At the April 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 prosperous and fertile 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. Education is mandatory from ages 5 through 16. About one-fifth of British students go on to post-secondary education. The Church of England and the Church of Scotland are the official churches in their respective parts of the country, but most religions found in the world are represented in the United Kingdom.
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 persist in Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland, the predominant language is English, which is primarily a blend of Anglo-Saxon and Norman French.
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60,270,708 (July 2004 est.)
18% (male 5,560,489; female 5,293,871) (2004 est.)
66.3% (male 20,193,876; female 19,736,516) (2004 est.)
15.7% (male 4,027,721; female 5,458,235) (2004 est.)
0.25% (2000 est.)
11.74 births/1,000 population (2003 est.)
10.33 deaths/1,000 population (2003 est.)
2.58 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 est.)
1.02 male(s)/female (2002 est.)
1.02 male(s)/female (2002 est.)
0.99 male(s)/female (2002 est.)
0.84 male(s)/female (2002 est.)
0.98 male(s)/female (2002 est.)
5.13 deaths/1,000 live births (2003 est.)
78.05 years (2001 est.)
75.7 years (2001 est.)
80.4 years (2001 est.)
1.73 children born/woman (2003 est.)
Briton(s), British (collective plural)
British
English, Welsh (about 26% of the population of Wales), Scottish form of Gaelic (about 60,000 in Scotland)
age 15 and over has completed five or more years of schooling
99% (1978 est.)
NA%
NA%