2. Demographic and Religious Diversity in the United Kingdom.

Germanic peoples from Europe—the Angles, the Saxons, and the Jutes—between the 5th and 7th centuries ad. Their language - the foundation of the basic, short, everyday words in ME. These refugees and native Britons were Celts who had absorbed the earliest peoples on the island, the prehistoric people known as Iberians. After the Anglo-Saxon conquest, the Celts remained in Wales, Scotland, Ireland, and the West Country. In 1066 the Normans conquered England. Waves of other foreigners and refugees have immigrated to Britain for religious, political, and economic reasons. Immigration After World War II The Ulsterites are an ethnically controversial group—some are Scottish and others - Protestant Irish. The minorities—Chinese, Asian Indians, Pakistanis, Africans, and Caribbean people of African ancestry—came to Britain after 1945. Immigration from India and Pakistan stabilized in the 1990s, but immigration from African countries continued to rise. In 2004 the right to work in Britain was opened to people in central Europe and the Baltic countries, and they began to form the latest group of immigrants. The UK - a prosperous, well-educated, and tolerant society, and ethnic differences have sparked little violence and hostility. The Race Relations Act of 1976 makes it illegal to discriminate against any person because of race, color, nationality, or origin. In late 2007 - substantial reforms to the entry criteria for people wishing to work, train, or study in the United Kingdom. The new system replaced work permits and other entry schemes. Demographic Trends From the 18th century until well into the 19th century, the death rate dropped and the birth rate remained high. Toward the end of the 19th century and into the 20th century the birth rate stabilized and the death rate remained low. Family size decreased and the medium age of the population rose. More than 20 percent - over the age of 60; under the age of 15 years - only 13 percent. Life expectancy in 2008 was 76 years for men and 81.5 years for women. Britain’s population has been growing slowly, slower than the average for countries in the European Union.

3. The Political System of the United Kingdom (The Government. The Monarchy)

Monarchy is the oldest form of government in the United Kingdom. In a monarchy, a king or queen is Head of State. The British monarchy is known as a constitutional monarchy. This means that, while The Sovereign is Head of State, the ability to make and pass legislation resides with an elected Parliament. Although the British Sovereign no longer has a political or executive role, he or she continues to play an important part in the life of the nation. As Head of State, The Monarch undertakes constitutional and representational duties which have developed over one thousand years of history. In addition to these State duties, The Monarch has a less formal role as 'Head of Nation'. The Sovereign acts as a focus for national identity, unity and pride; gives a sense of stability and continuity; officially recognises success and excellence; and supports the ideal of voluntary service. In all these roles The Sovereign is supported by members of their immediate family.

The head of state and theoretical source of executive, judicial and legislative power in the UK is the British monarch, currently Queen Elizabeth II. However, sovereignty in the UK no longer rests with the monarch, since the English Bill of Rights in 1689, which established the principle of Parliamentary Soverignity. Despite this the Monarch remains Head of State, akin to a President in European (but not American) political tradition.

The British Parliament is often called Westminster because it is housed in a distinguished building in central London called the Palace of Westminster. The British Parliament – like most in the world – is bicameral, that is there are two houses or chambers. The House of Commons is the lower chamber but the one with the most authority. The Commons is chaired by the Speaker. The House of Commons currently comprises 650 Members of Parliament. Rather oddly (but deliberately), there is insufficient seating capacity in the chamber of the House of Commons for all the MPs. Members do not sit at desks (like most legislatures) but on long, green-covered benches and there is only seating capacity for 437 MPs out of the total of 650. Each member in the House of Commons represents a geographical constituency. Typically a constituency would have around 60,000-80,000 voters, depending mainly on whether it is an urban or rural constituency.

The parliament is bicameral, with an upper house, the House of Lords, and a lower house, the House of Commons.[2] The Queen is the third component of the legislature.[3][4] The House of Lords includes two different types of members: the Lords Spiritual (the senior bishops of the Church of England) and the Lords Temporal (members of the Peerage) whose members are not elected by the population at large, but are appointed by the Sovereign on advice of the Prime Minister.[5] Prior to the opening of the Supreme Court in October 2009 the House of Lords also performed a judicial role through the Law Lords. The House of Commons is a democratically elected chamber with elections to it held at least every five years.[6] The two Houses meet in separate chambers in the Palace of Westminster (commonly known as the Houses of Parliament), in London. By constitutional convention, all government ministers, including the Prime Minister, are members of the House of Commons or, less often, the House of Lords, and are thereby accountable to the respective branches of the legislature.

The Parliament of Great Britain was formed in 1707 following the ratification of the Treaty of Union by both the Parliament of England and Parliament of Scotland passing Acts of Union. However, in practice the parliament was a continuation of the English parliament with the addition of Scottish MPs and peers. Parliament was further enlarged by the ratification by the Parliament of Great Britain and the Parliament of Ireland of the Act of Union (1800), which abolished the Irish Parliament; this added 100 Irish members to the Commons and 32 to the Lords to create the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. It has been called "the mother of parliaments",[7] its democratic institutions having set the standards for many democracies throughout the world,[8] and the United Kingdom parliament is the largest Anglophone legislative body in the world.[9]

In theory, supreme legislative power is vested in the Queen-in-Parliament; in practice in modern times, real power is vested in the House of Commons, as the Sovereign generally acts on the advice of the Prime Minister and the powers of the House of Lords have been limited.[10]