England, home to the world's largest financial center, has many interesting places and facts that one should know. It is the largest and the most populated country as compared to all the constituents of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. It is northwest to Continental Europe. England covers almost two-thirds of the southern areas of the island of Great Britain. Now, let us know some facts about England.
Interesting Facts About England
Interesting Facts About England
- England is bordered by Scotland to the north and Wales to the west. It takes its name from Angles. Angles was the name of the Germanic tribes that settled in the territory during the fifth and sixth century.
- England enjoys a temperate climate. It has rainfall all year around. The seasons are however variable in temperature. Temperature rarely falls below minus five degrees Celsius or rise above thirty degrees Celsius. The weather is therefore mild and wet, due to the prevailing wind from the Atlantic Ocean, which lies to the southwest of England.
- England is the second largest economy in Europe. It is the fifth largest economy in the world. It is also the largest of the four economies of the United Kingdom. At least a hundred of Europe's five hundred largest corporations are based in London.
- The chief sectors in England are chemical, aerospace, arms industry, pharmaceutical and the hardware industry. London, capital of England, imports materials like tea, raw sugar, timber, butter, meat and various metals. Tourism is the sixth largest industry in the United Kingdom. The epicenter of tourism is London. Tourism employs about six to seven percent of the total population.
- It exports manufactured goods, with beef being one of the main goods it exports.
- Once again, the service industry has seen a robust growth in the past few decades, heralding a decline in the manufacturing industries. England is also home to the London Stock Exchange. The London Stock Exchange is the largest stock exchange in Europe and is the main stock exchange in the United Kingdom. The official currency of England is the Pound Sterling.
- England is one of the most populous countries in the world. It has almost thrice the population of Australia and California. Its population is only three times lesser than the population of Japan. However, England is seventy-four times smaller than the United States of America, three times smaller than Japan and fifty-nine times smaller than Australia.
- The English love their tea. They consume more tea per capita than any other country in the world. Their tea consumption is more than thrice of Japan and a whopping twenty-two times more than America or France.
- England has many cultural and other places of interest all over its territory. It was the host to the world's first ever modern Olympic Games, and not Athens as it is popularly said. The first modern Olympic Games were in Much Wenlock in Shropshire, England in 1850. The Olympic Games in Athens were held in 1896, almost half a century later.
- England also has the world's used books market at Hay-on-Wye, a small village bordering England and Wales. It's a country of high society and high tea, intellect, education and culture. Therefore, it is evident that things to do with knowledge, for example books will be found in England. The world's oldest and largest chained library lies in the Hereford Cathedral, England. This place also has the world's best preserved Mappa Mundi.
- The first building to overtake the Great Pyramid of Giza was the Lincoln Cathedral in 1280. It held the title of the highest construction ever built until 1884, though it was demolished in 1549.
- The Windsor castle is the oldest royal residence in the world still in use. It occupies more than thirteen acres of land and combines the features of a fortification, a palace and a small town.
- The world's oldest public zoo was opened in London in 1828.
