Įngland's terrain is chiefly low hills and plains, especially in the centre and south. England is also home to the two oldest institutions of higher learning in the English-speaking world, the University of Cambridge, founded in 1209, and the University of Oxford, founded in 1096, both of which are routinely ranked among the most prestigious universities globally. The Industrial Revolution began in 18th-century England, transforming its society into the world's first industrialised nation.

The English language, the Anglican Church, and English law, which collectively served as the basis for the common law legal systems of many other countries around the world, developed in England, and the country's parliamentary system of government has been widely adopted by other nations. England became a unified state in the 10th century and has had a significant cultural and legal impact on the wider world since the Age of Discovery, which began during the 15th century. The area now called England was first inhabited by modern humans during the Upper Paleolithic period, but takes its name from the Angles, a Germanic tribe deriving its name from the Anglia peninsula, who settled during the 5th and 6th centuries. The country covers five-eighths of the island of Great Britain, which lies in the North Atlantic, and includes over 100 smaller islands, such as the Isles of Scilly and the Isle of Wight. It is separated from continental Europe by the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea area of the Atlantic Ocean to the southwest. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom.

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