United Kingdom

D

Population Statistics

The United Kingdom has a population of 60,943,912 (2008 estimate), with an average population density of 252 persons per sq km (653 per sq mi). The population density of the United Kingdom is one of the highest in Europe, exceeded by Netherlands and Belgium. England is the most populated part of the United Kingdom, with 50,094,000 people (2004), which means nearly four-fifths of the United Kingdom’s population resides in England. It is also the most densely populated portion of the United Kingdom, with a population density of 384 persons per sq km (995 per sq mi). Scotland possesses 5,078,000 people, and a population density of 64 persons per sq km (167 per sq mi). Wales has 2,952,000 people, with a population density of 142 persons per sq km (368 per sq mi). Northern Ireland’s population is 1,710,000, and it has 121 persons per sq km (313 per sq mi).

Britain’s population is overwhelmingly urban, with 89 percent living in urban areas and 11 percent living in rural areas. The Industrial Revolution built up major urban areas, and most of Britain’s people live in and around them to this day. England’s population is densest in the London area, around Birmingham and Coventry in the Midlands, and in northern England near the old industrial centers of Leeds, Sheffield, Manchester, Liverpool, and Newcastle upon Tyne. In the 1980s and 1990s southern England, particularly the southeast, became a center of population growth, due in large part to the growth of the high-tech and service sectors of the economy.

In Wales two-thirds of the people live in the industrial southern valleys. In Scotland three-quarters of the people live in the central lowlands, around Glasgow to the west and Edinburgh to the east. About half of the people living in Northern Ireland reside in the eastern portion, in Belfast and along the coast.

The population of Greater London is about 7.2 million (2001 census), making it by far the most populous city in the United Kingdom. It is the seat of government, center of business, and the heart of arts and culture. Birmingham is the second largest city, with 976,400 people. Other large cities in the United Kingdom include Leeds with 715,500, Glasgow with 578,700, and Sheffield with 513,100. Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, has a population of about 449,000; Cardiff, the capital of Wales, has 305,200 people; and Belfast, the capital of Northern Ireland, has a population of 277,200.

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E

Language

English is the official language of the United Kingdom and is the first language of the vast majority of its citizens. The use of language was extremely important to Britain’s class structure for much of the 20th century. Some educated English people, regardless of their class origin, strove to free themselves of regional or local accents in order to sound like educated English-speaking people. Others, including people from East London and people in northern England, enjoyed their particular way of speaking, regarding it as warmer and friendlier than standard English. Many regional and local speech patterns and accents remained in use, and in recent decades they have become far more acceptable in all social circles. BBC broadcasters today have Scottish, Welsh, and Northern Irish regional accents.

The Celtic language, an ancient tongue, continues to be spoken in Scotland by some people, usually those in the more remote fringes of the country, especially in the Hebrides Islands. Approximately 80,000 Scots speak Scottish Gaelic, a type of Celtic language. English is the predominant language in Northern Ireland, although at least some of the Roman Catholic minority speak Irish, another Gaelic dialect, as a second language.

The ancient Celtic language of Wales is strongly tied to the cultural nationalism of the region. At the time of the 2001 census, about 21 percent of the Welsh population could speak Welsh. Welsh is spoken in northern and western Wales much more than in southern Wales, where many English people have relocated. Many schools in Wales offer bilingual education, and there is a Welsh-language television channel. In 1993, after long and considerable agitation by Welsh nationalists, the government made Welsh a joint official language with English in Wales for use in the courts, the civil service, and other aspects of the public sector.

F

Religion

The United Kingdom guarantees its citizens religious freedom without interference from the state or the community, and most of the world’s religions have followers in Britain. As in many European countries today, the majority of the population in Britain does not regularly attend religious services, yet nearly all faiths have devoted congregations of active members. An increasing percentage of the population professes no religious faith and some organizations represent secular outlooks. Estimating membership is difficult because congregations count their members differently, and government figures rely upon the numbers provided by the different groups.

In the past religion was often deeply entwined with politics. The only place this is still true in the United Kingdom is in Northern Ireland, where two communities use religious designations to express different, and hostile, political agendas. Many Protestants, largely descendants of Scottish and English settlers, are interested in maintaining their union with Britain, while some Roman Catholics campaign strongly for union with Ireland. (see Northern Ireland: History.)

F

1

The Established Churches

The United Kingdom has two established churches: the Church of England and the Church of Scotland. An established church is the legally recognized official church of the state. The Church of England, also called the Anglican Church, is a Protestant Episcopal church. It is the parent body of churches belonging to the Anglican Communion, which includes the Episcopal Church of the United States. The Church in Wales and the Church of Ireland, once members of the Church of England, belong to the Anglican Communion but are not the official churches of their states.

The Church of England claims to be an apostolic church, meaning it traces a direct line of bishops back to the 12 apostles of Jesus. Anglicans also speak of themselves as a catholic, or universal, church, with a lowercase c, meaning that their beliefs are intended for humankind as a whole. Since its inception in the 16th century, the Church of England has debated how close its practices should be to those of the Roman Catholic Church. The history of the Church of England is marked by the division between High Church, with practices that favor Roman Catholicism, and Low Church, with practices that are more Protestant. In the last quarter of the 20th century, the Anglican Church was involved in a serious controversy over the ordination of women, which it finally allowed in 1992, and in 1994 the first women were ordained as priests in the Anglican Church. This action caused some Anglican clerics and lay people to convert to Roman Catholicism. Further controversy erupted in the early 2000s over the ordination of gay clergy.

The British monarch, who must be a member of the Anglican Church, holds the titles of Supreme Governor of the Church of England and Defender of the Faith. The monarch appoints archbishops and bishops upon the advice of the prime minister, who consults a commission that includes both lay people and clergy. Two archbishops and 24 senior bishops sit in the House of Lords. The archbishop of Canterbury holds the title of Primate of All England; another archbishop presides at York. Changes in church ritual can only be made with the consent of Parliament.

About 47 percent of the British population is Anglican. A third of the marriages in Britain are performed in the Anglican Church. Many members are merely baptized, married, and buried in the church, but do not otherwise attend services. More than a million people attend the Church of England on an average Sunday.

The established church in Scotland is the Church of Scotland, which is Presbyterian (see Presbyterianism). The Presbyterian Church is governed by courts composed of ministers and elders. The Church of Scotland is not subject to state control. It is the principal religious group in Scotland and has about 600,000 members. A number of independent Scottish Presbyterian churches exist; these are largely descended from groups that broke away from the Church of Scotland.

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2

Other Religious Groups

The Roman Catholic Church has an extensive formal structure in Britain made up of provinces, dioceses, and local parishes. The Catholic Church has many orders—groups of ordained men and women who follow special religious rules—and maintains an extensive school system out of public funds. About 16 percent of the population identifies itself as Roman Catholic.

A number of Protestant denominations are called Free Churches; in the past they were called Nonconformist or Dissenting churches. The Methodist Church is the largest of these (see Methodism). Others include the Baptist Union of Great Britain, along with Baptist Unions in Scotland, Wales, and Ireland; Free Presbyterian churches in England, Wales, and Scotland; and the United Reformed Church.

Other Christian religious groups include Unitarians, Pentecostals, Quakers, Christian Brethren, Eastern Orthodox, Lutherans, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Seventh-day Adventists, Christian Scientists, and Mormons.

The fast-growing Muslim community numbered 1.6 million, or more than 2 percent of the total population. Britain has the second largest Jewish community in Western Europe, with some 275,000 people. There are also about 580,000 Hindus, 340,000 Sikhs, and thousands of Jains and Buddhists. Newer religious movements and sects have also flourished in Britain, including the Church of Scientology and the Unification Church.

G

Education

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