English people

The English are an ethnic group and society inhabiting England, one of the four nations comprising the United Kingdom. The primary language is English, which derives from the Germanic branch of the western Indo-European language family.

The term "English" should be distinguished from "British," which is a civic and ethnic designation encompassing English, Scottish, Welsh, and Northern Irish peoples. In Somali, however, the word "Ingiriis" is often used broadly to refer to the entire population of the United Kingdom, partly for historical reasons connected to British colonial rule in Somaliland.

Historical origins

Historians recognize that the English population formed from an intermingling of earlier Celtic Britons and Germanic groups—Angles, Saxons, and Jutes—who migrated from northern Europe after Roman rule ended in Britain. The name "England" derives from the Angles. Subsequent waves of Scandinavian (Viking) and Norman influence followed, the latter resulting from the conquest of 1066.

Language and culture

English incorporated numerous words from Latin and French, creating a language with extensive vocabulary. The historical religion was Christianity, specifically the Anglican Church (Church of England), which separated from Rome in the sixteenth century. Today the English population includes many non-religious people and adherents of various other faiths.

Global dispersal

During the seventeenth to twentieth centuries, people of English origin established settlements in North America, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and elsewhere. This dispersal is among the reasons English became the most widely spoken language globally.