England, ing'gland, the southern part of the island of Great Britain. Its general outline is triangular. If we exclude Wales, the area of England is about 50,216 square miles. With the exception of the Welsh and Scottish frontiers, the entire border is a seacoast, cut by bays and estuaries, forming the best harborage in the world. The western border is on the whole, rough. A mountainous region extends from the Cheviot Hills southward to the plateau of Dartmoor. The peaks seldom rise, however, above 3,000 feet. The largest body of inland water in England is Lake Windermere, in the so-called lake region of Westmoreland County. It, however, covers an area of less than three square miles. The western shore is for the most part of hard rock. The eastern and southern coasts consist of limestone and chalk cliffs. The waves are eating away portions of the coast of Yorkshire and Kent at the rate of four or five feet a year, amounting to a mile in four centuries. Of the Dover and eastern coast it may be said: "The materials which fall from the wasting cliff are sorted by the tide; the whole shore is in motion; every cliff is hastening to its fall; the parishes are contracted, the churches wasted away." CLIMATE. England lies within the influence of the Gulf Stream. This ocean current brings with it winds of very nearly the same temperature the year around. The summers of England are prevented from becoming hot; the winters are never very cold. All parts of the country have abundant rain. An annual rainfall of fifteen inches may be regarded as a minimum. There are localities where the total rainfall for the year is over 100 inches. In consequence, the rivers are very large in proportion to their length. The Thames, the Humber, the Severn, and the Mersey are the principal streams. Nearly all empty into estuaries of the ocean, which, by the aid of high tides, enable ships to ascend for a considerable distance. Newcastle, Hull, London, Southampton, Plymouth, Bristol, and Liverpool are all situated on tidal rivers of this sort at or near the head of navigation. AGRICULTURE. The soil of England is exceedingly rich. Grasses grow luxuriantly. The country is clothed almost the year around with a carpet of living green. Although the climate is too cool to permit the raising of Indian corn, England is one of the finest stock-raising countries in the world. Our domestic animals are descended chiefly from those of England. The Berkshire, the Essex, and the ancestors of the Chester-white hogs; the Devon, the Hereford, the Durham, and the Shorthorn cattle; the black-faced Shropshire, the long-wooled Cotswold, the Lincoln, the Leicester, the Cheviot, and the Southdown breeds of sheep are all from England. Aside from melons, Indian corn, and tropical productions, almost every field crop, vegetable, and fruit produced in the United States is raised in England. The chief field crops are wheat, barley, oats, beans, peas, potatoes, and turnips. Peas are an important fodder crop. Turnips take the place largely of corn. MINERALS. The mineral wealth is very great. The ancient navigators of Tyre visited the shores of Britain for the sake of obtaining tin. Enormous measures of coal underly a large part of the country. Iron ore of excellent quality is found in abundance. Lead, copper, and zinc are obtained also. Sandstone, slate, limestone, and granite are the chief building stones. There are large beds of excellent potter's clay. POPULATION. The natural productions of England are so varied and abundant, the soil is so fertile, and the climate so healthful, that it is safe to say no other portion of the globe is better adapted to maintain a dense population in comfort. The number of inhabitants at the beginning of the twentieth century was not far from 30,000,000. With London, the largest city in the world, at the head of the list, there are thirty towns having a population of over 100,000 people each. Birmingham leads in the manufacture of steel; Manchester, in cotton; Bradford, in woolens; and Leeds, in linen. Productive as the country is, however, it would be impossible to maintain this enormous population without outside help. The area of England is somewhat less than that of Alabama. The population exceeds by a third that of our Atlantic States from Maine to Florida inclusive. The average population is 440 to the square mile,--far more than the land can employ or feed. The surplus population is employed in manufacturing and in commerce. England buys immense quantities of wool, cotton, and silk in all parts of the globe where these articles are produced. COMMERCE. According to the Statesman's Year Book, England with the other countries that make up the United Kingdom, buys abroad and imports the incredible amount of 2,000,000,000 pounds of cotton and about half as much wool every year; 227,000,000 tons of coal and 13,000,000 tons of iron are mined annually. About 9,000,000 people work for wages, turning the iron, cotton, and wool into utensils, tools, machinery, cloth, and clothing. Immense quantities of wheat, corn, flour, meat, coffee, sugar, tea, rice, butter, cheese, and eggs are bought in foreign countries and brought home to supply this industrial population with food. Nearly 2,000,000 people are engaged in commerce. The English are the great carriers of the world. In 1908 there were over 5,000 sailing vessels and nearly as many steam vessels doing business at English ports. About one-fourth of the food supply and raw materials needed is purchased in the United States; about one-seventh of the British goods sent abroad is sold in the United States. England with the rest of the United Kingdom is what is called a free trading country. The ships of all nations are permitted to land their cargoes without paying duties. Goods shipped out of the country also go free. In order to raise money for the expenses of the government certain exceptions are made. Chicory, cocoa, coffee, dried fruits, spirits, tea, sugar, tobacco, and wine pay a duty on entering the country. One of the reasons why manufacturing is carried on to such an advantage in England is the abundant supply of cheap coal. The rate at which it is being mined and consumed, however, has caused a fear lest the supply be exhausted. In order to discourage the shipment of coal abroad an export duty has been placed on it. FISHERIES. The fisheries are also an important industry. Over 100,000 people are employed in them. Over half a million tons of fresh fish are landed, chiefly along the eastern coast, annually. The total catch is worth about $30,000,000 a year. RURAL ENGLAND. Although land is valuable for agricultural purposes, about one acre out of twenty is covered with timber. A large part of the country is owned by the nobility and others of large income who do not feel the necessity of close tillage. Footpaths through magnificent wooded parks, through meadows, and along streams make England one of the most delightful countries in the world for excursions on foot. The roads are well kept; the hedges are neatly trimmed; the front dooryards of the peasantry are full of flowers. The villages are neat and picturesque. Comfortable inns are found everywhere. The large manufacturing towns have, of course, squalid, untidy quarters, but it is hard to imagine a country more attractive and delightfully picturesque than rural England. PUBLIC UTILITIES. As might be expected in an old country, the roads are excellent. Free rural delivery is quite complete. A system of parcels post managed by the government takes the place of our express companies. Packages are carried by the mail carts at a ridiculously low price. In 1903 the post office department delivered 74,000,000 parcels in England and Wales. Railroads are built much more substantially than in this country. In fact, the English locomotive could not operate on our irregular road beds. The passenger cars are divided into compartments entered from the side. These compartments are furnished in different styles called first, second, and third class. A ticket for a first class compartment costs twice as much as one for a third. An overhead foot bridge is to be found at every country station. People are not allowed to cross on the tracks, even though no trains are in sight. In addition to roads and railways, the country is provided with a network of canals, having a total length of over 3,000 miles. The largest is the Manchester ship canal. It is 25 miles in length, 26 feet in depth, and 120 feet wide at the bottom. England is known by many names. Albion, from the Latin albus, has reference to the whiteness of the chalk cliffs. England is held to mean angle land, though some claim that the first syllable means meadow. STATISTICS. The following are the latest to be had from trustworthy sources: Area, square miles. . . . . . 50,222 Population (1908). . . . .. . 33,600,000 London. . . . . . . . . 7,323,327 Birmingham. . . . . . . 558,357 Bradford. . . . . . . . 292,136 Bristol. . . . . . . . . 372,785 Leeds. . . . . . . . . . 477,107 Leicester. . . . . . . . 240,172 Liverpool. . . . . . . . 753,203 Manchester. . . . . . . 649,251 Newcastle. . . . . . . . 277,257 Sheffield. . . . . . . . 463,222 Number counties. . . . . . . 42 Members House of Lords. . . .500 Members House of Commons. . .465 Salary of King George. $2,350,000 Acres of improved land. 10,500,000 Forests, acres. . . . . 1,715,000 Productions- Wheat, bushels. . . . . 52,000,000 Oats, bushels. . . . . 82,470,000 Barley, bushels. . . . 48,000,000 Rye, bushels. . . . . . 2,000,000 Potatoes, bushels. . . 80,000,000 Wool, pounds. . . . . . 85,000,000 Domestic Animals- Horses. . . . . . . . 1,200,000 Cattle. . . . .. . . . .4,500,000 Sheep. . . . .. . . . .18,000,000 Goats. . . . .. . . . . .200,000 Swine. . . . .. . . . . 2,225,000 Cotton factories. . . . . . . . . 2,200 Coal mined, tons. . . . .. . 90,000,000 Mineral products. . . . .. $448,000,000 See UNITED KINGDOM; WESTMINSTER; EDWARD; PARLIAMENT; YORK; LIVERPOOL; LONDON; BIRMINGHAM; MANCHESTER; DOVER; BRISTOL; CANTER-BURY; LINCOLN; SHEFFIELD; ALFRED; SHAKESPEARE; ANGLO-SAXON.