England ranks as one of the most influential and far-reaching centres of cultural development in the world.It is the place of origin of both the English language and the Church of England,and was the historic centre of the British Empire.It was the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution and was the first country in the world to become industrialised.England is home to the Royal Society,which laid the foundations of modern experimental science.England was the world's first parliamentary democracy and consequently many constitutional,governmental and legal innovations that had their origin in England have been widely adopted by other nations.
The Kingdom of England was a separate state until 1 May 1707,when the Acts of Union resulted in a political union with the Kingdom of Scotland to create the Kingdom of Great Britain.