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The history of the Crown lands in England and Wales begins with the Norman Conquest in 1066. [20] By right of conquest, William I (r. 1066–1087) owned all the land in England and was able to redistribute it based on feudal principles.
In 1995, the Ordnance Survey digitised the last of about 230,000 maps, making the United Kingdom the first country in the world to complete a programme of large-scale electronic mapping. [19] By the late 1990s technological developments had eliminated the need for vast areas for storing maps and for making printing plates by hand.
Merton College, Oxford University owns 14,707 acres (5,952 ha), [3] and other colleges and universities have varying land holdings, from campus, playing fields and accommodation to significant endowments in town and country. Charities, trusts and the Church of England are also significant land owners.
About 38% of the United Kingdom population has a university or college degree, which is the highest percentage in Europe, and among the highest percentage in the world. [419] The United Kingdom is home to many universities, including the University of Oxford and University of Cambridge which often achieve first place on global rankings. [420] [421]
The British Overseas Territories (BOTs) or alternatively referred to as the United Kingdom Overseas Territories (UKOTs) [1] [2] are the fourteen territories with a constitutional and historical link with the United Kingdom that, while not forming part of the United Kingdom itself, are part of its sovereign territory.
The UK prime minister's website has used the phrase "countries within a country" to describe the United Kingdom. [8] Although the United Kingdom is a unitary sovereign state, it contains three distinct legal jurisdictions in Scotland, England and Wales, and Northern Ireland, each retaining its own legal system even after joining the UK. [9]
In Australia, public lands without a specific tenure (e.g. National Park or State Forest) are referred to as Crown land or State Land, which is described as being held in the "right of the Crown" of either an individual State or the Commonwealth of Australia (as Australia is a federation, there is no single "Crown" as legal entity).
The area of land in England and Wales is 151,174 km 2 (58,368 mi 2), while the United Kingdom is 243,610 km 2. By 2013, 82 per cent was formally registered at HM Land Registry . [ 1 ] In 2010, over a third of the UK was owned by 1,200 families descended from aristocracy , and 15,354 km 2 was owned by the top three land owners, the Forestry ...