Great Britain today is one of the most successful, economically developed European countries. The history of the country goes back centuries; over the years it has strengthened its power. England is a beauty in light and fluffy clothes made of fog. Its boundaries are blurred, the earth is almost constantly shrouded in haze, and as soon as it dissipates, sunlight illuminates everything around. The country is fraught with many mysteries; its unusual nature, culture, and ancient history attract not only tourists, but also historians and archaeologists.

Where did the name come from

What kind of name is this - Great Britain? Why is Britain considered Great? The thing is that this is the largest island in Europe. It used to be part of the continent, but then was separated from Eurasia by the English Channel. Foggy Albion - what is it, where did this name come from? This is the question most inquisitive travelers ask. Albion is an ancient name. The word is of Celtic origin. Modern England was also known by this name. In Celtic, the word “albus” meant “mountains”, but translated from Latin it means “white”. What does the prefix “foggy” mean? It's very simple - the islands are constantly shrouded in sea fog. It is so thick that it completely paralyzes traffic, and people are even afraid to take a step so as not to get lost on well-known streets. Blind people, accustomed to finding their way in the dark, offer their services to sighted people, accompanying them to the required place. Dense fogs are not uncommon in England; they are the hallmark of the country, which is why their description is found in many works of British writers.

A little bit of history

It is known that during the time of Julius Caesar Foggy Albion was inhabited by Celtic tribes. This is confirmed by the chronicles of the Roman Empire, which have survived to this day; in the documents these peoples are called Britons. The territory of England was attacked by other European countries for many centuries, but still managed to survive and create a powerful monarchy. The history of Foggy Albion is divided into the following periods:

Main attractions

There are a lot of interesting places in England. Stonehenge is one of the most mysterious structures that Foggy Albion has. What it is and when it was built, no one knows for sure. There is a legend that this observatory was built by Merlin himself, the great magician who lived before the first flood. The palace, Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, Tower, etc. are also of interest to travelers.

Modern England

Today it is one of the successful European states. England consists of 48 ceremonial counties and 9 regions. Until now, the King or Queen has broad powers, although their power is limited by the constitution. The government of Foggy Albion is headed by the Prime Minister.

The poetic name “Foggy Albion” is firmly attached to the British Isles. This expression is often used not only in literature (the word "Albion", for example, is found in the epic of King Arthur), but also in colloquial speech. There is still debate among scientists about the origin of such an unusual name.

Land of Mists

According to most researchers, the epithet “foggy” is associated with the climatic characteristics of England. Due to high humidity, the British Isles are often shrouded in sea fog. Sometimes the fogs are so thick that they turn into real natural disasters, paralyzing the work of many institutions and traffic.

However, some scientists believe that the name “Foggy Albion” does not refer to fogs of natural origin, but to the famous London smog. In the 18th-20th centuries, England was a world leader in industry. However, numerous factories and factories operated primarily on coal, which caused serious environmental problems. The central part of the country was literally suffocating due to the smoke produced by English enterprises. An official ban on burning coal on an industrial scale within large cities appeared only in the 1950s.

Albion

Scientists have not yet been able to establish the exact origin of the word “Albion”. According to one version, this name comes from the Latin word “albus” (“white”). And according to another, from the Celtic “alb” (“mountain” or “hill”). In both cases, the word “Albion” is associated with the famous Cliffs of Dover, rising on the southern coast of the island of Great Britain. Due to the high chalk content, the Dover Cliffs have an unusual white color. Since the first thing the Romans or barbarians sailing from the French coast saw when approaching the British archipelago were the majestic white mountains, the Dover Ridge became one of the main landmarks for sailors and a real symbol of England.

In relation to the British Isles, the word “Albion” was used by the Celts, the Romans, and the ancient Greeks. For example, this name can be found in the works of the famous ancient Greek scientist Ptolemy.

Despite the fact that the British themselves are proud of the second name of their country, foreigners often use the phrase “Foggy Albion” in an ironic sense, focusing on the excessive pomposity of this expression.

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The name of a country like England today is probably known to the vast majority of people on planet Earth. However, have you ever thought about why England came to be called England? Today we will look into this issue and some other issues related to this country.

The history of the origin of the name, which today bears one of the most advanced countries in the world, has no hidden facts, because the name was received in honor of a tribe that lived on the territory of modern Britain long before the advent of our era. According to historians, between the 5th and 6th centuries BC, a Germanic tribe settled in Britain, whose inhabitants called themselves Angles. It is quite simple to trace the similarity between the name of the English and the country with the name England.

Why is England called Great Britain

Another question that people ask quite often is why England also came to be called Great Britain. However, we immediately note that this name is not correct, since Great Britain is the United Kingdom, which also includes England. In addition to England, Great Britain also includes Wales, Northern Ireland, and Scotland.

Why England was called the "Workshop of the World"

The name “Workshop of the World” began to be applied to England back in the 18th century, when the country successfully implemented the industrial revolution. Then in England such industries as textile and engineering took a very serious step forward. In addition, widespread production of all kinds of equipment began to make human labor easier. This led to the fact that England then began to be called the main workshop of the world.

Why is England called "Fogy Albion"

Also, from ancient times, England was unofficially called Foggy Albion, and this fact also has a completely rational explanation, which is that the word “Albion” can be translated as “white”, because it comes from the Latin concept “albus”. In the south of Britain there are chalk cliffs in honor of which this name could have arisen.

As for “Foggy”, there is often a slight fog or haze around the coast of Great Britain.

Why is England called a "Constitutional Parliamentary Monarchy"

As for the last question, the answer to it can also be formulated very clearly, briefly and understandably: this characteristic concerns modern England due to several factors:

• There is a queen in the country, who, although she mainly performs only representative functions, has a place to be. This means it is a monarchy;
• The constitution in a country is the main act, a collection of laws, which means it is a constitutional monarchy;
• Parliament is the main legislative body of England, which influences the fact that the country is a constitutional parliamentary monarchy.

Probably everyone has heard the words “mysterious Foggy Albion” at least once in their life. Merlin and the Knights of the Round Table immediately come to mind...

That's right, all this is from the same opera. Or rather, from the same country. After all, it is England that is Foggy Albion. And this is not an invented fairy-tale name, but one that has already been historically assigned to the British Isles

So, let's figure out why England is called Foggy Albion.

Albion

Firstly, what does Albion mean? This name has stuck to Britain since ancient times. But why? There are several versions on this matter.

According to one of them, the word “albion” comes from the Roman albus, which translates as “white”. When the ancient Roman conquerors sailed to the shores of the British Isles, snow-white cliffs emerged from the fog. That's why they called the island "Albion".

According to another version, “albion” is a word of Celtic origin, meaning mountains. Like, for example, the Alps. The first official designation of the British Isles as Albion was made by Ptolemy. This fact can confirm both theories. After all, this scientist was a traveler and knew many languages, including Celtic and Latin.

Foggy Albion Island

The famous island that first met the ancient Romans is Dover. It is to him that Great Britain owes the name “Foggy Albion”. It is located at the farthest point in the south-east of the United Kingdom. If you approach the island from the open sea, the first thing you will see is the snow-white chalk cliffs (White Cliffs of Dover). They extend over a vast area along and end at the Pas de Calais Strait.

The Cliffs of Dover are also called the “Keys of England” because they are a kind of gateway to the country. They are the first to meet sailors and amaze them with their cold white beauty. Neighboring France is only more than thirty kilometers from Dover. According to local residents, when the weather is good, from the French coast you can even see a white line of rocks on the horizon.

There are many similar rocks in the southeast of England. However, the Dover ones remain the most popular. Their beauty will not leave anyone indifferent. Tall (up to 107 meters above sea level), powerful, snow-white. They became her calling card. More than one work of literature and painting is dedicated to them.

Nature miracle

The Dover Cliffs are unusual mountains, as can be seen from their color. They became white thanks to chalk, which is included in huge quantities in their rock, and calcium carbonate. This rock has a very fine structure, so it is quite fragile and easily destroyed. And the small black inclusions in the rocks are flint.

During times, millions of small sea creatures living in shells died and remained on the seabed, thus creating layer upon layer. As a result, the chalk layers were compressed into a huge solid white platform. Thousands of years later, when the water receded, the platform remained, forming the mighty white rocks. And today we can admire them.

Island in the fog

Foggy Albion also received its beautiful poetic name due to its cloudy weather. So, due to high humidity, the low-lying parts of the island are constantly shrouded in fog, the sky is gray, and it rains.

The extraordinary fogs of Great Britain have become the theme for many paintings and works. Writers and artists specially came to London to see with their own eyes and capture this natural phenomenon.

Sometimes the fog is so thick and impenetrable that traffic on city streets stops. People simply don’t see where to go and stay in place so as not to get lost and wait for the darkness to clear.

There are now significantly fewer foggy days in the UK than in previous centuries. For example, in London there are no more than fifty of them per year. Most of these days occur in the second half of winter: the end of January and the beginning of February.

Insidious Albion

There is another concept, “Foggy Albion,” which has an ironic meaning. This term was previously used in politics. This is exactly what they said about England and its political intrigues. Foggy - unknown, hidden, uncertain and changeable.

In France and pre-revolutionary Russia, England was even nicknamed “treacherous Albion.” This was the figurative expression of the foreign policy of a country that unswervingly followed only its national goals, for the sake of which it more than once abandoned previously concluded treaties with other powers.

In general, during the Great French Revolution, other similar expressions were very popular. For example, “English treachery” or “treacherous island”. England betrayed France more than once: it either concluded a peace treaty, then violated it again, etc.

In Russia, this expression became popular during the Crimean War, when Great Britain, which was part of a coalition of countries (Austria, Prussia and Russia), took the side of its former enemies (France) against Russia.

Today, the ironic meaning has long been lost, and the expression “foggy Albion” has, rather, a high style that gives the Kingdom of Great Britain a special poetry.

This poetic phrase is the second name for England. The climate in Great Britain is humid and damp, and the country is known for its fog due to its geographical location. There are several versions of the origin of this name, and some British scientists even claim that this phrase has nothing to do with the thick English fogs.

So, why is this country called “Foggy Albion?”

Version one. London smog

Some researchers believe that this name refers not to thick natural fog, but to London smog. Due to the rapid flourishing of British industry, London and other large industrial cities in Great Britain were shrouded in a dense curtain of smog. The British called it "pea soup". The fact is that industrial enterprises in those days ran on coal, and dark, acrid smoke escaped from the factory chimneys.
By the middle of the 20th century, the air in large industrial centers had become completely polluted - car exhaust was added to the smoke from chimneys. In the end, the British could not stand it, and in 1956 parliament passed a law that prohibited burning coal in enterprises in large cities. Only after this were London and other UK cities able to say goodbye to thick industrial smog. The air in them became cleaner.

Version two. Dover Cliffs.

The ancient Romans, sailing to England, first of all saw the huge white cliffs of Dover. This is where the name of England came from – Albus, which means “white” in Latin. These rocks look like huge icebergs and can be seen from the farthest distance.
Dover Castle, which was built 2,000 years ago, sits on top of one of these snow-white cliffs. He is also seen by sailors sailing towards England. The castle was built as a defensive structure, because the British had to defend their independence with arms in hand, repelling constant invasions from the European continent. Therefore, Dover Castle, which is located on the shore of the strait between France and Great Britain, is also called the “key to England.”

Version three. English fogs

"Albion" is a word of Celtic origin. This name for England was known to the ancient Greeks. This is what the ancient Greek scientist Ptolemy calls this country in his works. Well, the adjective “foggy” is associated with the thick sea fog that often shrouds the lowlands of the island of Britain and the cities of England.
The infamous fog that descended on London from December 3 to 7, 1962. In those days, 137 people died and more than 1000 were hospitalized. 5,000 double-decker red buses were not running in London - they were removed from routes after two buses collided and 13 people were injured. Cars drove blindly in the fog and several dozen people were run over. When the fog cleared, Londoners experienced great relief.

We have given here three versions of the origin of the name “Foggy Albion”. It is not known which of them is the most reliable. But this phrase is beautiful, poetic and mysterious. It creates a vivid image of this beautiful country, whose past and present are full of mysteries.