Subdivisions

Main article: Subdivisions of England

See also: Regions of England, Combined authority, Counties of England, and Districts of England

Northumberland

Durham

Lancashire
Cheshire

Derbs.

Notts.

Lincolnshire

Leics.

Staffs.

Shropshire

Warks.

Northants.

Norfolk

Suffolk

Essex

Herts.

Beds.

Bucks.

Oxon.

Glos.

Somerset

Wiltshire

Berkshire

Kent

Surrey

Hampshire

Dorset

Devon

Cornwall

Heref.

Worcs.

Bristol
East Riding
of Yorkshire

Rutland

Cambs.

Greater
London

Not shown: City of London

Tyne &
Wear

Cumbria

North Yorkshire

South
Yorks.

West
Yorkshire

Greater
Manc.

Merseyside

East
Sussex

West
Sussex

Isle of
Wight

West
Midlands

Ceremonial counties of England

The subdivisions of England consist of up to four levels of subnational division, controlled through a
variety of types of administrative entities created for the purposes of local government.

Outside the London region, England's highest tier is the 48 ceremonial counties.[100] These are used
primarily as a geographical frame of reference. Of these, 38 developed gradually since the Middle Ages;
these were reformed to 51 in 1974 and to their current number in 1996.[101] Each has a Lord
Lieutenant and High Sheriff; these posts are used to represent the British monarch locally.[100] Some
counties, such as Herefordshire, are only divided further into civil parishes. The royal county of Berkshire
and the metropolitan counties have different types of status to other ceremonial counties.[102]

The second tier is made up of combined authorities and the 27 county-tier shire counties. In 1974, all
ceremonial counties were two-tier; and with the metropolitan county tier phased out, the 1996 reform
separated the ceremonial county and the administrative county tier.

England is also divided into local government districts.[103] The district can align to a ceremonial county,
or be a district tier within a shire county, be a royal or metropolitan borough, have borough or city
status, or be a unitary authority.

At the community level, much of England is divided into civil parishes with their own councils; in Greater
London only one such parish, Queen's Park, exists as of 2014 after they were abolished in 1965 until
legislation allowed their recreation in 2007.

London

From 1994 until the early 2010s England was divided for a few purposes into regions; a 1998
referendum for the London Region created the London Assembly two years later.[104] A failed 2004 North
East England devolution referendum cancelled further regional assembly devolution[85] with the regional
structure outside London abolished.

Ceremonially and administratively, the region is divided between the City of London and Greater
London; these are further divided into the 32 London Boroughs and the 25 Wards of the City of London.
[105]

Geography

Main article: Geography of England

Landscape and rivers

The Malvern Hills located in the English counties

of Worcestershire and Herefordshire. The hills have been designated by the Countryside Agency as
an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Geographically, England includes the central and southern two-thirds of the island of Great Britain, plus
such offshore islands as the Isle of Wight and the Isles of Scilly. It is bordered by two other countries of
the United Kingdom: to the north by Scotland and to the west by Wales.

England is closer than any other part of mainland Britain to the European continent. It is separated
from France (Hauts-de-France) by a 21-mile (34 km)[106] sea gap, though the two countries are connected
by the Channel Tunnel near Folkestone.[107] England also has shores on the Irish Sea, North Sea and
Atlantic Ocean.
The ports of London, Liverpool, and Newcastle lie on the tidal
rivers Thames, Mersey and Tyne respectively. At 220 miles (350 km), the Severn is the longest river
flowing through England.[108] It empties into the Bristol Channel and is notable for its Severn Bore (a tidal
bore), which can reach 2 metres (6.6 ft) in height.[109] However, the longest river entirely in England is the
Thames, which is 215 miles (346 km) in length.[110] There are many lakes in England; the largest
is Windermere, within the aptly named Lake District.[111]

The village of Glenridding and Ullswater in Cumbria.

Most of England's landscape consists of low hills and plains, with upland and mountainous terrain in the
north and west of the country. The northern uplands include the Pennines, a chain of uplands dividing
east and west, the Lake District mountains in Cumbria, and the Cheviot Hills, straddling the border
between England and Scotland. The highest point in England, at 978 metres (3,209 ft), is Scafell Pike in
the Lake District.[111] The Shropshire Hills are near Wales while Dartmoor and Exmoor are two upland
areas in the south-west of the country. The approximate dividing line between terrain types is often
indicated by the Tees–Exe line.[112]

The Pennines, known as the "backbone of England", are the oldest range of mountains in the country,
originating from the end of the Paleozoic Era around 300 million years ago.[113] Their geological
composition includes, among others, sandstone and limestone, and also coal. There are karst landscapes
in calcite areas such as parts of Yorkshire and Derbyshire. The Pennine landscape is high moorland in
upland areas, indented by fertile valleys of the region's rivers. They contain two national parks,
the Yorkshire Dales and the Peak District. In the West Country, Dartmoor and Exmoor of the Southwest
Peninsula include upland moorland supported by granite.[114]

The English Lowlands are in the central and southern regions of the country, consisting of green rolling
hills, including the Cotswold Hills, Chiltern Hills, North and South Downs; where they meet the sea they
form white rock exposures such as the cliffs of Dover. This also includes relatively flat plains such as
the Salisbury Plain, Somerset Levels, South Coast Plain and The Fens.

Climate

Main article: Climate of England

England has a temperate maritime climate: it is mild with temperatures not much lower than 0 °C (32 °F)
in winter and not much higher than 32 °C (90 °F) in summer.[115] The weather is damp relatively
frequently and is changeable. The coldest months are January and February, the latter particularly on
the English coast, while July is normally the warmest month. Months with mild to warm weather are
May, June, September and October.[115] Rainfall is spread fairly evenly throughout the year.

Important influences on the climate of England are its proximity to the Atlantic Ocean, its
northern latitude and the warming of the sea by the Gulf Stream.[115] Rainfall is higher in the west, and
parts of the Lake District receive more rain than anywhere else in the country.[115] Since weather records
began, the highest temperature recorded was 40.3 °C (104.5 °F) on 19 July 2022
at Coningsby, Lincolnshire,[116] while the lowest was −26.1 °C (−15.0 °F) on 10 January 1982 in Edgmond,
Shropshire.[117]

Nature and wildlife

Main article: Fauna of England

The Eurasian wren, the most numerous bird species in England[118]

The fauna of England is similar to that of other areas in the British Isles with a wide range of vertebrate
and invertebrate life in a diverse range of habitats.[119] National nature reserves in England are designated
by Natural England as key places for wildlife and natural features in England. They were established to
protect the most significant areas of habitat and of geological formations. NNRs are managed on behalf
of the nation, many by Natural England themselves, but also by non-governmental organisations,
including the members of The Wildlife Trusts partnership, the National Trust, and the Royal Society for
the Protection of Birds. There are 221 NNRs in England covering 110,000 hectares (1,100 square
kilometres). Often they contain rare species or nationally important populations of plants and animals.
[120]
.

The Environment Agency is a non-departmental public body, established in 1995 and sponsored by
the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs with responsibilities relating to the protection
and enhancement of the environment in England.[121] The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and
Rural Affairs is the minister responsible for environmental protection, agriculture, fisheries and rural
communities in England.[122]

Red deer in Richmond Park. The park was created by Charles I in

[123]
the 17th century as a deer park.

England has a temperate oceanic climate in most areas, lacking extremes of cold or heat, but does have
a few small areas of subarctic and warmer areas in the South West. Towards the North of England the
climate becomes colder and most of England's mountains and high hills are located here and have a
major impact on the climate and thus the local fauna of the areas. Deciduous woodlands are common
across all of England and provide a great habitat for much of England's wildlife, but these give way in
northern and upland areas of England to coniferous forests (mainly plantations) which also benefit
certain forms of wildlife. Some species have adapted to the expanded urban environment, particularly
the red fox, which is the most successful urban mammal after the brown rat, and other animals such
as common wood pigeon, both of which thrive in urban and suburban areas.[124]