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James Oglethorpe

James Oglethorpe

James Edward Oglethorpe (22 December 1696 - 30 June 1785) was an English general, a philanthropist, and a founder of the state of Georgia. He was born in Godalming, Surrey, the son of Sir Theophilus Oglethorpe (1650-1702) of Westbrook Place, Godalming. He entered Corpus Christi College, Oxford, in 1714, but in the same year joined the army of Prince Eugene. Through the recommendation of John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, he became aide-de-camp to the prince, and he served with distinction in the campaign against the Turks, 1716-17, more especially at the siege and capture of Belgrade. After his return to England he was elected as member of parliament for Haslemere in 1722. He campaigned for the improvement of the circumstances of poor debtors in London prisons; for the purpose of providing a refuge for persons who had become insolvent and for oppresssed Protestants on the continent, he proposed the settlement of a colony in America between Carolina and Florida. He laid the groundwork for the colonization of the state, proposing that it be colonized with debtors released from the abominable conditions of England's debtors' prisons. Oglethorpe sailed for Charleston, South Carolina on the ship Ann, arriving in 1732, and settled near the present site of Savannah, Georgia. He negotiated with the Creek tribe for land and established a series of defensive forts. He then returned to England and arranged to have slavery banned in Georgia. Oglethorpe and his fellow trustees were granted a royal charter for the Province of Georgia between the Savannah and Altamaha rivers on June 9, 1732. [http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/states/ga01.htm] At that time, tension between Spain and England was high, and there was a fear among the English that the Spanish colony of Florida was threatening the British Province of South Carolina. Georgia was a key contested area, lying in between the two colonies. It was Oglethorpe's idea that British debtors should be released from prison and sent to Georgia. This would theoretically rid England of its undesirable elements while providing her with a base from which to attack Florida. Ultimately, few debtors ended up in Georgia. Instead, many of Georgia's new settlers consisted of poor English tradesmen and artisans and religious refugees from Switzerland and Germany. Owing to the colony's primary role as a military buffer between English and Spanish-held territories, the original model for the colonization of Georgia excluded the use of slave labor, fearing that slaves could internally weaken the colony and perhaps defect to the Spanish. The banning of slavery inadvertently resulted in a deficit in the work force and smothered Georgia's early economic growth. Many settlers began to oppose Oglethorpe and regarded him as "[their] perpetual dictator." Many new settlers set their eyes on South Carolina as a less restrictive and, they hoped, a more profitable place to settle. In 1750, after a series of political and military defeats, Oglethorpe lost his will to oppose slavery and the ban was lifted. In 1739 during the War of Jenkins' Ear, fought between English Georgia and Spanish Florida as part of a larger conflict, the War of Austrian Succession, Oglethorpe was responsible for a number of successful raids on Spanish forts, as well as the unsuccessful siege of St. Augustine. Among his most valuable Indian allies in this siege was Ahaya the Cowkeeper, leader of the Alachua band of the Seminole tribe. In 1745 Oglethorpe was promoted to the rank of major-general. His conduct in connection with the Jacobite Rising of that year resulted in his court-martial, but he was acquitted. In 1765 he was raised to the rank of general. He died at Cranham Hall, Essex.

Additional Reading


- [http://fax.libs.uga.edu/F289xO34/ BIOGRAPHICAL MEMORIALS OF JAMES OGLETHORPE], by Thaddeus Mason Harris, 1841. (a searchable facsimile at the University of Georgia Libraries; DjVu & [http://fax.libs.uga.edu/F289xO34/1f/biographical_memorials_of_james_oglethorpe.pdf layered PDF] format)
- [http://fax.libs.uga.edu/DA501xE31m/ THE DIARY OF VISCOUNT PERCIVAL], (Manuscripts of the Earl of Egmont, a contemporary of Oglethorpe). (a searchable facsimile at the University of Georgia Libraries; DjVu & [http://fax.libs.uga.edu/DA501xE31m/1f/ layered PDF] format)
- James Edward Oglethorpe by Joyce Blackburn; 1994 reprint ISBN 0891769951.
- James Oglethorpe: Humantarian and Soldier by Arthut Meier Schlesinger and Cookie Lommell; (a short biography for young readers); 2000, Chelsea House, ISBN 0791059634.
- Oglethorpe in Perspective: Georgia's Founder After Two Hundred Years by Phinizy Spalding; 1989, University of Alabama Press, ISBN 0817303863. Oglethorpe, James Oglethorpe, James Oglethorpe, James Oglethorpe, James Oglethorpe, James

22 December

December 22 is the 356th day of the year (357th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 9 days remaining.

Events


- 1603 - Mehmed III Sultan of the Ottoman Empire dies and is succeeded by his son Ahmed I.
- 1807 - The Embargo Act, forbidding trade with all foreign countries, is passed by the U.S. Congress, at the urging of President Thomas Jefferson.
- 1809 - The Non-Intercourse Act, lifting the Embargo Act except for the United Kingdom and France, passes the U.S. Congress.
- 1849 - The execution of Fyodor Dostoevsky is canceled at the last second.
- 1851 - The first freight train is operated in Roorkee in India.
- 1864 - Savannah, Georgia falls to General William Tecumseh Sherman, concluding his "March to the Sea"
- 1885 - Ito Hirobumi, a samurai, became the first Prime Minister of Japan.
- 1894 - The Dreyfus affair begins, in France, when Alfred Dreyfus is wrongly convicted of treason, on antisemitic grounds.
- 1910 - Chicago Union Stock Yards Fire, 21 firemen were killed.
- 1937 - The Lincoln Tunnel opens to traffic in New York City.
- 1944 - German troops demand the surrender of United States troops at Bastogne, Belgium. See Battle of the Bulge
- 1944 - Vietnam People's Army is formed to resist Japanese occupation of Vietnam
- 1963 - Cruise ship Lakonia burns 180 miles north of Madeira with the loss of 128 lives.
- 1964 - Comedian Lenny Bruce is convicted of obscenity
- 1965 - In the United Kingdom, a 70mph speed limit is applied to all all rural roads including motorways for the first time. Previously, there had been no speed limit.
- 1974 - Grande Comore, Anjouan and Mohéli vote to become the independent nation of Comoros. Mayotte remains under French administration.
- 1984 - Subway vigilante Bernhard Hugo Goetz shoots four African-American youths on an express train in The Bronx borough of New York City.
- 1988 - Chico Mendes, a Brazilian rubber tapper, unionist and environmental activist, was assassinated.
- 1989 - After a week of bloody demonstrations, Ion Iliescu takes over as president of Romania, ending Nicolae Ceauşescu's Communist dictatorship.
- 1989 - Berlin's Brandenburg Gate re-opens after nearly 30 years, effectively ending the division of East and West Germany.
- 1989 - Two Tourist coaches collide on the Pacific Highway north of Kempsey NSW (Kempsey Bus Crash).
- 1990 - Lech Wałęsa sworn in as President of Poland
- 1997 - Acteal massacre: Attendees at a prayer meeting of Roman Catholic activists for indigenous causes in the small village of Acteal in the Mexican state of Chiapas were massacred by paramilitary forces.
- 1999 - The Spanish Civil Guard finds near Calatayud (Zaragoza) another van loaded by ETA with 750 kg of explosives (see related event on December 21 1999).
- 1999 - Tandja Mamadou became President of Niger.
- 2001 - Burhanuddin Rabbani, political leader of the Afghan Northern Alliance, handed over power in Afghanistan to the interim government headed by President Hamid Karzai.
- 2001 - Richard Reid attempts to destroy a passenger airliner by igniting explosives hidden in his shoes aboard American Airlines Flight 63.
- 2001 - Cc the cat, the first cloned pet, was born.

Births


- 1178 - Emperor Antoku of Japan (d. 1185)
- 1639 - Jean Racine, French dramatist (d. 1699)
- 1666 - Guru Gobind Singh, (d. 1708)
- 1694 - Hermann Samuel Reimarus, German philosopher and writer (b. 1768)
- 1696 - James Oglethorpe, English general and founder of the state of Georgia (d. 1785)
- 1723 - Karl Friedrich Abel, German composer (d. 1787)
- 1805 - John Obadiah Westwood, British entomologist (d. 1893)
- 1807 - Johann Sebastian Welhaven, Norwegian poet (d. 1873)
- 1819 - Franz Wilhelm Abt, German composer (d. 1870)
- 1853 - Teresa Carreño, Venezuelan pianist (d. 1917)
- 1856 - Frank B. Kellogg, U.S. Secretary of State, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (d. 1937)
- 1858 - Giacomo Puccini, Italian composer (d. 1924)
- 1860 - Austin Norman Palmer, American penmanship innovator (d. 1927)
- 1862 - Connie Mack, baseball executive and manager (d. 1956)
- 1869 - Edwin Arlington Robinson, American poet (d. 1935)
- 1872 - Camille Guérin, French veterinarian and bacteriologist (d. 1961)
- 1874 - Franz Schmidt, Austrian composer (d. 1939)
- 1876 - Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, Italian poet and editor (d. 1944)
- 1883 - Edgar Varèse French-born composer (d. 1965)
- 1887 - Srinivasa Ramanujan, Indian mathematician (d. 1920)
- 1888 - J. Arthur Rank, American producer (d. 1972)
- 1898 - Vladimir Aleksandrovich Fock, Russian physicist (d. 1974)
- 1899 - Gustav Gründgens, German actor and director (d. 1963)
- 1903 - Haldan Keffer Hartline, American physiologist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1983)
- 1905 - Kenneth Rexroth, American poet (d. 1982)
- 1907 - Dame Peggy Ashcroft, English actress (d. 1991)
- 1912 - Lady Bird Johnson, First Lady of the United States
- 1917 - Gene Rayburn, American game show host (d. 1999)
- 1922 - Barbara Billingsley, American actress
- 1922 - Jack Brooks, American politician
- 1922 - Ruth Roman, American actress (d. 1999)
- 1937 - Eduard Uspensky, Russian writer
- 1944 - Steve Carlton, baseball player
- 1945 - Diane Sawyer, American journalist
- 1946 - Rick Nielsen, American musician (Cheap Trick)
- 1948 - Lynne Thigpen, American actress (d. 2003)
- 1949 - Maurice Gibb, Australian musician (The Bee Gees) (d. 2003)
- 1949 - Robin Gibb, Australian musician (The Bee Gees)
- 1951 - Gerald Cavendish Grosvenor, Duke of Westminster
- 1958 - Frank Gambale, Australian guitarist
- 1962 - Ralph Fiennes, English actor
- 1967 - Dan Petrescu, Romanian footballer
- 1969 - Myriam Bédard, Canadian athlete

Deaths


- 1100 - Duke Bretislaus II of Bohemia
- 1603 - Mehmed III, Ottoman Emperor (b. 1566)
- 1646 - Peter Mogila, Orthodox Metropolitan of Kiev and Galicia (b. 1596)
- 1660 - André Tacquet, Belgian mathematician (b. 1612)
- 1681 - Richard Alleine, English Puritan clergyman (b. 1611)
- 1708 - Hedwig Sophia, duchess of Holstein-Gottorp, Swedish writer (b. 1681)
- 1738 - Constantia Jones, British prostitute (executed)
- 1767 - John Newbery, English publisher (b. 1713)
- 1788 - Percivall Pott, English physician and surgeon (b. 1714)
- 1806 - William Vernon, American merchant (b. 1719)
- 1870 - Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer, Spanish poet and writer (b. 1836)
- 1828 - William Hyde Wollaston, English chemist (b. 1766)
- 1880 - George Eliot, English writer (b. 1819)
- 1899 - Dwight L. Moody, American evangelist (b. 1837)
- 1902 - Richard von Krafft-Ebing, German psychiatrist (b. 1840)
- 1936 - Dragutin Gorjanovic-Kramberger, Croatian paleontologist (b. 1856)
- 1939 - Ma Rainey, American singer (b. 1886)
- 1940 - Nathanael West, American writer (b. 1903)
- 1942 - Franz Boas, German anthropologist (b. 1858)
- 1943 - Beatrix Potter, English writer (b. 1866)
- 1947 - Hans Aumeier, German Nazi official and concentration camp commandant (b. 1906)
- 1959 - Gilda Gray, Polish-born American dancer and actress (b. 1901)
- 1965 - Richard Dimbleby, English journalist and broadcaster (b. 1913)
- 1979 - Darryl F. Zanuck, American producer (b. 1902)
- 1980 - Karl Dönitz, German politician and U-boat commander (b. 1891)
- 1985 - D. Boon, American singer and guitarist (The Minutemen) (b. 1958)
- 1988 - Chico Mendes, Brazilian rubber tapper, unionist, and environmental activist (assassinated) (b. 1944)
- 1989 - Samuel Beckett, Irish writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1906)
- 1995 - Butterfly McQueen, American actress (b. 1911)
- 1995 - James Meade, English economists, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1907)
- 2002 - Desmond Hoyte, President of Guyana (b. 1929)
- 2002 - Joe Strummer, British musician (The Clash) (b. 1952)
- 2003 - Dave Dudley, American singer (b. 1928)
- 2004 - Doug Ault, baseball player (b. 1950)

Holidays and observances


- In the Northern Hemisphere, the winter solstice occurs on or very close to this date. In the Southern Hemisphere, the summer solstice occurs around this time.
- Astrology: First day of sun sign Capricorn

External links


- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/december/22 BBC: On This Day]
- [http://www.tnl.net/when/12/22 Today in History: December 22] ---- December 21 - December 23 - November 22 - January 22 -- listing of all days ko:12월 22일 ms:22 Disember ja:12月22日 simple:December 22 th:22 ธันวาคม

1696

The year 1696 had the earliest equinoxes and solstices for 400 years in the Gregorian calendar, because this year is a leap year and the Gregorian calendar would have behaved like the Julian calendar since March 1500 had it have been in use that long. See 1903.

Events


- April - Fire destroys the Gra Bet (or Left Quarter) of Gondar, the capital of Ethiopia.
- August 22 - Forces of Venice and Turkish troops clash near Molino
- December 24 - Inquisition burns number of Marrano Jews in Evora, Portugal
- Peter the Great becomes sole tsar of Russia.
- Polish replaces Ruthenian as an official language of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania
- A famine wipes out almost a third of the population of Finland.
- Abington, Pennsylvania, is settled.
- William Penn offers an elaborate plan for intercolonial cooperation largely in trade, defense, and criminal matters.

Births


- March 5 - Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, Italian painter (d. 1770)
- June 11 - Francis Edward James Keith, Scottish soldier and Prussian field marshal (d. 1758)
- June 27 - William Pepperrell, English colonial soldier (d. 1759)
- July 14 - William Oldys, English antiquarian and bibliographer (d. 1761)
- August 2 - Mahmud I, Ottoman Sultan (d. 1754)
- August 12 - Maurice Greene, English composer (d. 1755)
- September 27 - Alphonsus Liguori, Italian founder of the Redemptionist order (d. 1787)
- October 13 - John Hervey, Lord Hervey, English statesman and writer (b. 1743)
- December 22 - James Oglethorpe, English general and founder of the state of Georgia (d. 1785)

Deaths


- January 11 - Charles Albanel, French missionary explorer in Canada (b. 1616)
- February 8 - Tsar Ivan V of Russia (b. 1666)
- March 14 - Jean Domat, French jurist (b. 1625)
- March 18 - Robert Charnock, English conspirator
- April 17 - Marie de Rabutin-Chantal, marquise de Sévigné, French writer (b. 1626)
- April 30 - Robert Plot, British naturalist (b. 1640)
- May 10 - Jean de La Bruyère, French writer (b. 1645)
- May 30 - Henry Capell, 1st Baron Capell, First Lord of the British Admiralty (b. 1638)
- June 17 - John III of Poland (b. 1629)
- August 2 - Robert Campbell of Glenlyon, Scottish military commander at the Massacre of Glencoe (b. 1630)
- September 17 - John III Sobieski, King of Poland (b. 1629)
- December 4 - Empress Meisho of Japan (b. 1624)
- Daibhidh O Duibhghennain Category:1696 ko:1696년

30 June

June 30 is the 181st day of the year (182nd in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 184 days remaining, and the last day of June.

Events


- 1651 - The Battle of Beresteczko ends with a Polish victory.
- 1805 - The U.S. Congress organizes Michigan Territory.
- 1864 - U.S. President Abraham Lincoln grants Yosemite Valley to California for "public use, resort and recreation."
- 1883 - The first appearance of The Black Arrow by Robert Louis Stevenson in Young Folks; A Boys' and Girls' Paper of Instructive and Entertaining Literature
- 1905 - Albert Einstein publishes the article "On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies", where he introduces special relativity.
- 1906 - Congress passes the Meat Inspection Act and Pure Food and Drug Act
- 1908 - The Tunguska impact event occurs in Siberia
- 1934 - The Night of the Long Knives, Adolf Hitler's violent purge of his political rivals in Germany, takes place.
- 1935 - The Senegalese Socialist Party holds its first congress.
- 1936 - Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell published.
- 1956 - A TWA Super Constellation and a United Airlines DC-7 collide above the Grand Canyon in Arizona, United States, killing 128.
- 1960 - Congo gains independence from Belgium.
- 1971 - The crew of the Soviet Soyuz 11 spacecraft are killed when their air supply escapes through faulty valve.
- 1971 - The 26th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, lowering the voting age to 18, is ratified as Ohio became the 38th state to approve it.
- 1977 - Virginia Wade won the Ladies Singles title at Wimbledon, the last British champion at the All England Club.
- 1978 - Willie McCovey becomes the 12th member of the 500 home run club with a home run at Fulton County Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia.
- 1990 - East and West Germany merge their economies.
- 1997 - China resumes sovereignty over the city-state of Hong Kong, ending 156 years of British colonial rule.
- 2002 - Brazil defeats Germany 2-0 in Yokohama, Japan, to earn a record fifth title in the 17th Football World Cup.
- 2005 - Spain legalizes same-sex marriage.

Births


- 1286 - John de Warenne, 8th Earl of Surrey, English politician (d. 1347)
- 1470 - King Charles VIII of France (d. 1498)
- 1503 - John Frederick, Elector of Saxony (d. 1554)
- 1641 - Meinhardt Schomberg, 3rd Duke of Schomberg, Irish general (d. 1719)
- 1685 - John Gay, English writer (d. 1732)
- 1685 - Dominikus Zimmermann, architect (d. 1766)
- 1717 - Johann Stamitz, Czech-born composer (d. 1757)
- 1755 - Paul François Jean Nicolas Barras, French politician (d. 1829)
- 1789 - Horace Vernet, French painter and graphic artist (d. 1863)
- 1807 - Friedrich Theodor von Vischer, German narrator, lyricist, and philosopher (d. 1887)
- 1817 - Joseph Dalton Hooker, English botanist (d. 1911)
- 1843 - Ernest Mason Satow, German-born author (d. 1929)
- 1891 - Man Mountain Dean, American professional wrestler (d. 1953)
- 1893 - Walter Ulbricht, German politician (d. 1973)
- 1899 - Madge Bellamy, American actress (d. 1990)
- 1899 - Harry Shields, American jazz clarinetist (d. 1971)
- 1908 - Winston Graham, English writer (d. 2003)
- 1911 - Czesław Miłosz, Polish-born writer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2004)
- 1912 - Ludwig Bölkow, German aeronautical engineer (d. 2003)
- 1917 - Susan Hayward, American actress (d. 1975)
- 1917 - Lena Horne, American actress and singer
- 1926 - Paul Berg, American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1934 - Harry Blackstone Jr., American magician (d. 1997)
- 1936 - Nancy Dussault, American actress
- 1939 - José Emilio Pacheco, Mexican poet and writer
- 1943 - Florence Ballard, American singer (The Supremes) (d. 1976)
- 1944 - Raymond Moody, parapsychologist
- 1954 - Pierre Charles, Prime Minister of Dominica (d. 2004)
- 1958 - Esa-Pekka Salonen, Finnish conductor and composer
- 1959 - Vincent D'Onofrio, American actor
- 1959 - Brendan Perry, English musician (Dead Can Dance)
- 1962 - Tony Fernandez, baseball player
- 1963 - Yngwie J. Malmsteen, Swedish guitarist
- 1965 - Mitch Richmond, American basketball player
- 1966 - Mike Tyson, American boxer
- 1968 - Philip Anselmo, American musician
- 1973 - Chan Ho Park, Korean Major League Baseball player
- 1975 - Ralf Schumacher, German race car driver
- 1984 - Fantasia Barrino, American singer
- 1985 - Michael Phelps, American swimmer
- 1985 - Fabiana Vallejos, Argentine footballer

Deaths


- 1181 - Hugh de Kevelioc, 3rd Earl of Chester English politician (b. 1147)
- 1364 - Arnost of Pardubice, Archbishop of Prague (b. 1297)
- 1538 - Charles of Egmond, Duke of Guelders (b. 1467)
- 1579 - Mehmed Pasha Sokolović, Turkish Janissary
- 1597 - Willem Barents, Dutch explorer
- 1607 - Caesar Baronius, Italian cardinal and historian (b. 1538)
- 1660 - William Oughtred, English mathematician (b. 1575)
- 1666 - Alexander Brome, English poet (b. 1620)
- 1670 - Henrietta Anne Stuart, Princess of England, Scotland, and Ireland (b. 1644)
- 1709 - Edward Llwyd, Welsh scientist (b. 1660)
- 1785 - James Oglethorpe, English general and founder of the state of Georgia (b. 1696)
- 1796 - Abraham Yates, American Continental Congressman (b. 1724)
- 1882 - Charles J. Guiteau, American assassin of President James A. Garfield (b. 1841)
- 1890 - Samuel Parkman Tuckerman, American composer (b. 1819)
- 1919 - John Strutt, 3rd Baron Rayleigh, English physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1842)
- 1934 - Ernst Röhm, Nazi official (b. 1887)
- 1953 - Charles William Miller, father of football in Brazil (b. 1874)
- 1959 - José Vasconcelos, Mexican writer and politician (b. 1882)
- 1961 - Lee DeForest, American inventor (b. 1873)
- 1966 - Giuseppe Farina, Italian race car driver (b. 1906)
- 1971 - Crew of Soyuz 11
  - Viktor Patsayev (b. 1933)
  - Georgi Dobrovolski (b. 1928)
  - Vladislav Volkov (b. 1935)
- 1974 - Vannevar Bush, American engineer and politician (b. 1890)
- 1976 - Firpo Marberry, baseball player (b. 1898)
- 1984 - Lillian Hellman, American playwright (b. 1905)
- 1993 - George "Spanky" McFarland, American actor (b. 1928)
- 1993 - Wong Ka Kui, Hong Kong singer
- 1995 - Gale Gordon, American actor (b. 1906)
  - Georgi Beregovoi, cosmonaut (b. 1921)
- 2001 - Chet Atkins, American guitarist (b. 1924)
- 2003 - Buddy Hackett, American comic (b. 1924)
  - Robert McCloskey, American children's book writer and illustrator (b. 1915)

Holidays and observances


- Independence Day in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

External links


- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/june/30 BBC: On This Day]
- [http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/20050630.html The New York Times: On This Day] ---- June 29 - July 1 - May 30 - July 30 – listing of all days ko:6월 30일 ms:30 Jun ja:6月30日 simple:June 30 th:30 มิถุนายน

England

:For an explanation of often-confusing terms like England, (Great) Britain and United Kingdom see British Isles (terminology). England is a nation and the largest and most populous constituent country of the United Kingdom accounting for more than 83% of the total UK population. It occupies most of the southern two-thirds of the island of Great Britain and shares land borders with fellow home nations Scotland, to the north, and Wales, to the west. Elsewhere, it is bordered by the sea. England is named after the Angles, one of a number of Germanic tribes believed to have originated in Angeln in Northern Germany, who settled in England in the 5th and 6th centuries. It has not had a distinct political identity since 1707, when Great Britain was established as a unified political entity; however, it has a legal identity separate from those of Scotland and Northern Ireland, as part of the entity "England and Wales;". England's largest city, London, is also the capital of the United Kingdom.

History

Main article: History of England England has been inhabited for at least 500,000 years, although the repeated Ice Ages made much of Britain uninhabitable for extended periods until as recently as 20,000 years ago. Stone Age hunter-gatherers eventually gave way to farmers and permanent settlements, with a spectacular and sophisticated megalithic civilisation 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 Britons were significant players in continental politics and supported their allies in Gaul militarily during the Gallic Wars with the Roman Republic. This prompted the Romans to invade and subdue the island, first with Julius Caesar's raid in 55 BC, and then the Emperor Claudius' conquest in the following century. The whole southern part of the island — roughly corresponding to modern day England and Wales — became a prosperous part of the Roman Empire. It was finally abandoned early in the 5th century when a weakening Empire pulled back its legions to defend borders on the Continent. Unaided by the Roman army, Roman Britannia could not long resist the Germanic tribes who arrived in the 5th and 6th centuries, enveloping the majority of modern day England in a new culture and language and pushing Romano-British rule back into modern-day Wales and western extremities of England, notably Cornwall and Cumbria. Others emigrated across the channel to modern-day Brittany, thus giving it its name and language (Breton). But many of the Romano-British remained in and were assimilated into the newly "English" areas. The invaders fell into three main groups: the Jutes, the Saxons, and the Angles. As they became more civilised, recognisable states formed and began to merge with one another. (The most well-known state of affairs being the Anglo-Saxon heptarchy.) From time to time throughout this period, one Anglo-Saxon king, recognised as the "Bretwalda" by other rulers, had effective control of all or most of the English; so it is impossible to identify the precise moment when the Kingdom of England was unified. In some sense, real unity came as a response to the Danish Viking incursions which occupied the eastern half of "England" in the 8th century. Egbert, King of Wessex (d. 839) is often regarded as the first king of all the English, although the title "King of England" was first adopted, two generations later, by Alfred the Great (ruled 871–899). The principal legacy left behind in those territories from which the language of the Britons were displaced is that of toponyms. Many of the place-names in England and to a lesser extent Scotland are derived from celtic British names, including London, Dumbarton, York, Dorchester, Dover and Colchester. Several place-name elements are thought to be wholly or partly Brythonic in origin, particularly bre-, bal-, and -dun for hills, carr for a high rocky place, coomb for a small deep valley. Until recently it has been believed that those areas settled by the Anglo-Saxons were uninhabited at the time or the Britons had fled before them. However, genetic studies show that the British were not pushed out to the Celtic fringes – many tribes remained in what was to become England (see C. Capelli et al. A Y chromosome census of the British Isles. Current Biology 13, 979–984, (2003)). Capelli's findings strengthen the research of Steven Bassett of the University of Birmingham; his work during the 1990s suggests that much of the West Midlands was only very lightly colonised with Anglian and Saxon settlements.
This royal throne of kings, this sceptred isle,
This earth of majesty, this seat of Mars,
This other Eden, demi-paradise,
This fortress built by Nature for herself
Against infection and the hand of war,
This happy breed of men, this little world,
This precious stone set in the silver sea,
Which serves it in the office of a wall
Or as a moat defensive to a house,
Against the envy of less happier lands,—
This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England.
The English are great lovers of themselves, and of everything belonging to them; they think that there are no other men than themselves, and no other world but England; and whenever they see a handsome foreigner, they say that 'he looks like an Englishman', and that 'it is a great pity that he should not be an Englishmen'.
Venetian ambassador to England
Early 16th century
Charlotte Augusta Sneyd
Italian Relations of England (p. 20)
Richard II] Richard II] In 1066, William the Conqueror and the Normans conquered the existing Kingdom of England and instituted an Anglo-Norman administration and nobility who, retaining proto-French as their language for the next three hundred years, ruled as custodians over English commoners. Although the language and racial distinctions faded rapidly during the middle ages, the class system born in the Norman/Saxon divide persisted longer — arguably with traces lasting to the modern day. While Old English continued to be spoken by common folk, Norman feudal lords significantly influenced the language with French words and customs being adopted over the succeeding centuries evolving to a Romance-Germanic hybrid of Middle English widely spoken in Chaucer's time. England came repeatedly into conflict with Wales and Scotland, at the time an independent principality and an independent kingdom respectively, as its rulers sought to expand Norman power across the entire island of Britain. The conquest of Wales was achieved in the 13th century, when it was annexed to England and gradually came to be a part of that kingdom for most legal purposes, although in the modern era it is more usually thought of as a separate nation (fielding, for example, its own athletic teams). Norman power in Scotland waxed and waned over the years, with the Scots managing to maintain a varying degree of independence despite repeated wars with the English. Although it was on the whole only a moderately successful power in military terms, England became one of the wealthiest states in medieval Europe, due chiefly to its dominance in the lucrative wool market. The failure of English territorial ambitions in continental Europe prompted the kingdom's rulers to look further afield, creating the foundations of the mercantile and colonial network that was to become the British Empire. The turmoil of the Reformation embroiled England in religious wars with Europe's Catholic powers, notably Spain, but the kingdom preserved its independence as much through luck as through the skill of charismatic rulers such as Elizabeth I. Elizabeth's successor, James I was already king of Scotland (as James VI); and this personal union of the two crowns into the crown of Great Brittaine was followed a century later by the Act of Union 1707, which formally unified England, Scotland and Wales into the Kingdom of Great Britain. This later became the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (1801 to 1927) and then the modern state of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (1927 to present) For post-unification history, see history of the United Kingdom.

Politics

Main article: Politics of the United Kingdom, Government of England Since the promulgation of the 1284 Statute of Rhuddlan and the Laws in Wales Acts 1535-1542, Wales has shared a legal identity with England as the joint entity of England and Wales. The Act of Union with the Kingdom of Scotland in 1707 created the Kingdom of Great Britain, subsuming England, Wales and Scotland into a single political entity. Scotland, along with Northern Ireland, retain separate legal systems. The duchy of Cornwall also retains some unique rights. All of Great Britain has been ruled by the government of the United Kingdom since that date, although in 1999 the first elections to the newly created Scottish Parliament and National Assembly for Wales left England as the only part of the Union with no devolved assembly or parliament. As all legislation for England is passed by Parliament at Westminster there are some complaints about the ability of non-English Members of Parliament to influence purely English affairs. This apparent anomaly has been highlighted by both English and non-English politicians, often those opposed to devolution, and has become popularly known as the West Lothian question. Administratively, England is something of an anomaly within the UK. Unlike the other three nations, it has no local parliament or government and its administrative affairs are dealt with by a combination of the UK government, the UK parliament and a number of England-specific quangos, such as English Heritage. There are calls from some for a devolved English Parliament and from others for the dissolution of the UK and an independent England. The current Labour government favoured the establishment of regional administration, claiming that England was too large to be governed as a sub-state entity. A referendum on this issue in North East England on 4 November 2004 decisively rejected the proposal. Some criticised the English regional proposals for not decentralising enough, saying that they amounted not to devolution, but to little more than local government reorganisation, with no real power being removed from central government. The English regions would not even have had the limited powers of the Welsh Assembly, much less the tax-varying and legislative powers of the Scottish Parliament. Rather, power was simply re-allocated within the region, with little new resource allocation and no real prospects of Assemblies being able to change the pattern of regional aid. Responsibility for regional transport was added to the proposals late in the process. This was perhaps crucial in the North East, where resentment at the Barnett Formula, which delivers greater regional aid to adjacent Scotland, was a significant impetus for the North East devolution campaign. There has also been a campaign for a Cornish assembly along Welsh lines by groups such as Mebyon Kernow, which recently collected 50,000 signatures in support. Some eurosceptics believe that the establishment of English regions as administrative entities is designed to undermine the concept of English nationhood and more easily fit England into a European federal model. Conventionally the national capital of England is London, although technically it would be more exact to call London the capital of "England and Wales" given England's lack of a distinctive political identity separate from the Principality. Winchester served as the country's first national capital until some time in the late 11th century after the Norman Conquest. The City of London became England's commercial capital, while the City of Westminster (where the Royal court was located) became the political capital. These roles have, broadly speaking, been maintained to the present day.

Subdivisions

Main article: Subdivisions of England Historically, the highest level of local government in England was the county. These divisions had emerged from a range of units of old, pre-unification England, whether they were Kingdoms, such as Essex and Sussex; Duchies, such as Yorkshire, Cornwall and Lancashire or simply tracts of land given to some noble, as is the case with Berkshire. Until 1867, they were subdivided into smaller divisions called hundreds. These counties all still exist in, or near to, their original form as the traditional counties. In many places, however, they have been heavily modified or abolished outright as administrative counties. This came about due to a number of factors. The fact that the counties were so small meant, and still means, that there was no regional government able to coordinate an overarching plan for the area. This was especially true in the metropolitan areas surrounding the cities, as the county lines were usually drawn up before the industrial revolution and the mass urbanisation of England. The solution was the creation of large metropolitan counties centred on cities. These were later broken up, with several other counties, into unitary authorities, unifying the county and district/borough levels of government. London is a special case, and is the one region which currently has a representative authority as well as a directly elected mayor. The 32 London boroughs and the Corporation of London remain the local form of government in the city. Other than Greater London, the official regions are:
- North East England
- North West England
- Yorkshire and the Humber
- West Midlands
- East Midlands
- East of England
- South West England
- South East England Outside London the regions have very little power and are not accountable to elected representatives; regional authority is placed in the hands of unelected assemblies. If, as now seems unlikely, regions opt to replace these bodies with elected assemblies, local government in England will remain as variable and, some might say, as confusing as ever

Geography

Main articles: Geography of the United Kingdom, Geography of England Geography of England 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 Britain, divided from France only by a 38 km (24 statute mile or 21 nautical mile) sea gap. Most of England consists of rolling hills, but it is more mountainous in the north with a chain of low mountains, the Pennines, dividing east and west. The dividing line between terrain types is usually indicated by the Tees-Exe line. There is also an area of flat, low-lying marshland in the east, much of which has been drained for agricultural use. The list of England's largest cities is much debated because in British English the normal meaning of city is "a continuously built-up urban area"; these are hard to define and various other definitions are preferred by some people to boost the ranking of their own city. London is by far the largest English city. Manchester and Birmingham vie for second place. A number of other cities, mainly in the north of England, are of substantial size and influence. These include: Liverpool, Leeds, Newcastle, Nottingham, Bristol and Sheffield Using the standard U.S. city limits definition of a city the top six are: Birmingham, Leeds, Sheffield, Bradford, Liverpool and Manchester. Note that London is not on this list (Greater London is a region and the City of London is tiny), and that one of the two candidates for the status of England's "second city", Manchester, is down in sixth. In the UK, this method of ranking cities is generally used only by people whose own city is promoted by it. The Channel Tunnel, near Folkestone, links England to the European mainland. The English/French border is halfway along the tunnel. The largest harbour in England is at Poole, on the south-central coast. Internationally, it is the second largest harbour in the world, although this fact is disputed (See harbors for a list of other potential second largest harbours) The highest temperature ever recorded in England is 38.5 °C (101.3 °F) on August 10, 2003 in Kent. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/kent/3153532.stm]. The lowest temperature ever recorded in England is -26.1 °C (-15.0 °F) on January 10, 1982 at Newport in Shropshire. [http://www.metoffice.com/climate/uk/location/england/#temperature]

Major rivers

Shropshire.]]
- Thames
- Severn
- Trent
- Humber
- Yorkshire Ouse
- Tyne
- Mersey
- Dee
- Avon Main article: Waterways in the United Kingdom

Major Conurbations

:See main article: List of towns in England The largest cities in England are much debated but according to the urban area populations (continuous built up areas) these would be the 15 largest conurbations. (Population figures taken from 2001 census) #Greater London (8,278,251) #West Midlands (2,284,093) #Greater Manchester (2,244,931) #Leeds/Bradford (1,499,465) #Tyneside (879,996) #Liverpool (816,216) #Nottingham (666,358) #Sheffield (640,720) #Bristol (551,066) #Brighton/Worthing/Littlehampton (461,181) #Portsmouth (442,252) #Leicester (441,213) #Bournemouth/Poole (383,713) #Reading (369,804) #Teesside (365,323)

Economy

Main article: Economy of England

Demographics

Main articles: Demographics of England, Population of England England is both the most populous and the most ethnically diverse nation in the United Kingdom with around 49 million inhabitants, of which roughly a tenth are from non-White ethnic groups. It is one of the most densely populated countries in Europe, second only to the Netherlands. This population is made up of, and descended from, immigrants who have arrived over millennia. The principal waves of migration have been in c. 600 BC (Celts), the Roman period (garrison soldiers from throughout the Empire), 350–550 (Angles, Saxons, Jutes), 800–900 (Vikings, Danes), 1066 (Normans), 1650–1750 (European refugees and Huguenots), 1840–1850 (Irish), 1880–1940 (Irish, Jews), 1950— (Irish, Caribbeans, Africans, South Asians), 1985— (citizens of European Community member states especially Ireland, East Europeans, Iranians, Kurds, refugees). The general prosperity of England as the largest partner of the UK, has also made it a destination for economic migrants particularly from Ireland and Scotland. This segment of English homogeneous society continues to create a diverse and dynamic language that is widely used internationally. The other image of foreign ethnic components in England is still mostly seen as a legacy of the British Empire; especially the Commonwealth of Nations.

English identity

The simplest view is that an English person is someone who is from England and holds British nationality, regardless of his or her racial origin. However, inhabitants of England quite commonly refer to themselves as "British" rather than "English"; centuries of English dominance within the United Kingdom has created a situation where to be English is, as a linguist would put it, an "unmarked" state (i.e. a British person, institution, custom, city, etc. is assumed English unless specified otherwise). The English frequently include their neighbours in the general term "British" while the Scots and Welsh, proud of their separate identities, tend to be more forward about referring to themselves by one of those more specific terms. Although currently a part of England, a notable percentage of those living in Cornwall feel similarly, considering themselves Cornish first. One significant exception is in Northern Ireland, where the Unionist community tend to identify very strongly as "British" (Republicans living in the province are more likely to consider themselves "Irish"), and there is not a "Northern Ireland" or "Northern Irish" identity to the same extent as there is (e.g.) a Scottish one. A person, therefore, using the term "English" to describe him or herself (regardless of personal history) may be going out of his or her way to do so; hence he or she may also be seen (rightly or wrongly, and not necessarily pejoratively) as nationalistic. While Scottish, Welsh, Irish and Cornish patriotism are widely exhibited, specifically English patriotism has often been viewed with suspicion, and most English people feel more comfortable identifying themselves with Britain as a whole. However, this may be to avoid being seen as bullies by their neighbours. The extent to which specifically English patriotism is linked to a right-wing xenophobic agenda has also generated discomfort. The appropriation of English symbols by racist far-right organisations such as the National Front made many people uncomfortable with expressions of Englishness. In recent years, English identity has recently been a topic of debate in the national press, with many English people trying to "reclaim" the term and the flag from the far-right. See English nationalism. One notable exception to the above is in relation to sports, in particular Association football, Rugby football and to a lesser extent Cricket. Transient successes are often accompanied by a revival of the use of the "St George's Cross". While it has not yet replaced the "Union Flag" its use is on the increase. Many English people who have spent a lot of time overseas fall into the habit of referring to themselves as "English". It is the most recognisable designation by speakers of many languages, especially where their own language uses a similar word. Even in other English-speaking countries, people are often perplexed by concepts of "British" or the "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland". All these distinctions are only possible because there is no "English citizenship" or legal definition of Englishness. Moreover, the hazy understanding many people have of the distinction between "England" and "Britain" compounds the confusion. If in doubt, refer to an "English" person as "British": this will always be correct. It may not be as precise as "English", but it will avoid offence in the event the person is actually from a different part of Britain.

Culture

Union Flag Main article: Culture of England
- English literature
  - Sir Thomas Browne
  - Geoffrey Chaucer
  - John Milton
  - William Shakespeare
  - Jane Austen
  - Mary Shelley
  - Charles Dickens
  - Thomas Hardy
  - George Orwell
  - J. R. R. Tolkien
  - C. S. Lewis
  - Douglas Adams
- List of national parks of England and Wales
- Food and Drink
- English folklore
- English art
  - English school of painting
- Music of England

Languages

Music of England.]] 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 Anglo-Frisian branch of the Germanic family, it is closely related to Scots and Frisian. As the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms merged into England, "Old English" emerged; some of its literature and poetry has survived. Used by aristocracy and commoners alike before the Norman Conquest (1066), English was displaced in cultured contexts under the new regime by the Norman French language of the new Anglo-French aristocracy. Its use was confined primarily to the lower social classes while official business was conducted in a mixture of Latin and French. Over the following centuries, however, English gradually came back into fashion among all classes and for all official business except certain traditional ceremonies. (Some survive to this day.) But Middle English, as it had by now become, showed many signs of French influence, both in vocabulary and spelling. During the Renaissance, many words were coined from Latin and Greek origins; and more recent years, Modern English has extended this custom, being always remarkable for its far-flung willingness to incorporate foreign-influenced words. The law does not recognise any language as being official, but English is the only language used in England for general official business. The other national languages of the UK (Welsh, Irish Gaelic and Scottish Gaelic) are confined to their respective nations, and only Welsh is treated by law as an equal to English (and then only for organisations which do business in Wales). 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 by around 3,500 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 [http://www.cornwall.gov.uk/cornish/strategy/english/engl01.htm 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. Most deaf people within England speak British sign language (BSL), a sign language native to Britain. The British Deaf Association estimates that 70,000 people throughout the UK speak BSL as their first or preferred language, but does not give statistics specific to England. Like Cornish, BSL has no official status, but has been granted a degree of recognition by the government. The BBC broadcasts several of its programmes with BSL interpreters. Different languages from around the world, especially from the former British Empire and the Commonwealth of Nations, have been brought to England by immigrants. Many of these are widely spoken within ethnic minority communities, including Punjabi, Hindi, Urdu, Bengali, Gujarati, Chinese and Vietnamese. These are often used by official bodies to communicate with the relevant sections of the community, particularly in big cities, but this occurs on an "as needed" basis rather than as the result of specific legislative ordinances. Other languages have also traditionally been spoken by minority populations in England, including Romany. Despite the relatively small size of the nation, there are a large number of distinct English regional accents. Those with particularly strong accents may not be easily understood elsewhere in the country.

Nomenclature

The country is named after the Angles, one of several Germanic tribes who settled the country in the 5th and 6th centuries. There are two distinct linguistic patterns for the name of the country. The majority of European languages use names akin to "England":
- "England" (Danish, German, Swedish, Norwegian)
- "Engeland" (Dutch)
- "Inglismaa" (Estonian)
- "Angleterre" (French)
- "Inghilterra" (Italian)
- "Inglaterra" (Spanish, Portuguese, Galician)
- "Anglia" (Hungarian, Polish, Romanian, Albanian)
- "Anglija" (Russian, Slovene, Lithuanian, Ukrainian)
- "Engleska" (Croatian, Serbian)
- "Αγγλία" ("Anglía") (Greek)
- "Englanti" (Finnish) The Celtic names are quite different:
- "Bro-Saoz" (Breton)
- "Pow Sows" (Cornish)
- "Sasana" (Irish)
- "Sasainn" (Scottish Gaelic)
- "Lloegr" (Welsh) — but "Saeson" for the inhabitants.
- "Sostyn" (Manx Gaelic) Except for Lloegr, which is an ancient geographic term, these names are all derived from the Saxons, another family of Germanic tribes which arrived at about the same time as the Angles. See: Wiktionary:England for a further list of non-English names for England. "England" is sometimes mistakenly used to refer to the entire United Kingdom, the island of Great Britain, or the British Isles. This may offend people from other parts of the UK. Frequently the English use the less-specific "Britain" or "the UK", even when "England" is technically correct and commonly also use "England" when "Britain" would be correct. Alternative names include:
- the slang "Blighty", from the Hindustani "bila yati" meaning "foreign"
- "Albion", an ancient name popularised by Pliny the Elder and Ptolemy in the 1st century. Supposedly referring to the white (Latin alba) cliffs of Dover, this term has also been interpreted as a relative of Alba, today the Scots Gaelic name for Scotland. Whatever its origins, "Albion" originally referred to the whole island of Great Britain and is still sometimes seen that way today — but is more often used for England.
- More poetically, England has been called "this sceptred isle...this other Eden" and "this green and pleasant land", quotations respectively from the poetry of William Shakespeare (in Richard II) and William Blake (And did those feet in ancient time). The inhabitants of England are the English. The slang terms sometimes used for them include "Sassenachs" (from the Scots Gaelic), "Limeys" (in reference to the citrus fruits carried aboard English sailing vessels to prevent scurvy) and "Pom/Pommy" (used in Australian English and New Zealand English), but these may be perceived as offensive. Also see alternative words for British.

Symbols and insignia

alternative words for British.]] The two traditional symbols of England are the St. George's cross (the English flag) and the Three Lions coat of arms (see above), both derived from the great Norman powers that formed the monarchy – the Cross of Aquitaine and the Lions of Anjou. The three lions were first definitely used by Richard I (Richard the Lionheart) in the late 12th century (although it is also possible that Henry I may have bestowed it on his son Henry before then). Historian Simon Schama has argued that the Three Lions are the true symbol of England because the English throne descended down the Angevin line. 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 (which English and Scottish ships had used at sea since 1606) was adopted for all 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. (Paradoxically, the latter is a fairly recent development; until the late 20th century, it was commonplace for fans of English teams to wave the Union Flag, rather than the St George's Cross). The rose is widely recognised as the national flower of England and is used in a variety of contexts. Predominantly, this is a red rose (which also symbolises Lancashire), such as the badge of the English Rugby Union team. However, a white rose (which also symbolises Yorkshire) or a "tudor rose" (symbolising the end of the War of the Roses) may also be used on different occasions. The Three Lions badge performs a similar role for the English national football team and English national cricket team.

National anthems

Although England does not have an official anthem of its own, the following are widely regarded as English national hymns:
- "Jerusalem:" Words by William Blake, Music by Hubert Parry
- "I Vow to Thee, My Country": Words by Cecil Spring-Rice, Music by Gustav Holst
- "Land of Hope and Glory": Words by A C Benson, Music by Edward Elgar (although this refers to all of Great Britain, not only England)
- "Nimrod": Music by Edward Elgar "God Save The Queen" (the national anthem for the UK as a whole) is usually played for English sporting events (e.g. football matches), although "Land of Hope and Glory" has also been used as the English anthem for the Commonwealth Games. "Rule Britannia" despite being a song about Britain as a whole was often used for the English national football team when they play against another of the home nations but more recently "God Save The Queen" has been used by both the rugby and football teams. Many believe that English teams should use their own anthems, most popular of which is the use of "Jerusalem".

References


- [http://www.statistics.gov.uk Office of National Statistics]

See also


-
- English language
- English law
- English (people)
- List of monarchs of England – Kings of England family tree
- List of English people
- Angeln (region in northern Germany, presumably the origin of the Angles for whom England is named)
- UK topics
- List of not fully sovereign nations
- Education in England

References

External links


- [http://www.enjoyengland.com/ The official website of the English Tourist Board — Enjoy England]
- [http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/state/nations/ BBC Nations]: articles on England and her neighbours Category:Monarchies Category:European countries als:England zh-min-nan:England ko:잉글랜드 ms:England ja:イングランド simple:England th:แคว้นอังกฤษ



Surrey

:For other places with the same name, see (disambiguation). Surrey is a county in southern England, part of the South East England region and one of the Home Counties.

Location and divisions

Surrey borders Berkshire, Greater London, Hampshire, Kent, East Sussex and West Sussex. It is divided into 11 boroughs and districts: Elmbridge, Epsom and Ewell, Guildford, Mole Valley, Reigate and Banstead, Runnymede, Spelthorne, Surrey Heath, Tandridge, Waverley, Woking.

Settlement

Surrey has a population of approximately one million. The traditional county town is Kingston upon Thames, which was lost to the county following the continued expansion of London. The present county town is Guildford, which despite having a cathedral is not a city, and which is home to the University of Surrey. Today, the council is still based in Kingston although there are plans to move the offices to Woking. Due to its proximity to London