England

England is the largest and most densely populated part of the country in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Occasionally, England needed synecdoche for the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland or for the entire island of Great Britain. The name England comes from the West Germanic people of the Angles ( Old English Englas ).

Geography

England comprises the largest part of the southern section of the island of Great Britain, bordered to the north by Scotland and to the west by Wales and the Irish Sea. In the East, England bordering the North Sea, in the south lies on the English Channel England and the South West of England lies the Atlantic Ocean.

Policy

The Government of the Kingdom has, as the royal family, based in the British capital London. England has - in contrast to Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland - a country neither Parliament nor a state government. Their tasks are performed by the Parliament and the Government of the United Kingdom. However, England is planning to split into different administrative regions with its own administration. The United Kingdom is the only country in Europe without a written constitution down - hence the question of whether England a country or part of an independent state is "only" to answer ambiguous.

Religion

The Church of England has the status of a state church. Your head of the church is the reigning monarch of the United Kingdom.

History

Sports

See: Football in England, rugby, cricket, snooker, hiking trail ( United Kingdom), Golf Club, sailing, darts

Administrative divisions

The 39 historic counties

These 39 historic counties (English county, counties ) have existed since the Middle Ages. In her role as administrative districts they have been repeatedly reorganized since the mid-20th century, however, there are the historic counties in the consciousness of the population largely gone. Larger cities were considered part of the counties, but were managed as independent boroughs.

See also: Traditional counties of England

The current administrative structure

During the 20th century, the administrative structure was partially adapted to the newly created urban areas. Thus, the limits of the above 39 historic counties is changed. For example, in 1965, the management unit Greater London was established. 1974 created six metropolitan counties and the so-called non-metropolitan counties, including some new, smaller counties such as Avon, Humberside and Cleveland, but these were resolved in the 1990s, partly again. The counties are subdivided into districts (Metropolitan District or Districts), which approximately correspond to the municipalities in Germany due to their task. These districts are usually made of a variety of cities and smaller settlements, which have no independent administration. One speaks of a " two-stage management " (first stage: counties, second stage: Districts ). In 1986 the county councils and administrations of the Metropolitan Counties were dissolved. Their tasks were delegated to the subdivided Metropolitan Districts, so that these are all tasks of the counties and districts do ( " stage management "). In its function, the Metropolitan District since then can be described as unitary authorities. The names of the six metropolitan counties were indeed maintained, they have since but only for the description of the geographic location or for statistical purposes is important. Numerous non-metropolitan districts were spun off as unitary authorities of the counties of the mid-1990s. You do since then with the administrative units of counties and are thus the Metropolitan Districts comparable.

The counties and unitary authorities in England are now grouped into nine regions. For the breakdown of regions and counties see Administrative divisions of England and administrative counties of England.

Cities

In the English language a distinction is made between city and town. The right to be called the "City", sealed a royal letter of appointment, the so-called Royal Charter. Most are oriented towards this, remember that the settlement in question has a cathedral. For example, while the small St David's in Wales with fewer than 2,000 inhabitants, is considered the " City", Stockport, with its 135,600 inhabitants, only " Town". The distinction is thus similar to the distinction between town and municipality in Germany. All counties with urban character have in England usually also the status of a Borough.

The following list of " cities " of England Greater London contains and the Unitary Authority's Bristol and Leicester the respective Metropolitan Boroughs. Metropolitan Boroughs are single-stage administrative units in the metropolitan areas of England, which can be compared with German independent cities. Formally, they are subdivisions of the metropolitan counties, which, however, as administrative units no longer play a role (see also Administrative divisions of England ).

The ten largest metropolitan counties in England (2012 ) are:

  • London ( 8.308 million )
  • Birmingham ( 1,085,000 )
  • Leeds ( 758,000 )
  • Sheffield ( 557,000 )
  • Bradford ( 525,000 )
  • Manchester ( 511,000 )
  • Liverpool ( 470,000 )
  • Bristol ( 432,000 )
  • Kirklees ( Huddersfield with ) ( 426,000 )
  • Leicester ( 332,000 )

National Symbols

The English flag, known as St. George's Cross, a red cross on a white background and has been used since the 13th century.

Another national symbol since Wars of the Roses the Tudor rose, which is supposed to be a symbol of peace. The rose is used for example by the English rugby union team as an emblem.

The Three Lions ( "Three Lions" ) date back to Richard the Lionheart and form the coat of arms of England.

England itself has no official national anthem. In sporting events in which England as an autonomous team, the British national anthem God Save the Queen is most commonly used, less commonly, the hymn Jerusalem, for example, in Test Cricket.

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