People and Culture
Over 62 million people share a land smaller than the state of Oregon, making the population density one of the highest in the world. Almost one-third lives in England’s urban and suburban southeast, with over 8.6 million living in London alone. Other major cities are Birmingham, Glasgow, Leeds, Sheffield, Liverpool, Manchester, Bristol, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast.
Over 83 percent of the U.K.’s population is English followed by 8.6 percent Scottish, 4.9 percent Welsh and 2.9 percent Northern Irish. Indian, Pakistani and other ethnicities make up the balance of the population. The most spoken language throughout the U.K. is English. However, regional languages do exist. Scots is spoken by about 30 percent of the population of Scotland, Welsh by about 20 percent of Wales and Irish is spoken by about 10 percent of the population of Northern Ireland. The Church of England and the Church of Scotland dominate religious beliefs in England and Scotland, but most religions are represented throughout the U.K.
Historically, the United Kingdom of Great Britain was founded on May 1, 1707 as a result of the political union of the Kingdom of England, which included Wales, and the Kingdom of Scotland. The early years of the unified kingdom of Great Britain were marked by Jacobite risings, which ended with defeat for the Stuart cause at Culloden in 1746. Later, in 1763, victory in the Seven Years War led to the dominance of the British Empire. The Act of Union 1800 merged the Kingdom of Great Britain with the Kingdom of Ireland to create the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland on January 1, 1801. This was the result of several centuries of historic events, including the invasions of ruling Normans in Ireland, the Irish Rebellion of 1641 and War of American Independence. The union eliminated the separate Parliaments of Great Britain and Ireland creating an integrated Parliament of the United Kingdom.
The United Kingdom has historically played a leading role in developing parliamentary democracy and advancing literature and science. At its peak in the nineteenth century, the British Empire stretched over one-fourth of the earth’s surface. In the twentieth century, the United Kingdom became one of five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council and a founding member of NATO and the Commonwealth. It is also an active member of the European Union, although it remains outside the Economic and Monetary Union. The Scottish Parliament, the National Assembly for Wales and the Northern Ireland Assembly were established in 1999.
Lifestyle
British English, the Scottish burr, the Irish brogue, driving on the left side of the road, standing in queues, pubs, bangers and mash, room temperature beer, scotch and whiskey, woolens, moors and cottages are just a few of the things that come to mind when you think of the United Kingdom. Yes, it is a bit different in the U.K., but those are the things that keep life interesting for expats who live in the United Kingdom.
The people of the British Isles like their lifestyle and their happiness is often reflected in global studies. The London-based Legatum Institute ranked the U.K. twenty-third out of 142 countries researched for Average Life Satisfaction and thirteenth in Legatum’s Prosperity Index (2012), which considers economy, entrepreneurship and opportunity, governance, education, health, safety and security, personal freedom and social capital categories. As Shakespeare said so eloquently in his play Henry V, “We few, we happy few, we band of brothers.”
The United Kingdom has a very rich literary heritage. From William Shakespeare and Charles Dickens to the Scot Robert Burns, the Welshman Dylan Thomas and the Northern Irishman Seamus Heaney, this island nation has contributed significantly to the world’s culture on many fronts. The U.K. also has been at the forefront of youth culture since the 1960s, particularly with the British music invasion of America. Whether you choose an urban area, the pastoral country, the highlands or the coast, you will never be far from the United Kingdom’s cultural and historical heritage.
The U.K. also is ethnically diverse, partly as a legacy of empire. Recently, though, multiculturalism, immigration and national identity issues are spurring a national conversation against a background of concerns about terrorism and Islamist radicalism, which were heightened after the suicide bomb attacks on London’s transport network in 2005.
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