不列颠之狮
英格兰位于英伦三岛上，苏格兰以南，威尔士以东，是大不列颠及北爱尔兰联合王国面积最大，人口最多，经济最发达的一个部分。历史上跟苏格兰以哈德良长城为界。
英格兰这个名字源自“盎格鲁－撒克逊”（AngloSaxon）的简写，他们是继维京人和凯尔特人之后来到这个地方的日耳曼民族，他们位于主岛的西南方。
英格兰是联合王国四个主要地区中面积最大以及人口最多的地方。之所以会有这种地区上的划分，可以追溯到5世纪时盎格鲁-萨克逊人的到来。而英格兰地区在政治上的统一则是从10世纪开始的。
英国首都伦敦是世界着名的文化名城。她不仅拥有古老悠远的历史和光辉灿烂的文化，更是现代大都市和传统文明最和谐自然的统一。浸透着独特英伦气质的伦敦市区街道之间，比比皆是气势恢宏的广场、剧院和风格前卫而不失雅致的餐厅、酒吧，处处散发着令人神往的气息。
英格兰北部地区湖光山色交相辉映，阅尽沧桑的城堡、壮美迤逦的海岸线、如诗如画的国家公园引人入胜；古色古香的约克城、充满活力的布莱克浦（Blackpool），因足球而声名远扬的曼彻斯特，无一不是享有盛誉的旅游名城。
由北向南，景致渐趋柔和平缓：安详静谧的乡间小道、波光粼粼的内陆湖泊水道、东部海岸微微发亮的沼泽地带……这里不仅有莎士比亚的故乡斯特拉特福德（Stratford），更有鼎鼎大名的剑桥大学城。
从伦敦再往南，满眼皆是奇葩斗妍的英式经典园林、默然傲立的临水小舍和奢华而内敛的深宅大院。英格兰南部海滨的沙滩休闲胜地、古老的市集小镇一样别具风情。位于世界文化遗产巨石阵（Stonehenge）附近的温切斯特（Winchester）和索尔兹伯里（Salisbury）则以雄伟的教堂驰名……
伦敦西南部拥有更多动静咸宜的观光胜地：康沃尔（Cornwall）半岛崎岖的海岸线是冲浪的绝佳场所；科茨沃尔德（Cotswolds）丘陵地带所特有的茅草顶乡间别墅更是独树一帜、赏心悦目；萨默塞特（Somerset）的苹果酒和德文郡（Devon）的英式下午茶醇香四溢，令人不禁浮想联翩，沉醉于此……
England is the largest and most populouspopulous adj.人口多的， 人口稠密的 country of the United Kingdom， occupying most of the southern twothirds of the island of Great Britain. It shares land bordersborder n.边界， 国界， 边， 边沿， 边境vt.与……接壤， 接近v.接壤 with fellow UK countries Scotland， to the north， and Wales， to the west. Elsewhere， it is bordered by the sea. England is named after the Angles， one of a number of Germanic tribes originating in Angeln in Northern Germany， who settled there in the 5th and 6th centuries. It has not had a distinct political identity since 1707， when Great Britain was established as a unified political entity； however， it has a legal identity separate from those of Scotland and Northern Ireland， as part of the entity “England and Wales”. England，s largest city， London， is also the capital of the United Kingdom.
Symbols and Insigniainsignia n.勋章， 徽章
The two traditional symbols of England are the St. George，s cross (the English flag) and the Three Lions coat of arms (heraldically， three leopards) (see above)， both derived from the great Norman powers that formed the monarchy - the Cross of Aquitaine and the Lions of Anjou. The three lions were first definitely used by Richard I (Richard the Lionheart) in the late 12th century (although it is also possible that Henry I may have bestowed it on his son Henry before then). Historian Simon Schama has argued that the Three Lions are the true symbol of England because the English thronethrone n.王座， 君主 descended down the Angevin line.
A red cross acted as a symbol for many Crusaders in the 12th and 13th centuries. It became associated with St George and England， along with other countries and cities (such as Georgia， Milan and the Republic of Genoa)， which claimed him as their patron saint and used his cross as a banner. It remained in national use until 1707， when the Union Flag (which English and Scottish ships had used at sea since 1606) was adopted for all purposes to unite the whole of Great Britain under a common flag. The flag of England no longer has much of an official role， but it is widely flown by Church of England properties and at sporting events. (Paradoxically， the latter is a fairly recent development； until the late 20th century， it was commonplace for fans of English teams to wave the Union Flag， rather than the St. George，s Cross.)
The rose is widely recognised as the national flower of England and is used in a varietyvariety n.变化， 多样性， 种种， 品种， 种类 of contexts， for example as the badge of the English Rugby Union team. This rose is either a red rose (which also symbolises Lancashire)， a white rose (which also symbolises Yorkshire) or a “tudor rose” (symbolising the end of the War of the Roses).
The Three Lions badge performs a similar role for the English national football team and English national cricket team.
Geography
England comprisescomprise v.包含， 由……组成 the central and southern two thirds of the island of Great Britain， plus offshore islands of which the largest is the Isle of Wight. It is bordered to the north by Scotland and to the west by Wales. It is closer to continental Europe than any other part of Britain， divided from France only by a 21mile (34km) sea gap.
Most of England consists of rolling hills， but it is more mountainous in the north with a chain of low mountains， the Pennines， dividing east and west. The dividing line between terrain types is usually indicated by the TeesExe line. There is also an area of flat， lowlying marshlandmarshland n. 沼泽地 in the east， much of which has been drained for agricultural use.
