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''See also: Demography of England; Demography and politics of Northern Ireland; Demography of Scotland; Demography of Wales''
According to the 2001 census, the United Kingdom's population was 58,789,194 - the third-largest in the European Union (behind Germany and metropolitan France) and the 21st-largest in the world. Its overall population density is one of the highest in the world. Almost one-third of the population lives in England's southeast and is predominantly urban and suburban, with about 7.2 million in the capital of London. The United Kingdom's high literacy rate (99%) is attributable to universal public education introduced for the primary level in 1870 and secondary level in 1900 (except in Scotland where it was introduced in 1696). Education is compulsory from the ages of 5 to 16. About one-fifth of British students go on to post-secondary education (18+). The Church of England and the Church of Scotland function as the official national churches in their respective countries, but the major religions found in the world are represented in the United Kingdom.
The majority of British people are white, as they are mostly of Celtic or Germanic (Anglo-Saxon and Norse) origin, and located as they are, on a group of islands close to continental Europe, the British Isles have been subject to many invasions and migrations, especially from Scandinavia and the continent, including Roman occupation for several centuries. Contemporary Britons are descended mainly from the varied ethnic stocks that settled there before the 11th century. The pre-Celtic, Celtic, Roman, Anglo-Saxon, and Norse influences were blended in Britain under the Normans, Scandinavian Vikings who had lived in Northern France. Although Celtic languages are also spoken in Wales, Scotland, Cornwall, and Northern Ireland, the predominant language is English, which is a West Germanic language descended from Old English, and featuring a large amount of borrowings from Norman French.

Contents

History

Population

Age structure

Fertility

Ethnicity

Citizenship

Nationality

England

Scotland

Wales

Northern Ireland

Ethnic groups

Religion

Languages

Education

See also

References

External links

History

The first national census of the British population was organised in 1801; the civil registration of births, marriages, and deaths commenced in 1837; and the first tentative attempt by the state to compile statistics on migration was included in the census of 1841. Prior to 1801, the chief source of information on the demography of the country was provided by the clergy’s registration of baptisms, marriages, and burials that had occurred in their parishes, supplemented by information on mortality in the Bills of Mortality that were published for certain large towns and by inferences drawn from various counts of taxpayers. The article focuses on the reliability of the parochial registration system and the way in which it was exploited by the state as measured against the state’s objectives for establishing it in 1538. These objectives were rarely achieved. By the end of the 18th century, the parish registers were falling short of providing a national system of registration. Neither had the registers at any time provided the requisite detail to allow the verification of age, lineal descent, or right of inheritance. They had not been used as a way of raising revenue except briefly between 1694 and 1705. Moreover, the Anglican Church was extremely lax about the enforcement of its own regulations regarding the appropriate time for registering baptisms, burials, and marriages.
Three sets of demographic statistics are useful to governments and others concerned with their nations’ political and economic stability. The first is an enumeration of the number of inhabitants distinguished by age, sex, and occupation. The second involves a continuous record of population trends from the registration of births, marriages, and burials. The third is documentation of the extent of internal and external migration. Before 1800, England had none of these except for the civil registration of births, marriages, and burials briefly attempted under the Commonwealth (1653–1660) and an even more short-lived initiative of the same kind in 1694 in connection with the attempt to raise a tax on the occasion of every birth, marriage, and death—paupers excepted.
The ability of the registration system to fulfill these original objectives can be measured in terms of the breadth of its coverage and the quality of the information provided. Each category can be further subdivided. For example, the breadth of coverage can be defined to include the speed with which parishes throughout the country commenced the registration of baptisms, marriages, and burials; the percentage of the population whose vital events went unrecorded even in the parishes that established registers; and the success of the incumbents and churchwardens in preserving the registers completed by their predecessors. The quality of the recording can be assessed based on the amount of information offered about individuals mentioned in the registers, the extent to which that information was provided in a standard form across the country, and the clarity of the presentation (whether separate registers for baptisms, marriages, and burials were maintained). The accuracy of the work undertaken by the parochial clergy as unpaid servants of the state in providing Rickman with the totals of baptisms, marriages, and burials can also be assessed. Each of these aspects will now be considered in turn before an assessment of the overall effectiveness of the registration system is attempted. Cromwell’s brief instructions establishing the registration system did not specify what sort of register book was to be provided. Not unnaturally, most parishes chose to use paper rather than the dearer, but more durable, parchment. In 1597, the Convocation of the clergy, bishops, and archbishop of the province of Canterbury found it necessary to order parchment copies of all entries from old paper registers, instructions that were soon reissued in 1603.

Population

''See also: Population of England''.


The population of the United Kingdom in the 2001 census was 58,789,194. This has risen to 59,834,300 according to July 2004 estimates. This has since risen to 60,209,500 according to mid-2005 estimates by the Office of National Statistics [1].

Part	Population (mid-2005)	% (mid-2005)
England	50,431,700	83.8
Scotland	5,166,900	8.5
Wales	2,958,600	4.9
Northern Ireland	1,724,400	2.9
United Kingdom	60,209,500	100

(1 July 2005 population estimates by UK National Statistics)[2]
There are 11 cities which exceed 300,000 inhabitants, these being London, Birmingham, Glasgow, Leeds, Sheffield, Liverpool, Manchester, Edinburgh, Bristol, Cardiff and Coventry. Cities with urban areas in excess of 300,000 inhabitants include Nottingham, Leicester, Belfast and Newcastle Upon Tyne.

Age structure

The most numerous age groups (at the 2001 census) were the 5-year group born in the years 1946-51 (the post-World War II baby boom); the baby boom born a generation later in 1961-66 (the largest group of all); and a more modest boom a generation after that, born in 1986-91.
[3] The 1946-51 group reaches retirement age from 2006 onwards (women from 2006 and men from 2011), and the sudden increase in the number of people claiming the state pension has led politicians and political commentators to fear a "pensions crisis".
The age groups are not evenly distributed around the country, with some areas having many young adults and children [4] and some areas having large numbers of older people. [5]

Age group	Population		%
	Male	Female
0–14	5,560,489	5,293,871	18.0
15–64	20,193,876	19,736,516	66.3
65+	4,027,721	5,458,235	15.7

Fertility

★ Total fertility rate: 1.87 children born per woman (2006)

★ Mean age of women having their first birth: 27.2 years
Source: Office for National Statistics

★ TFR for British residents by country of birth: UK (1.67), India (2.21) and Pakistan+Bangladesh (4.90). [6]

★ In 2005, the TFR was 1.79. With 1.80 for England, 1.79 for Wales, 1.87 for Ulster and 1.62 for Scotland. Within England the TFR varied as follows: Northeast- 1.72 , Northwest- 1.82 , Yorkshire & Humber - 1.83, E Midlands - 1.80, W Midlands - 1.90, East - 1.84, London - 1.77, Southeast - 1.78 and Southwest - 1.76. [7]

★ In 2006, the TFR was 1.87 (Excluding Scotland and Ulster). With 1.87 for England and 1.84 for Wales. Within England the TFR varied as follows: Northeast- 1.78 , Northwest- 1.88 , Yorkshire & Humber - 1.90, E Midlands - 1.86, W Midlands - 1.96, East - 1.91, London - 1.84, Southeast - 1.87 and Southwest - 1.83. [8]

★ A more detailed table showing regional variations of TFR in England

Ethnicity

:''Main article: Ethnic groups of the United Kingdom

Citizenship

Main articles: Briton

'noun'

★ Briton(s), British (collective plural), Brit (colloquially)
'adjective'

★ British

Nationality

England

'noun'

★ Englishman/woman, English (collective plural)
'adjective'

★ English

Scotland

'noun'

★ Scot(s), Scotsman/woman, Scottish (collective plural)
'adjective'

★ Scottish, Scots

Wales

'noun'

★ Welshman/woman, Welsh (collective plural)
'adjective'

★ Welsh

Northern Ireland

Residents of Northern Ireland tend to refer to themselves either as "British", "Irish" or "northern Irish"/"Ulster", depending on religious and political convictions.

Ethnic groups

:''Main article: Ethnic groups of the United Kingdom''
''From the 2001 UK Census:''

Ethnic group	Population	% of total ★
White British		85.67%
White (other)		5.27%
Indian		1.8%
Pakistani		1.3%
Mixed race		1.2%
White Irish		1.2%
Black Caribbean		1.0%
Black African		0.8%
Bangladeshi		0.5%
Asian (non-Chinese)		0.4%
Chinese		0.4%
Other		0.4%
Black (others)		0.2%

Religion

:''Main article: Religion in the United Kingdom''
The traditional religion in the United Kingdom is Christianity. In England the established church is the Church of England (Anglican) whilst in Scotland it is the Church of Scotland (a Presbyterian Church). In Wales there is no established church, with the Church in Wales being disestablished in 1920. Likewise, in Northern Ireland the Church of Ireland was disestablished in 1871. In Northern Ireland there is a sectarian divide between Roman Catholic and Protestant communities.
The table below shows the most recent census data regarding religious belief;

Religion	Number	%
Christian	42,079,000	71.6%
Muslim	1,591,000	2.7%
Hindu	559,000	1.0%
Jedi	390,000	0.7%
Sikh	336,000	0.6%
Jewish	267,000	0.5%
Buddhist	152,000	0.3%
Other religion	179,000	0.3%
Not stated	4,289,000	7.3%
No religion	9,104,000	15.5%
Total religious	45,163,000	76.8%

Although the Census 2001 also recorded 390,000 Jedi Knights, making Jedi the fourth-largest "religion" in the UK, this does not confer them any official recognition.
''See also:'' Status of religious freedom in the United Kingdom, Islam in the United Kingdom, Hinduism in the United Kingdom, Judaism in the United Kingdom

Languages

:''Main article: Languages of the United Kingdom''
The United Kingdom has no official language. The dominant language, spoken as a first language by 95% of the population is English. Scots is spoken by around 1.5 million people in Scotland and 30,000 in Northern Ireland, where it is called Ulster Scots. Welsh is spoken by around 610,000 people. Scottish Gaelic is spoken by about 60,000 speakers, mostly in Scotland. Cornish is spoken by around 2,500 people. Irish is spoken by about 106,844 speakers in Northern Ireland. The Polish minority in United Kingdom estimated over 600,000 people speak mostly Polish language at homes, Polish Britons are mainly Polish-born immigrants to the UK.

Education

:''Main article: Education in the United Kingdom''
Broadly speaking, there are two educational systems in the United Kingdom: one covering England, Wales and Northern Ireland and another in Scotland. English, Welsh and Northern Irish students tend to sit a small number of more advanced examinations and Scottish students tend to sit a larger number of less advanced examinations. It should be noted that local English practice can vary from this general picture although across Scotland the system is well nigh universal.
Children are generally given a free education between the age of 5 and 16 across the United Kingdom, though in different areas they may start earlier or finish later. In some areas students also have the opportunity to enter selective education (Grammar Schools) though this is not universal and has its critics.
The UK also has three of the oldest universities in the world at Oxford, Cambridge and St Andrews.
Although education in the United Kingdom is universal for all, achievement in British Education still tends to be better for higher social classes.
'Literacy definition'

★ age 15 and over has completed five or more years of schooling
'Literacy - total population'

★ 99% (2000 est.)

See also

★ Geography of the United Kingdom

★ Population of England - historical estimates

★ Citizen Information Project proposals for a national population register

★ Office for National Statistics

★ UK Census

★ UK topics

References

★

★ Census 2001

★ Census 2001

★ Census 2001 website

★ Abstract (1833). Abstract of the Answers and Returns made pursuant to an act passed in the eleventh year of the reign of His MajestyKing George IV intituled an act for taking an account of the population of Great Britain, and the increase and diminution thereof. Population Register Abstract 1831. British Parliamentary Papers, 38.

★ Arkell, T. (1992). An examination of the poll taxes of the late seventeenth century, the Marriage Duty Act and Gregory King.

★ K. Schurer, & T. Arkell (Eds.), Surveying the people. The interpretation and use of document sources for the study of population in the late seventeenth century ( pp. 142–177). Oxford: Leopard’s Hill Press.

★ Boulton, J. (1992). The Marriage Duty Act and parochial registration in London, 1695–1706. In K. Schurer, & T. Arkell (Eds.), Surveying the people. The interpretation and use of document sources for the study of population in the late seventeenth century ( pp. 222–252). Oxford: Leopard’s Hill Press.

★ Boulton, J. (1993). Clandestine marriage in London: an examination of the neglected urban variable. Urban History, 20,
191–210.

External links

★ Population Trends

★ Social Trends

★ Population and migration Office for National Statistics