England is one of the four constituent nations of the United Kingdom. Its territory is geographically formed by the southern and central part of Great Britain, an island that shares with Scotland and Wales, and about 100 smaller islands like the Isle of Sorlingas and the Isle of Wight. It is bordered to the north by Scotland, west by Wales – its two land borders – to the northwest by the Irish Sea, to the southwest by the Celtic Sea, to the east by the North Sea and to the south by the Channel.

The territory of present-day England has been inhabited by various cultures for about 35 000 years, but takes its name from the Angles, one of the Germanic peoples who settled there during the 5th and 6th centuries. It became a unified state in the year 927 and since the age of discovery, which began in the 15th century, has had a great cultural and legal impact throughout the world. The English language, the Anglican Church and the Law of England – taken as the basis for the legal system of many other countries in the world – developed in England, and the parliamentary system of government has been widely adopted by other nations.

The Kingdom of England – which since 1284 also included Wales – was an independent state until 1707, when the Act of Union with Scotland was signed, to create the Kingdom of Great Britain. In 1801 Ireland joined the Kingdom of Great Britain thus creating the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland until 1922. With the independence and partition of Ireland since then it is the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.