England

 

This week I am looking at the country of England, last year I wrote about the United Kingdom of which England is part.

The area now known as England has a long history, with evidence of human presence dating back over 800,000 years, with stone tools and footprints discovered at Happisburgh in Norfolk. 

Though the Kingdom of England, as a unified entity, emerged in the late 9th century and existed until 1707 when it united with Scotland to form the Kingdom of Great Britain. 

The Romans invaded and occupied the area in AD 43, leaving a significant impact on the region's culture and infrastructure. After the Romans left in the 5th century, the area was inhabited by various Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. 

The Kingdom of England emerged in the late 9th century as various Anglo-Saxon kingdoms were unified under a single ruler. 

The Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland were united under one monarch in 1603, and in 1707, they formally merged to form the Kingdom of Great Britain. The Kingdom of Great Britain existed from 1707 to 1801, when it merged with the Kingdom of Ireland to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. 

England's population is estimated to be around 56.5 million, representing about 84.3% of the total UK population. 

The dominant religion in England is Christianity, with the Church of England being the established state church, although it represents less than half of the population, with a growing number of people identifying as non-religious. 

Other religions include Islam, Hinduism, Sikhism, Judaism, Buddhism. There is also an increase in the number of people identifying as non-religious.

Besides the Church of England, other Christian traditions include Roman Catholicism, Methodism, Presbyterianism, Mormonism, and Baptists. 

The current Prime Minster is Keir Starmer elections are held when the prime minster calls for one. As the ability to request a dissolution of parliament and call a general election lies with the prime minister. This means that a prime minister can effectively announce an election at a time of their choosing.

 

If the prime minister does not call an election earlier, then parliament would be automatically dissolved “the beginning of the day that is the fifth anniversary of the day on which it first met”, with the election being held 25 working days after that date. This means the latest date for the next general election will be 21 August 2029.

The legal age to drink, vote or marry is 18, although until 2023 you could legally marry as young as 16 with your parents’ consent.

The law also expands the offence of forced marriage to make it illegal to arrange for a child under 18 to marry, regardless of whether force or coercion is used. 

Adults who facilitate underage marriages can face up to seven years in prison. 

The law change aims to protect vulnerable children from being forced into marriage and to address the damaging impact of child marriage. 

The legal minimum age to work is 13 years old, but with restrictions, and young people can work full-time once they reach the minimum school leaving age which is 16.

The legal age to join the British Armed Forces is 16, but with parental consent, and those under 18 will be considered junior soldiers until they turn 18, at which point they can become regular soldiers. 

If you're under 17 years and 6 months old, you'll start your Army career at the Army Foundation College, Harrogate, as a Junior Soldier. You can become a regular soldier at 18 years old. 

You can start your application when you're 15 years and 7 months old, but you won't be able to go to the assessment centre until you're at least 15 years and 9 months old. 

Those who sign on when 16 or 17 must serve until they are 22. However, a soldier cannot be deployed to the front line until they are aged 18. 

In England, you can start receiving the state pension, at the age of 66, but it is set to rise to 67 by 2028 and to 68 from 2044. 

Ok that’s enough for this post, I may do a part two looking at other stuff about the country.