England
England is a constituent country of the United Kingdom located on the island of Great Britain in the north-west of Europe. It is home of the English language currently spoken by perhaps a billion people worldwide, and was the seat of an empire that spanned the globe. England is the largest of the UK's constituent countries, both in terms of area and population. It is also home to the UK's capital and parliament, making this area politically and economically important to the UK as a whole. England's government is technically a Constitutional Monarchy, although it exhibits many aspects of socialism.
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Religion
In 1533 AD King Henry VIII formed the Church of England (CoE) after the pope refused to annul the marriage between the king and Catherine of Aragon; while originally the CoE followed a policy of Catholic without the pope, his successors Edward VI and Elizabeth I moved the church in a far more protestant direction. Henry established himself as the head of the church and made it the state religion of England. This situation continues to this day, although in much modified form. The queen is still the nominal head of the church, although purely as a figurehead. Decisions technically taken by the queen are in fact done only on the advice of her ministers, who in matters of the church invariably act on the advice of the church leaders. Until recently certain bishops of the Church of England were automatically given seats in the House of Lords. The Church of England is closely involved with the ceremonies associated with England, for example at coronations or royal weddings and funerals.
Since the Reformation the country has remained primarily Anglican with the notable exception of the Catholic reigns of Mary I and James II. More recently, the number of Roman Catholics is poised to overtake the number of Anglicans in the country, a trend that is likely to continue with an influx of migrants from Catholic countries such as Ireland and recent EU accession countries such as Poland[1]. As with the UK as a whole, the significant minority religions include Hinduism, Judaism and Islam.
A 2001 census gave the following figures for religious affiliation: Christianity: 71.6%, Islam: 3.1%, Hindu: 1.1%, Sikh: 0.7%, Jewish: 0.5%, and Buddhist: 0.3%, No Faith: 22.3%. Approximately 7% of responders did not answer the question.[1]
Schools
Unlike American schools, state run Comprehensive schools in England have a daily act of Christian worship, although there have been efforts in recent times to remove this, to reflect the multifaith make-up of England [2]. There is support for some "faith schools", such as Peter Vardy's Emmanuel Schools Foundation through the Academies program. [3]
Influence
England is the home of the English language, which was later spread to all parts of the world by the British Empire, along with traditional English concepts such as the rule of law, universal suffrage, parliamentary government, the jury system, and freedom of speech.
References
See also
External links
- English Heritage - English history website