where the english came from?
Canada Australia Kingdom of Great Britain United States of America United Kingdom Ireland New Zealand
entailment
 The English people are a British people . Some genetic evidence suggests that 75 – 95 % descend in the paternal line from prehistoric settlers who originally came from the Iberian Peninsula , as well as a 5 % contribution from Angles and Saxons , and a significant Scandinavian ( Viking ) element . However , other geneticists place the Germanic estimate up to half . Over time , various cultures have been influential : Prehistoric , Brythonic , Roman , Anglo @-@ Saxon , Viking ( North Germanic ) , Gaelic cultures , as well as a large influence from Normans . There is an English diaspora in former parts of the British Empire ; especially the United States , Canada , Australia , South Africa and New Zealand . Since the late 1990s , many English people have migrated to Spain . 

entailment
 Decades , and in some cases centuries , of British rule and emigration have left their mark on the independent nations that arose from the British Empire . The empire established the use of English in regions around the world . Today it is the primary language of up to 400 million people and is spoken by about one and a half billion as a first , second or foreign language . 

entailment
 Competing with Spain , the first English colony in the Americas was founded in 1585 by explorer Walter Raleigh in Virginia and named Roanoke . The Roanoke colony failed and is known as the lost colony , after it was found abandoned on the return of the late @-@ arriving supply ship . With the East India Company , England also competed with the Dutch and French in the East . In 1588 , during the Elizabethan period , an English fleet under Francis Drake defeated an invading Spanish Armada . The political structure of the island changed in 1603 , when the King of Scots , James VI , a kingdom which was a longtime rival to English interests , inherited the throne of England as James I — creating a personal union . He styled himself King of Great Britain , although this had no basis in English law . Under the auspices of King James VI and I the Authorised King James Version of the Holy Bible was published in 1611 . It has not only been ranked with Shakespeare 's works as the greatest masterpiece of literature in the English language but also was the standard version of the Bible read by most Protestant Christians for four hundred years , until modern revisions were produced in the 20th century . 

contradiction
 The Spanish , French and Dutch , tho ' all united by , 

neutral
 In England , the semi @-@ royal household of Edward of Carnarvon , later Edward II when Prince of Wales , is the earliest for which detailed knowledge can be obtained from sources . 
