Welcome to England

  • Castle Combe, the prettiest village in England?

    © Gordon Bell/Shutterstock

    Photo of Castle Combe – a small village in England

  • Typical English pub

    © rachelc/Shutterstock

    Photo of a typical English pub

  • Burghley House – medieval castle in Stamford

    © mary416/Shutterstock

    Photo of Burghley House – a medieval castle in Stamford

  • Cotton mill in Lancashire ca. 1835

    © Everett Historical/Shutterstock

    Illustration of a cotton mill in Lancashire ca. 1835

  • Steam engine

    © jpique/iStockphotos

    Photo of a steam engine

  • Multicultural England

    © Mike Kemp/Corbis/NTB scanpix

    Photo of people of different ethnic origin leaving a shopping centre in London
Switch to normal version 
[
    [0] Explain::Portfolio::Container  {
            internals: {
                children               undef,
                created                "2015-04-07 14:09:43.647256+00" (dualvar: 2015),
                custom_init            "section_include_containers=0|layout=homepage",
                description            undef,
                description_language   "nb_NO",
                header                 "dfdc1a9c-45cf-430d-8cd0-af556be8e3a3",
                id                     "2b8efcfe-8037-4c12-a2ef-736a2ae78924" (dualvar: 2),
                layout                 undef,
                lom                    undef,
                owner                  "22222222-2222-2222-2222-222222222222" (dualvar: 22222222),
                parent                 undef,
                sort_key               undef,
                sort_number            undef,
                title                  "Crossroads",
                title_language         "nb_NO",
                type                   "folder",
                update_references      1,
                updated                "2021-07-15 19:01:42.554544+00" (dualvar: 2021)
            }
        },
    [1] Explain::Portfolio::Container  {
            internals: {
                children               undef,
                created                "2015-04-08 09:55:20.962674+00" (dualvar: 2015),
                custom_init            "include_object_siblings=1|layout=invisible",
                description            undef,
                description_language   "nb_NO",
                header                 "b433f80d-15c0-4e46-a5fa-64dae20c69b7",
                id                     "23f3d2ea-cd48-426b-92bb-a0608cc05ac9" (dualvar: 23),
                layout                 undef,
                lom                    undef,
                owner                  "cab1cd20-1b01-4bef-a961-5db84627086a",
                parent                 "2b8efcfe-8037-4c12-a2ef-736a2ae78924" (dualvar: 2),
                sort_key               undef,
                sort_number            10,
                title                  "English around the world",
                title_language         "nb_NO",
                type                   "folder",
                update_references      1,
                updated                "2015-05-15 08:28:56.419157+00" (dualvar: 2015)
            }
        },
    [2] Explain::Portfolio::Container  {
            internals: {
                children               undef,
                created                "2015-11-02 08:40:13.783827+00" (dualvar: 2015),
                custom_init            "content_type=easy|alt_content_container=7b076d0a-ecf1-43ea-8845-c9618017471f|redirect_first_child_container=1|layout=invisible",
                description            undef,
                description_language   "nn_NO",
                header                 undef,
                id                     "c09c38bc-5bdb-4801-86c4-c3d79b1e865a",
                layout                 undef,
                lom                    undef,
                owner                  "cab1cd20-1b01-4bef-a961-5db84627086a",
                parent                 "23f3d2ea-cd48-426b-92bb-a0608cc05ac9" (dualvar: 23),
                sort_key               "index_asc",
                sort_number            undef,
                title                  "England",
                title_language         "nn_NO",
                type                   "folder",
                update_references      1,
                updated                "2015-11-02 08:49:51.74663+00" (dualvar: 2015)
            }
        },
    [3] Explain::Portfolio::Container  {
            internals: {
                children               undef,
                created                "2015-11-02 09:24:34.742844+00" (dualvar: 2015),
                custom_init            undef,
                description            undef,
                description_language   "nn_NO",
                header                 "65dcab8d-3fc0-4fff-ae4a-09fc6c6ceab4" (dualvar: 65),
                id                     "2c3c7da6-a7b5-41ed-9bc2-b81168ef3426" (dualvar: 2),
                layout                 undef,
                lom                    undef,
                owner                  "cab1cd20-1b01-4bef-a961-5db84627086a",
                parent                 "c09c38bc-5bdb-4801-86c4-c3d79b1e865a",
                sort_key               "index_asc",
                sort_number            10,
                title                  "1 Welcome to England" (dualvar: 1),
                title_language         "nn_NO",
                type                   "folder",
                update_references      1,
                updated                "2015-11-02 09:25:28.788687+00" (dualvar: 2015)
            }
        }
]

Welcome to England

Welcome to England

What is England? The fantasy picture for many people is a little village in the countryside. It has just a few houses and the gardens are full of flowers. There is also a church and a friendly pub. A place where time stands still.

But England is much more than this, of course. It was the first industrialized country in the world. It was the first to use railways, modern ships and factories. English inventions changed the whole world, and they still do. Did you know what Sir Tim Berners-Lee invented, for example? The worldwide web.

England is a small country, but it has produced many scientists and thinkers. You have probably heard of Sir Isaac Newton and Stephen Hawking. England has hundreds of other world-famous writers, musicians, artists, actors and sportsmen and women, as well.

England is also a multicultural country. People whose families lived in British colonies have now settled in England. There are people here from the Baltics, Turkey, China, Russia and other countries, too.

So what does it mean to be English in the 21st century? It is not as clear as in the past. Many look back to when England (or Britain) was “Great”, when it ruled a quarter of the world. Many blame the EU or globalization for problems in England today. Recently, Scottish nationalism has also made many English people ask: “Who are we? Who do we want to be in the modern world?”

Spinner

Login