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). The principal territorial divisions of
England, as of Wales, Scotland and Ireland, are the counties, of which
England comprises 40. Their boundaries are not as a rule determined by
the physical features of the land; but localities are habitually defined
by the use of their names. A list of the English counties (excluding
Wales) is given in the table above.[4]
_Hills._--As an introduction to the discussion of the natural regions
into which England is divided (Section II.), and for the sake of
comparison of altitudes, size of rivers and similar details, the salient
geographical features may be briefly summarized. The short land-frontier
of England with Scotland (its length is only 100 m.) is in great measure
a physical boundary, as considerable lengths of it are formed on the
east side by the river Tweed, and on the west by Kershope Burn, Liddel
Water, and the river Sark; while for the rest it follows pretty closely
the summit of the Cheviot Hills, whose highest point is the Cheviot
(2676 ft.). A narrow but well-marked pass or depression, known as the
Tyne Gap, is taken to separate the Cheviot system from the Pennine
Chain, which is properly to be described as a wide tract of
hill-country, extending through two degrees of latitude, on an axis from
N. by W. to S. by E. The highest point is Cross Fell (2930 ft.). On the
north-west side of the Pennine system, marked off from it by the upper
valleys of the rivers Eden and Lune, lies the circular hill-tract whose
narrow valleys, radiating from its centre somewhat like wheel-spokes,
contain the beautiful lakes which give it the celebrated name of the
Lake District. In this tract is found the highest land in England,
Scafell Pike reaching 3210 ft. East of the Pennines, isolated on three
sides by lowlands and on the fourth side by the North Sea, lie the
highmoors of the North Riding of Yorkshire, with the Cleveland Hills,
and, to the south, the Yorkshire Wolds of the East Riding. Neither of
these systems has any great elevation; the moors, towards their
north-western edge, reaching an extreme of 1489 ft. in Urra Moor. The
tableland called the Peak of Derbyshire, in the south of the Pennine
system, is 2088 ft. in extreme height, but south of this system an
elevation of 2000 ft. is not found anywhere in England save at a few
points on the south Welsh border and in Dartmoor, in the south-west.
Wales, on the other hand, projecting into the western sea between
Liverpool Bay and the estuary of the Dee on the north, and the Bristol
Channel on the south, is practically all mountainous, and has in
Snowdon, in the north-west, a higher summit than any in England--3560
ft. But the midlands, the west, and the south of England, in spite of an
absence of great elevation, contain no plains of such extent as might
make for monotony.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account