England

England is the largest, the most populous, and the most densely populated of the nations that make up the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

The name “England” is derived from “Engla-lond” or “land of the Angles”.

Egbert, King of Wessex (d.839 AD) is often regarded as the first king of all England, though his official title was Bretwalda (literally, “Overlord of Britain”) and he was technically a “first among equals” with other English rulers. The title “King of England” emerged two generations later with Alfred the Great (ruled 871-899 AD).

Notable dates:

• England has existed as a unified entity since the 10th century;
• the union between England and Wales, begun in 1284 with the Statute of Rhuddlan, 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;
• the legislative union of Great Britain and Ireland was implemented in 1801, with the adoption of the name the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland;
• the Anglo-Irish treaty of 1921 formalized a partition of Ireland;
• six northern Irish counties remained part of the United Kingdom as Northern Ireland and the current name of the country, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, was adopted in 1927.

[source: CIA World Fact Book]

The English Flag

England’s flag is the Cross of St. George, a red cross on a white background.

It has been the national flag since the 13th century, and is a component of the British flag.

English links

News:
[BBC News - England]

Visitor information:
[English Heritage]
[Lonely Planet guide]
[Visit England - UK Tourism Industry]

Images:
[Images of England]
[Pictures of England]

More information:
[Wikipedia - England]
[CIA World Fact Book]

Great Britain

Britain is the island, comprising the main territory of the United Kingdom, and consisting of England, Scotland, and Wales.

One problem is that the terms Britain and British are often used to refer to the whole of the UK, and not just Great Britain. For example, United Kingdom monarchs are often called “British monarchs”; Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom are often called “British Prime Ministers”. Such usage is generally seen as correct. However the use of the term English for British, as in “Queen of England” is clearly incorrect; England in a sense of a separate state has not existed since 1707.

GB info

More information:
Wikipedia – Great Britain

United Kingdom

(The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland)

Wales joined with England following the 1536 Act Of Union, and the 1707 Act Of Union created the Kingdom of Great Britain, incorporating England, Wales and Scotland.

The Kingdom of Britain merged with the Kingdom of Ireland to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland on 1 January 1801. The United Kingdom shrank a little in 1922 when most of Ireland left to become the Irish Free State (Eire).

In 1999 the first elections to the newly created Scottish Parliament and National Assembly For Wales left England as the only nation in the Union with no representative body.

The Union Flag

The flag of the United Kingdom is the Union Flag; it is only the Union Jack when it is flown from the jack mast of a ship.


The Union Flag, 1606.

The creation of the original Union Flag started in 1603 when James VI of Scotland also became James I of England and on April 12, 1606 the first ‘Union Flag’ was created. It was a superposition of the red cross of St. George of England and the saltire of St. Andrew of Scotland. Note however that the ground of the Union Flag is a deep “navy” blue. The blue ground of the Scottish national flag, the saltire, from which the blue ground of the Union Flag is derived, is a lighter “sky” blue. The Welsh flag never became part of the Union Flag, as Wales had been annexed by Edward I of England much earlier on and so was considered part of the kingdom of England.

The Union Flag, 1801.

The current Union Flag dates from January 1, 1801 with the Act of Union with Ireland. The new design added the red saltire cross attributed to St. Patrick for Ireland. The saltire is counterchanged to combine it with the saltire of St. Andrew. The red cross actually comes from the heraldic device of the Fitzgerald family who were sent by Henry II of England to subjugate Ireland and has never been used as an emblem of Ireland by the Irish.