c. 90 million worldwide
The English people (from the adjective in Old English Englisc) are a nation and ethnic group native to England who predominantly speak English. The English identity as a people is of early origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. The largest single population of English people reside in England, a constituent country of the United Kingdom. They are believed to be a mixture of different groups that have settled in what became England, such as the Brythons (including Romano-Britons), Anglo-Saxons, Danish Vikings, Bretons[7], and Normans. More recent migrations to England include peoples from a variety of different regions of Great Britain and Ireland and many other countries, mostly from Wales, Scotland, Ireland, and Commonwealth countries. Some of these more recent migrants have assumed a solely British or English identity, and others have developed dual or hyphenated identities.[8][9][10][11][12]
Writing about the "English people" may be complicated because England has historically been settled by waves of invaders and immigrants at different periods in history, and has also spread its influence, and its populace, worldwide. Hence, the term can refer to the English ethnic group that shares a belief in their common descent from a mass migration of Germanic peoples (usually referred to as Anglo-Saxons) during the sub-Roman period. Historian Catherine Hills describes what she calls the "national origin myth" of the English
English people can be viewed in a variety of different ways, but the broadest concept comprises anyone who considers themselves English and are considered English by most other people.[14]
