Physical Geography

England covers 130,395 sq. km, with London on latitude 51° 30' (Kyiv is on 50° 25').

Much of the terrain of England is gently rolling hills, although there is one major range of hills, the Pennines, that passes between Leeds and Manchester. The highest peak is not part of that range - Scafell Pjke at 978m in the Lake District, one of England's seven National Parks.

Although renowned for having a mild, damp climate throughout the year, the highest temperature ever recorded in England was 38.5° on August 10, 2003 in Kent. Snow is relatively rare in the south of England and any at all causes traffic chaos, but normal in the north of the country.

The sea gap to France is 34 km. The Channel Tunnel near Dover links England to Europe.

Human Geography and Demographics

England is both the most populous and the most ethnically diverse nation in the United Kingdom with around 49 million inhabitants, of which about a quarter live in the greater London area. There are 24m male and 25m female inhabitants. 90.7 % were born in the UK. Roughly a tenth are from non-white ethnic groups.

The population of England is mostly made up of, and descended from, immigrants who have arrived over millennia.

England has 39 "traditional counties" which are not equivalent to contemporary local government territories. These counties came from the Shires that were formed after the various Kingdoms, (such as Mercia, Wessex, Northumbria and Kent), that made up the Territory of England, were assimilated into one united Kingdom. The first shires were created by the Anglo-Saxons in what is now England and south eastern Scotland. Shires were controlled by a royal official known as a "shire reeve" or sheriff.

From Anglo-Saxon times, from about the 7^th century to the late 19^th century, the original "shires" all gradually became Counties as the boundaries were moved with changes in population and demographic profiles. Simply, a County was made up of Hundreds, which themselves were made up of Tithings.

London

London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. Its core area is 1,579 square km with a population of 7.2 million, administered by 32 Borough Councils 25 Greater London County. However as any visitor sees, it is an indeterminate area at around 12 million, taking into account the areas of the Home Counties that merge r.to the capital. This makes it exceptional if only for the reason that a quarter of the population of England is in this densely populated area. In 2004 a "metropolitan area" was defined by the Greater London local government that is not yet approved y central government, which incorporates an area that has a population of 18m.

The City of London or "Square Mile" is the financial centre of London, home to banks, brokers, insurers and legal and accounting firms. A second financial district is developing at Canary Wharf to the east of central London. This is much smaller than the City of London, but has equally prestigious occupants, including the global headquarters of HSBC Bank.

There are 35 road, rail and foot bridges over the River Thames in London, 18 of them being major road bridges. The oldest is London Bridge, the first version being built about 2000 years ago. A series of London Bridges were then built, each wider and stronger until a major bridge was built by the engineer John Rennie for 2 million pounds, the equivalent of billions today and opened in 1831. It needed to be replaced in the 1960s and was sold for 2.5m USD to an American casino owner in 1968 and shipped to Arizona, where it now stands. It has always been believed that the proud new owner thought he was buying Tower Bridge. Nevertheless, Rennie's London Bridge today is the second most popular tourist attraction in Arizona after the Grand Canyon.

Tower Bridge itself is London's most dramatic river crossing and a world landmark. It is so called as it is very close to the Tower of London. Alternative designs were fiercely debated over for 8 years until work started on the present design in 1886. It took another 8 years to build and is a opening steel bridge with the steel end constructions each clad in a mock Victorian Gothic tower.

London is full of historic buildings - one of the most interesting to visit is Westminster Abbey which is crammed full of the tombs of personalities from world history over:he past thousand years.

One of the central squares of London is Trafalgar Square where many Londoners greet the New Year. The National Gallery (of Art) is on the square and Leicester Square is very close by.

Nelson's Column is in the centre of the square, surrounded by fountains and four huge bronze lions sculpted by Sir Edwin Landseer; the metal used is said to have been recycled from the cannons of the French fleet. The column is topped by a statue of Lord Nelson, the admiral who com­manded the British Fleet at Trafalgar.

Piccadilly Circus is a circular "square" or perhaps better, an area and traffic intersection, in the City of Westminster, near Soho and the main theatre district known as the West End.

Buckingham Palace is the official London residence of the Queen and the largest "working" royal palace remaining in the world. The palace was built for the Duke of Buckingham in 1703 but bought by George III in 1762 as a private residence.

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