England, a constituent country of the United Kingdom, occupies about 62% of the island of Great Britain, with its capital and largest city being London, home to over 56 million people as of the 2021 census. Named after the Angles, a Germanic tribe who settled during the 5th and 6th centuries, England became a unified state in the 10th century. However, it ceased being a separate sovereign state on May 1, 1707, when the Acts of Union united it with Scotland to form the Kingdom of Great Britain.
Globally, England has been exceptionally influential, being the birthplace of the English language, the common law legal system, association football, and the Anglican branch of Christianity; its parliamentary system has also been widely adopted. It was here, in the 18th century, that the Industrial Revolution began, transforming society and establishing England as the world's first industrialised nation. Furthermore, England is home to two of the world's most prestigious and oldest universities in the English-speaking world: Oxford, founded in 1096, and Cambridge, founded in 1209.