User:Cop 663/English
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The English (from Old English: Englisc) are people from, or descended from residents of, England. This identity is often considered both a nationality and an ethnic group. The English identity as a people is of early medieval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in Britain are British Citizens.
Total population | |
---|---|
90,000,000 worldwide (inc. census figures that permit claiming multiple ancestry) | |
Regions with significant populations | |
England | 45.26 million (estimate)[1] |
United States | 27,516,394 a[2] |
Canada | 6,570,015 b[3] |
Australia | 6,358,880 c[4] |
New Zealand | 44,202 - 281,895[5] |
Languages | |
English | |
Religion | |
Traditionally Christianity, mostly Anglicanism, but also non-conformists (see History of the Church of England) and also Roman Catholics (see Catholic Emancipation). Agnostics, atheist as well as other religions. (see Religion in England). | |
a English American, b English Canadian, c English Australian |
Historically, the indigenous English population were descended from several genetically similar peoples: the earlier Britons (or Brythons), the Germanic tribes that settled in the area, including Angles, Saxons, Jutes, who founded what was to become England (from the Old English Engla-lond), and the later Norse Vikings and Normans. Following the Act of Union in 1707, in which the Kingdom of England became part of a new state called "Great Britain", English customs and identity became closely aligned with British customs and identity.
Today, many English people are descended from more recent immigrants from other European countries and the Commonwealth. Through their position at the centre of the British Empire, the English peoples are the source of the English language, the parliamentary system, common law systems in many countries and a variety of the globe's most popular sports.