ENGLAND

Cosimo Cannata

I.T.C.G. “Leonardo Da Vinci”

Piazza Armerina (EN)

a.s. 2009/2010

KEY FACTS

Capital: London Population: 47,000,000 Geographic size: 130,423 sq km It is an island off the west coast of the

European mainland. Much of England is rolling hills with

occasional small fields or flatland

Scafell Pike, the highest point of England is located in the northwest with an elevation of 978 metres

Most southerly point: Lizard Point

MAJOR CITIES

Greater London 6,933,000 Birmingham 1,012,000 Leeds 725,000 Liverpool 477,000 Manchester 433,000 Bristol 398,000

THE CLIMATE

England has a mild and temperate climate It is influenced by the North Atlantic Drift and

the southwesterly winds Average temperature ranges in London are

from 2 to 6 degrees Celsius in January to 13 to 22 degrees Celsius in July

Rainfall is fairly evenly distributed throughout the year with March to June the driest period and September to January the wettest

TIMELINES OF ENGLISH HISTORY

5000 BC- 100 BC: prehistoric period 55 BC- 410 AD: Roman Britain 410- 937: early British kingdoms 597- 1066: Anglo-Saxon England 1066- 1487: the Medieval Britain 1486- 1689: the Reformation and the

Restoration period 1689- 1901: The Age of Empire

THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT

Parliamentary democracy with a constitutional monarchy

Queen Elizabeth II as a head of the state The continuity of the monarchy has been

interrupted only once (the republic of 1649-60) in over a thousand years

Parliament is made up of the House of Commons, the House of Lords and the Queen in her constitutional role

RELIGIONS

59% of the population Protestant 9% are Roman Catholic Other religious minorities include

Muslims which account for 3% of the population

There are also Jewish, Hindu and Sikh minorities.

DEMOGRAPHIC/ VITAL STATISTICS

238 people per sq km Urban-rural: 91.5% urban, 8.5% rural Sex distribution: 48.8% male, 51.2%

female Life expectancy: 72.2 years male, 77.9

years female

PEOPLE DISTRIBUTION

94.2% the Whites 9.6% Scottish 2.4% Irish 1.9% Welsh 2% West Indian, Asian or African

AGE BREAKDOWN

19

22

21

17

14

7

0 5 10 15 20 25

<15

15-29

30-44

45-59

60-74

>75

TH

E A

GE

OF

PE

OP

LE

% of population

EDUCATION

89%

5% 6%

Primary/Secondary

Incompletepost secondary

Higher

(among people aged 25 or over)

Some of the oldest universities in the world (Oxford and Cambridge)

Hertford College of the Oxford University

THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD

It consists of 39 official colleges and the six Permanent Private Halls

There are five academic divisions in the university

Humanities Division, Life and Environmental Sciences Division, Mathematical and Physical Sciences Division, Medical Sciences Division and Social Sciences Division

THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE

It consists of 31 colleges (three of them are only for women)

There are more than 100 departments, faculties and schools plus a central administration

Each college is an independent institution with its own property and income

MAIN POINTS OF INTEREST FOR THE TOURISTS

The Queen and the Royal Family. The Buckingham Palace and the

changing of guards Other attractions include the London

Bridge, Big Ben, the St. Pauls Cathedral and the Tower Bridge

The Tower Bridge

The changing of guards

A view of English lowland

A part of the Royal Family

‘TYPICALLY ENGLISH’

Terraced housing is a very common form of housing in England

Double decker buses are common site in London. Many foreigners have trouble driving in England

because the steering wheel is on the right hand side of the car, and you drive on the left hand side of the road

A double-decker

Terraced housing