England and Wales is one of the three legal jurisdictions of the United Kingdom, covering the constituent countries of England and Wales and operating under English law.
The jurisdiction was established by the Laws in Wales Acts of 1535 and 1542, which incorporated Wales into the English legal system. Though legally known simply as England between 1746 and 1967, the dual designation was restored to reflect the distinct identity of Wales within the shared legal framework. Since 1999, Wales has exercised a degree of self-government through the Senedd (Welsh Parliament), created under the Government of Wales Act 1998 and given expanded law-making powers in 2006. England, by contrast, has no separate parliament and is governed directly by the UK parliament and government. For naturalists and explorers, the jurisdiction encompasses habitats from the chalk grasslands and ancient woodlands of southern England to the upland peat bogs and coastal cliffs of Wales, each shaped by centuries of human settlement and land management under a continuous legal tradition.
