detail), 350 BC. (from History of England)

Good article - show another

This is a Good article, an article that meets a core set of high editorial standards.

"Quaille, an English Water Spaniel" (1797) by Henry Bernard Chalon (1770–1849)

The English Water Spaniel is a breed of dog that has been extinct since the first part of the 20th century, with the last specimen seen in the 1930s. It was best known for its use in hunting waterfowl and for being able to dive as well as a duck. It is described as similar to a Collie or to a cross between a Poodle and a Springer Spaniel with curly fur and typically in a white and liver/tan pattern.

Pre-dating the Irish Water Spaniel and thought to have been referred to by Shakespeare in Macbeth, it is believed to have genetically influenced several modern breeds of dog, including the American Water Spaniel, Curly Coated Retriever and the modern variety of Field Spaniel. It is unknown if the breed was involved in the creation of the Irish Water Spaniel. (Full article...)

List of Good articles

Did you know?

...that the HMS Queen (1902) was fitted with Babcock and Wilcox cylindrical boilers due to service problems with the water service boilers?
...that the Charter Roll is the administrative record created by the medieval office of the chancery that recorded all the charters issued by the chancery?
...that Canterbury in eastern Kent was abandoned at the end of the Roman period, but was resettled by the Saxons?
...that English singer-songwriter Robbie Williams has sold more albums in the United Kingdom than any other British solo artist in history?

More selections

In the news

22 May 2026 –: NATO conducts Operation Arcade Strike, an exercise in drone warfare, at an unused platform of the London Underground's Charing Cross tube station to be prepared for potential conflict with Russia by 2030. (The Independent) (The New Voice of Ukraine)
16 May 2026 – 2025–26 FA Cup: In association football, Manchester City beat Chelsea 1–0 at London's Wembley Stadium, through a 72nd-minute goal from Antoine Semenyo, to win their 8th FA Cup title. (The Guardian)
13 May 2026 –: Sussex Police say they have recovered the bodies of three women off a beach in Brighton, England, and are working to identify the women. (The Guardian)
11 May 2026 – United Kingdom anti-immigration protests: British Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood bans seven foreign far-right activists, including American influencer Valentina Gomez, from entering the UK, who were planning to attend a far-right rally in London, England, led by Tommy Robinson. Prime minister Keir Starmer says "agitators" will be blocked from entering the country ahead of the rally on May 16. (The Guardian)
8 May 2026 – 2026 United Kingdom local elections: Reform UK take full control of Havering London Borough Council, making it the first Reform-run council in Greater London. (The Independent)
7 May 2026 – 2026 United Kingdom local elections: Voters in England elect six mayors and 5,066 council seats across 136 councils. In Scotland, voters elect 129 seats to the Scottish Parliament. In Wales, voters elect 96 seats to the Senedd. (BBC News) (The Guardian)

Read more...

Selected featured content

Articles:

Lists:

Read more...

Selected quotes

“

I have seen much to hate here, much to forgive. But in a world where England is finished and dead, I do not wish to live.

”

— Alice Duer Miller

More selections • Read more...

Related WikiProjects

England • Bedfordshire • Brighton • Cheshire • Cornwall • Derbyshire • Dorset • Greater Manchester • Hampshire • Lincolnshire • London • Merseyside • Northamptonshire • North East England • Sheffield • Surrey. Warwickshire • West Midlands • Worcestershire • Yorkshire

Topics

Cities and major towns: Blackpool • Birmingham • Bristol • Chelmsford • Leeds • Liverpool • London • Manchester • Newcastle • Nottingham • Oxford • Portsmouth • Sheffield • Southampton • Stoke-on-Trent

Culture: The Football Association • Rugby Football Union • England and Wales Cricket Board • English inventions and discoveries

Geography: Geology • Climate • Mountains and hills • Islands • Rivers

Economy: Bank of England • London Stock Exchange • Chancellor of the Exchequer • Monetary Policy Committee • HM Treasury

History: Timeline of English history • Prehistoric Britain • Roman Britain • Anglo-Saxon England • Norman England • Plantagenet England • House of Lancaster • House of York • House of Tudor • House of Stuart

Governance: Kingdom of England • Prime Minister of the United Kingdom • Parliament of the United Kingdom • Home Secretary • Local Government Boundary Commission for England • Administrative divisions of England • English law

Symbols: Flags • Flag of England • St George's Cross • Tudor rose • Coat of arms of England

Things you can do

Things you can do.

Please visit the English Wikipedians' notice board and help to write new England-related articles, and expand and improve existing ones.
Visit Wikipedia:WikiProject England/Assessment, and help out by assessing unrated English articles.
Add the Project Banner to English articles around Wikipedia.
Check for announcements and open tasks for ways to improve English related articles.
Help nominate and select new content for the England portal.
Requested articles: Charterhouse Lane • Renewable energy in England • Ealing Village
Expand: Dorothy Boyd • David Troughton

Related Portals

East Midlands	London	North East England	North West England	South East England	South West England	West Midlands	Yorkshire and the Humber
East Midlands	London	North East	North West	South East	South West	West Midlands	Yorkshire and the Humber
Derbyshire	London transport		Cheshire Cumbria Greater Manchester Lancashire	Berkshire East Sussex Hampshire Kent Oxfordshire Surrey West Sussex	Cornwall Devon Somerset	Staffordshire	Yorkshire