England (Listeni/'??gl?nd/) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom.

[1][ 2][3] It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west. T he Irish Sea lies north west of England, whilst the Celtic Sea lies to the south west. The North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separate i t from continental Europe. Most of England comprises the central and southern pa rt of the island of Great Britain which lies in the North Atlantic. The country also includes over 100 smaller islands such as the Isles of Scilly, and the Isle of Wight. The area now called England was first inhabited by modern humans during the Uppe r Palaeolithic period, but it takes its name from the Angles, one of the Germani c tribes who settled during the 5th and 6th centuries. England became a unified state in 927 AD, and since the Age of Discovery, which began during the 15th cen tury, has had a significant cultural and legal impact on the wider world.[4] The English language, the Anglican Church, and English law the basis for the common law legal systems of many other countries around the world developed in England , and the country's parliamentary system of government has been widely adopted b y other nations.[5] The Industrial Revolution began in 18th-century England, tra nsforming its society into the world's first industrialised nation.[6] England's terrain mostly comprises low hills and plains, especially in central a nd southern England. However, there are uplands in the north (for example, the m ountainous Lake District, Pennines, and Yorkshire Dales) and in the south west ( for example, Dartmoor and the Cotswolds). The former capital of England was Winc hester until replaced by London in the 12th century. Today London is the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom and the largest urban zone in the Europ ean Union by most measures.[nb 3] The population of over 53 million comprises 84 % of the population of the United Kingdom, largely concentrated around London, t he South East, and conurbations in the Midlands, the North West, the North East and Yorkshire, which each developed as major industrial regions during the 19th century.[7] The Kingdom of England which after 1284 included Wales was a soverei gn state until 1 May 1707, when the Acts of Union put into effect the terms agre ed in the Treaty of Union the previous year, resulting in a political union with the Kingdom of Scotland to create the Kingdom of Great Britain.[8][9] In 1801, Great Britain was united with the Kingdom of Ireland through another Act of Unio n to become the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. In 1922 the Irish F ree State seceded from the United Kingdom, leading to the latter being renamed t he United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.