6.Gb Population

The population of the UK now is more than 60 mln people.

Urban and rural population. The conurbations.

Population density: in England — 383 people to the square km. In Wales-142, in Scotland - 65, in Northern Ireland - 125. The Highlands of Scotland, the northern Pennines and mountainous Wales - are very sparsely populated. The most highly populated regions are the industrial districts: South- East England with Greater London, the Midlands, Lancashire, West Yorkshire, South Hales, , Clydeside in Scotland and North-East England. The population of England is and has been for centuries, greater than that of all other parts of Britain.

UK -62,756, area 244,100, density -246.

As regards the proportion of urban population Britain probably holds the first place in the world. Over 90% of its population live in towns. In Britain there are 61 towns with the population of over 100 thousand people. About one third of the country's population is concentrated in the town districts, which comprise numerous merged towns and are called conurbations. The seven major metropolitan areas which have been denoted as 'conurbations' are:

Greater London, Central Clydeside, Merseyside, south-East Lancashire, Tyneside, the West Midlands and West Yorkshire

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, Brighton, Belfast, Southampton, Portsmouth and Newcastle Upon Tyne, with Bradford just under 300,000.

These regions are famous for their poor and worn out residential districts and high population density and narrow streets of old towns and cities. They create very serious problems, including traffic congestion. The proportion of residents in Greater London and most of the metropolitan areas of England has recently been falling. People have tended to leave city centres and conurbations because of their unhealthy environment, although such migration may not necessarily mean a change of job but rather an increase in the distance of travel to and from work. In other cases it has been a consequence of falling employment in city centres. More than 1.5 million people left major British cities during the 10 years between the censuses of 1971 and 1981 Greater London's population fell by 756,000 to under 7 million for the first time since 1901. In some districts of London, such as Kensington and Chelsea the population fell by almost 30 per cent. Among the many reasons are the unhealthy environment, transport congestion, noise pollution, poor municipal services, the growing crime rate. Soaring rents and high unemployment are also important factors which drive the people out of the big cities.

In general about half the population lives in a belt across South Lancashire and west Yorkshire at one end, and the London area at the other, having the industrialized Midlands at its centre. Other areas with large populations are: the central lowlands of Scotland; north-east England from north of the river Tyne down to the river Tees; south-west Wales; the Bristol area, and the English Channel coast from Poole, in Dorset, eastwards. Less densely populated areas are the eastern fringes of England.

Rural settlements of Great Britain differ from the traditional villages situated in other countries. They are located not far from towns and resemble their suburbs. They are inhabited by farm workers, clergymen, teachers, shop¬keepers, old-age people. Lately there has been a strong influx of townsmen to villages, where houses are cheaper. Farmers do not live in such places. The farmers live in isolated farms scattered all over the farm land.

Recently, there have been many waves of immigration into Britain and movement within the U.K. For example, many people from Wales, Scotland and Ireland have settled in England. Many foreigners settled in Britain since the beginning of the 20th century. Commonwealth citizens could enter Britain quite freely until 1962, while people from other countries had to receive special permits.

Before the Second World Bar most of the Immigrants came from the old dominions: Canada, Australia, Mew Zealand, South Africa. In the late 1930s many Jews came from Germany because of fascist persecution, as well as Poles and people of-other nationalities from Eastern Europe. After 1952 many immigrants came to Britain from the West Indies, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Hong Kong, from some countries of Africa. At this time the British economy was developing rapidly and it needed cheap labour. The immigrants were poor and out of work and had been told there were jobs for them in Britain.

Black and Asian people can be seen in every city of Britain, but there is a greater concentration of them in larger cities, where it is easier to find work, such as London, Birmingham, Bradford, Coventry, Manchester and others. Today, more than 5 million people of non-white origin live in Britain and over 80 per cent of them were born in Britain, thus they are British, but with a different colour of their skin. The immigrants usually take the lowest paid jobs, and when there is unemployment they are the first to lose work. In spite of the laws to protect them, there was still discrimination against the non-whites. This led to serious disturbances in many cities of Britain in the early 1980s.

With the movement of people among the countries of the European Union of which Britain is a member, more and more people enter Britain from continental Europe. Today there are many Italians, Greeks, Spaniards, and Portuguese living in Britain The arrival of many foreigners has changed life in present-day Britain. British culture has been enriched through its contact with other cultures. For example, the eating and cooking habits of the British have changed. The service sector has also unproved considerably due to the arrival of immigrants. There are many shops run by South Koreans and Vietnamese which are open 24 hours, and any customer can drop in any time to buy things which he needs.

Cultural life has also become interesting due to its diversity. You can visit different exhibitions, enjoy new theatrical performances, music. Today Britain is a multiracial society which benefits from the influences of different peoples and cultures.

The dominant language, spoken as a first language by 95% of the population, is English. Scots is spoken by around 500,000 people in Scotland and 30,000 in Northern Ireland, where it is called Ulster Scots. Welsh is spoken by around 600,000 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 the United Kingdom estimated over 600,000 people speak mostly Polish at home, Poles are mainly Polish-born immigrants to the UK, although many are those who settled in Britain after the second world war and their descendants. French language is spoken in the Channel Islands. British Sign Language is also common.

Population

- Mid-2010 estimate 62,262,000[5] (22nd)

- 2001 census 58,789,194[6]

- Density 255.6/km2 (51st)

661.9/sq mi

(2001

92.1% White

4.0% South Asian

2.0% Black

1.2% Mixed

0.4% Chinese

0.4% Other

LONDON about 8 mln, 10 % black

Official language(s) English[1][2]

Recognised regional languages Irish, Ulster Scots, Scottish Gaelic, Scots, Welsh, Cornish[n