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Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 9, Slice 4 "England" to "English Finance"

by Various



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Geographical usage confines to the southern part of the island of Great Britain the name commonly given to the great insular power of western Europe. In this restricted sense the present article deals with England, the predominant partner in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, both as containing the seat of government and in respect of extent, population and wealth.

1. Topography.

England extends from the mouth of the Tweed in 55° 46′ N. to Lizard Point in 49° 57′ 30″ N., in a roughly triangular form. The base of the triangle runs from the South Foreland to Land’s End W. by S., a distance of 316 m. in a straight line, but 545 m. following the larger curves of the coast. The east coast runs N.N.W. from the South Foreland to Berwick, a distance of 348 m., or, following the coast, 640 m. The west coast runs N.N.E. from Land’s End to the head of Solway Firth, a distance of 354 m., or following the much-indented coast, 1225 m. The total length of the coast-line may be put down as 2350 m., out of which 515 m. belong to the western principality of Wales. The most easterly point is at Lowestoft, 1° 46′ E., the most westerly is Land’s End, in 5° 43′ W. The coasts are nowhere washed directly by the ocean, except in the extreme south-west; the south coast faces the English Channel, which is bounded on the southern side by the coast of France, the two shores converging from 100 m. apart at the Lizard to 21 at Dover. The east coast faces the shallow North Sea, which widens from the point where it joins the Channel to 375 m. off the mouth of the Tweed, the opposite shores being occupied in succession by France, Belgium, Holland, Germany and Denmark. The west coast faces the Irish Sea, with a width varying from 45 to 130 m.

Counties. AreaStatuteAcres. Population.1901. Bedfordshire 298,494 171,240 Berkshire 462,208 256,509 Buckinghamshire 475,682 195,764 Cambridgeshire 549,723 190,682 Cheshire 657,783 815,099 Cornwall 868,220 322,334 Cumberland 973,086 266,933 Derbyshire 658,885 620,322 Devonshire 1,667,154 661,314 Dorsetshire 632,270 202,936 Durham 649,352 1,187,361 Essex 986,975 1,085,771 Gloucestershire 795,709 634,729 Hampshire 1,039,031 797,634 Herefordshire 537,363 114,380 Hertfordshire 406,157 250,152 Huntingdonshire 234,218 57,771 Kent 995,014 1,348,841 Lancashire 1,203,365 4,406,409 Leicestershire 527,123 434,019 Lincolnshire 1,693,550 498,847 Middlesex 181,320 3,585,323 Monmouthshire 341,688 292,317 Norfolk 1,308,439 460,120 Northamptonshire 641,992 338,088 Northumberland 1,291,530 603,498 Nottinghamshire 539,756 514,578 Oxfordshire 483,626 181,120 Rutland 97,273 19,709 Shropshire 859,516 239,324 Somersetshire 1,043,409 508,256 Staffordshire 749,602 1,234,506 Suffolk 952,710 384,293 Surrey 485,122 2,012,744 Sussex 933,887 605,202 Warwickshire 577,462 897,835 Westmorland 503,160 64,303 Wiltshire 879,943 273,869 Worcestershire 480,560 488,338 Yorkshire 3,882,328 3,584,762 Total 32,544,685 30,807,232

The area of England and Wales is 37,327,479 acres or 58,324 sq. m. (England, 50,851 sq. m.), and the population on this area in 1901 was 32,527,843 (England, 30,807,232)....