The largest of the four political divisions
that make up the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern
Ireland, and the industrial and trading centre of the
United Kingdom is England.
Located in the southern part of Great Britain in the British
Isles, England covers about 60% of the island, and has
vast areas of charming countryside, with lush green pastures,
picturesque villages, and neat hedges, but most of the
English people live in cities, London, the capital, being
England's largest city.
The English people have a long history of freedom and
democracy. Their democratic ideas and practices have influenced
many countries, especially the United States and Canada.
Most English people take great pride in their history
and have deep respect for England's customs and traditions.
England accounts for more than 83% of the total UK population,
and shares land borders with Scotland, to the north and
Wales to the west. Elsewhere, it is bordered by the North
Sea, Irish Sea, Atlantic Ocean and English Channel.
Man lived in what we now call the ‘British Isles’
long before it broke away from the continent of Europe,
long before the great seas covered the land bridge that
is now known as the English Channel, the body of water
that protected this island for so long, and that by its
very nature, was to keep it out of the maelstrom that
became medieval Europe. Thus England's peculiar character
as an island nation came about through its very isolation.
England has been inhabited for at least 50,000 years,.
Stone Age hunter-gatherers eventually gave way to farmers
and permanent settlements, with an advanced megalithic
civilization arising in western England some 4,000 years
ago. It was replaced around 1,500 years later by Celtic
tribes migrating from Western and continental Europe,
mainly from France. These tribes were known collectively
as "Britons", a name bestowed by Phoenician
traders — an indication of how, even at this early
date, the island was part of a Europe-wide trading network.
The union between England and Wales, begun in 1284
with the Statute of Rhuddlan, but this was not formalized
until 1536 with an Act of Union. In another Act of Union
in 1707, England and Scotland agreed to permanently
join as “Great Britain”. Until recently
England was generally thought of as a gentle, fabled
land freeze-framed sometime in the 1930s, home of the
post office, country pub and vicarage, but It is now
better known for vibrant cities with great nightlife
and attractions, contrasted with green and pleasant
countryside.
England's weather is best described as 'changeable'.
There are, of course, clear patterns but nowhere in
England can you be completely confident of predicting
the weather for more than a few days at a time.
One reason that weather is such a popular topic of conversation
in England is because it is so changeable. Contrary
to the impression many visitors have, it does not always
rain in England. Rainfall throughout England, Scotland,
and Wales varies widely but typically, precipitation
occurs about one day in every three, and average rainfall
throughout the country is about 28-inches per annum,
with December and January being the wettest months.The
wettest parts (the Lake District, Pennines and Snowdonia)
can often have an average rainfall of over 78¾-inches
while parts of the southeast of England can have an
average of only 21½ inches .
Over the past two decades we have noticed a definite
change in the British weather, which can be most simply
described as a “levelling off” of the seasons.
Whereas at one time there were definite differences
between the four seasons at predetermined times, we
now find we have less cold winters will little or no
snow, but less hot summers, with maximum mid-summer
temperatures averaging around 68 degrees. This is of
definite benefit to visitors to the UK, because they
are no longer tied to the tradition of only visiting
in May and September to guarantee fine weather.
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