England

(ing'gland,) the most S. and richest portion of the island of GREAT BRITAIN (q. v.). It is b. N. by Scotland, E.by the German Ocean, S. by the English Channel, and W. by the Atlantic Ocean, the principality of Wales, and the Irish Sea. Maximum length, 425 m.; breadth, fluctuating bet. 62 and 280 m. Total coast-line abt. 2,000 m. Area, 50,812 sq. m. It is divided into 40 cos. The principal islands belonging to it are those of Man, Lundy, Scilly, Walney, Sheppey, Wight, Lindisfarne, and the Channel Islands. Chief rivers. Severn, Thames, Trent, Mersey, Ouse, Medway, Tyne, Dee, Tees, Wear, Derwent, and Eden. Lakes. Der went water, Ulleswater, Winder mere, and Keswick. Estuaries. Those of the Thames, Mersey, Humber, Severn, Dee, Southampton Water, and the Wash.It has numerous capes and headlands, the chief of which appear elsewhere in this work. Mts. The principal are those of Cumber land, West more land, and Yorkshire, with the Cheviots on the Scottish border, the Derby shire " Peak," and the Cotswolds in Gloucestershire. Numerous forests are spread over the country. Soil. The major part of the land is fertile and highly productive, owing to an admirable system of tillage; while well-furnished farm-houses, and comfortable cottages everywhere meet the eye, and evince that taste for neatne and rural beauty which is so characteristic of the nation. The same features, too, on a larger and grander scale, are found in the country-seats of the nobility and squirarchy. The climate is generally moist, but mild and healthy. Chief towns. London (C. of the Brit. Empire), Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds, Birmingham, Hall, Bristol, Newcastle-on-Tyne, Sheffield, Bath, Oxford, Car lisle, & c. Under the head of Great Britain, the agricultural, commercial, and political interests of the country will be treated of. Pop. (in 1871) 22,704,108. [s. 331]