23 Fun Facts About England For Kids

Date: March 14, 2024

 

Estimated reading time: 3 min

 

From the numerous tales about the British royal family and the magical visit to Hogwarts castle, famous for being the backdrop of much of the Harry Potter series, to captivating millennia-old UNESCO World Heritage sites such as Stonehenge, England captures the imagination of millions of travelers every year.

 

And to help you get your kids interested in learning more about this historic nation packed full of culture and diversity, we’ve listed below 23 fun facts about England for kids.

 

Ready for a fun cultural trip?

 

 

• French was England’s official language from 1066 to 1362.

• The world’s shortest war between England and Zanzibar lasted for 38 minutes

• In 1945, a flock of birds landed on Big Ben’s minute hand and set the clock back by 5 minutes!

• England is a flat country. Yet, the highest mountain culminates at 978 meters.

• There are over 200 bridges crossing the River Thames, and 20 tunnels have been carved underneath the river.

• The country is relatively small, meaning nowhere in England can you be further than 115 km from the sea.

• English is spoken by over 952 million people across the world.

• England is a multicultural country, and over 300 languages are spoken there.

• 25% of the English population was born abroad.

• There are more Indian restaurants in London than in New Delhi or Mumbai.

• Smith, Jones, and Williams are the most common last names.

• The London Library is the largest library on the planet. It features over 170 million books!

• The London Underground (also called the Tube) features 409 escalators. Together, every week, they travel the same distance as the circumference of the globe.

• Bérangère de Navarre, a French noble, married English King Richard the Lionheart but never went to England!

• English people love tea. In fact, they’re the biggest tea drinkers on the planet and drink 20 times more tea than Americans.

• Contrary to popular belief, Big Ben isn’t a clock! It’s the name of the 13-ton bell on top of St. Stephen’s tower.

• The play “Cats” first premiered in London in 1981.

• London has had several names in the past. It was first called Londinium during the Roman Empire before being called Ludenwic when the Saxons ruled and Lundenberg under Alfred The Great’s reign.

• The British Museum’s artifacts and collections span over 2 million years of civilization across the world.

• Most English cities are home to two football teams; one for the Catholics and one for the Protestants.

• The official currency is the pound (£) which the Romans invented. Many other countries use it as a currency, including North Ireland, Scotland, Wales, South Georgia, Gibraltar, and the Sandwich Islands.

• Queen Elizabeth II died on the 8th of September 2022, making her the longest-reigning monarch in British history, surpassing the reign of Queen Victoria.

• London was the first city to organize the Olympics three times; in 1908, 1948, and 2012.

 

 

Enjoyed learning more about England in a fun way?

 

Once you’re finished reading these exciting facts with your kids, we’d recommend creating a little quiz around the question ‘’what are 10 interesting facts about England?”. This will be sure to make the whole experience even more fun and help your children remember some of these facts.

 

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