The Population of the United Kingdom

The population of the UK is over 63 million people. Over 52 million people live in England, over 3 million in Wales, over 5 million in Scotland and about 2 million in Northern Ireland. They live mostly in towns and cities and their suburbs (пригороды).

Greater London, the south and the southeast are the most densely populated areas. London’s population is over 8 million. Most of the mountainous parts of the UK including much of Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Pennine Chain in northern England are very sparsely populated.

The UK is inhabited by the English, the Scots, the Welsh, and the Irish who constitute the British nation. They are the descendants of different peoples who settled in the British Isles at different times:

1. the native population of the British Isles - the pre-Celts and the Celts [selts]; than - the earlier Britons (or Brythons) of Celtic tribes; 2. the Germanic tribes that settled in the area in the fifth and sixth centuries - the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes (юты), known as the Anglo-Saxons, who founded what was to become England. The Anglo-Saxons either assimilated or forced back the Celts; 3. the Scandinavians: the Danes (датчане), the Norse (древние норвежцы, викинги) in the eighth - ninth centuries; they influenced a lot on the Anglo-Saxons; 4. the Normans (норманны). In 1066 the Normans conquered England. It was the last time Britain was invaded; and the English nation has formed.

Now there are also many people of all colours and races in the UK. These are mostly former inhabitants of the former British colonies. These people, called the coloureds, came to the UK in search of better living standards.

English is the official language of the UK. Besides standard literary English there are many regional and social dialects: for example, cockney of East Londoners. Scottish Gaelic (of Celtic languages, spoken in Highland Scotland), Scots (a variety of Germanic, spoken in Lowland Scotland) and Scottish English (a variety of English) survive in some parts of Scotland. Irish (of Celtic languages), Ulster Scots (a dialect of Scots) and Ulster Irish (a dialect of Irish) are spoken in Ireland.

Wales is officially bilingual, Welsh (of Celtic languages) is spoken by about a fifth of its population. Welsh is the first language in most of the western counties (графства) of Wales.