NBB AN205 G2 Regional Geography of the British Isles
Dolmányos P.
1
The population and settlements of the British Isles: the raw facts
Population
United Kingdom:
Total: 63,182,000 (2011 census)
(31,029,000 men / 32,153,000 women)
Population density: 256 people/km2
Life expectancy: Men: 77.8 years / Women: 81.9 years
Urban population: 89.6%
United Kingdom – parts: (according to the 2011 census)
England: 53,012,456 (83.9 per cent of the total population)
Scotland: 5,295,000 (8.4 per cent)
Wales: 3,063,456 (4.8 per cent)
Northern Ireland: 1,810,863 (2.9 per cent)
Ethnic division:
2001 census:
white (of which English 83.6%, Scottish 8.6%, Welsh 4.9%, Northern Irish 2.9%) 92.1%,
black 2%, Indian 1.8%, Pakistani 1.3%, mixed 1.2%, other 1.6% (2001 census)
Ethnic group
Population % of total*
White British
50,366,497
85.67%
White (other)
3,096,169
5.27%
Indian
1,053,411
1.8%
Pakistani
747,285
1.3%
Mixed race
677,117
1.2%
White Irish
691,232
1.2%
Black Caribbean
565,876
1.0%
Black African
485,277
0.8%
Bangladeshi
283,063
0.5%
Asian (non-Chinese)
247,644
0.4%
Chinese
247,403
0.4%
Other
230,615
0.4%
Black (others)
97,585
0.2%
* Percentage of total UK population
Ethnic groups in the UK (2001 census)
2011 census:
England and Wales:
white: 86% (English/Welsh/Scottish/Northern Irish/British: 80.5%; other white: 4.4%; Irish:
0.9%); Asian/Asian British: 7.5% (Indian: 2.5%; Pakistani: 2%; other Asian: 1.5%;
Bangladeshi: 0.8%; Chinese: 0.7%); Black: 3.3% (African: 1.8%; Caribbean: 1.1%; other
black: 0.5%); Mixed/Multiple: 2.2% (White and Black Caribbean: 0.8%; White Asian:
0.6%; other mixed: 0.5%; White and Black African: 0.3%)
NBB AN205 G2 Regional Geography of the British Isles
Religious affiliations:
Christian (Anglican, Roman Catholic, Presbyterian, Methodist): 71.6%
Muslim: 2.7%
Hindu: 1%
Sikh: 0.6%
Jewish: 0.5%
Buddhist: 0.3%
other: 0.3%
not stated: 7.3%
no religion: 15.5% (2001 census)
Age composition
0-14 years: 17.6% (male 5,681,000/female 5,419,000)
15-64 years: 66% (male 20,751,000/female 20,953,000)
65 years and over: 16.4% (male 4,597,000/female 5,781,000)
Average age: 39.9 years (2010 est.)
Population growth:
Projection for the period 2011 to 2035: 0.6%
Population density:
England: 407 people/km2
Scotland: 68 people/km2
Wales: 148 people/km2
Northern Ireland: 131 people/km2
London: 5,200 people/km2
Dolmányos P.
2
NBB AN205 G2 Regional Geography of the British Isles
Population pyramid of the UK, 2012 estimates (National Statistics)
Republic of Ireland:
Total population: 4,239,848 (2006 census)
Population density: 60 people/km2
Life expectancy: 77.7 years (f: 80.3, m: 75.1)
Urban population: 60% (> 1,000 inhabitants)
Population growth: 0.6%
0-14 years: 20.9% (male 448,333/female 418,476)
15-64 years: 67.3% (male 1,400,222/female 1,398,194)
65 years and over: 11.8% (male 218,459/female 272,435) (2008 est.)
Ethnic groups:
Irish 87.4%
other white 7.5%
Asian 1.3%
black 1.1%
mixed 1.1%
unspecified 1.6% (2006 census)
Religious affiliations:
Roman Catholic 87.4%
Church of Ireland 2.9%
other Christian 1.9%
other 2.1%
Dolmányos P.
3
NBB AN205 G2 Regional Geography of the British Isles
Dolmányos P.
4
unspecified 1.5%
none 4.2% (2006 census)
Population pyramid of Ireland (Source: http://www.census.gov/ipc/www/idb/country.php)
The geographical distribution of the population
UK: densely populated – London, Midlands, Manchester, Newcastle, Scottish Lowlands,
South Wales; sparsely populated: Scottish Highlands
Ireland: densely populated – Dublin, Cork
Migration
Long history – religious persecution, WW2, economic motifs
UK: immigration – from the New Commonwealth (mainly from 1950s, 1960s, services,
textile industry), EU, Old Commonwealth, USA, South Africa; often former emigrants returning or
people of British descent; internal: North > South, New Towns, rural areas with small towns,
coastal areas
Ireland: emigration mainly – for centuries a ‘tradition’ of leaving the country
The occupied population
Agriculture: 0.9%
Industry: 23.4%
Services: 75.7% (2007 est.)
6%
27%
67% (2006 est.)
Unemployment rate: 5.4%
4.6% (2007 est.)
NBB AN205 G2 Regional Geography of the British Isles
Dolmányos P.
5
Settlements
UK
Overview:
- densely populated country
- early industrialisation – early beginnings of urbanisation – 89.6% of the population is urban
- not only towns and cities with their agglomerations but several conurbations (extended
urban areas in which towns and cities expand until their urban areas join up with each other)
- administrative consequence: metropolitan counties (1974, administrative units on the basis
of large conurbations)
Major population centres
Settlements with more than 100,000 inhabitants:
- England and Wales: 70
- Scotland: 4
- Northern Ireland: 1
Such settlements are normally called cities in geography (based on their size). City, however, is a
term that can have another approach: it refers to a place that has been granted city status. City
status: no special rights apart from the possibility of being called a city. Until 1888 the basis of the
granting of city status was the presence of a cathedral; since then it has not been a requirement. It is
not necessarily identical with the built up area (cf. Greater London – City of Westminster and City
of London)
The largest urban areas in England and Wales (based on 2011 census data):
Greater London: 9,787,426
Greater Manchester: 2,553,379
West Midlands (Birmingham): 2,440,986
West Yorkshire (Leeds): 1,777,934
Liverpool: 864,122
South Hampshire (Southampton – Portsmouth): 855,569
Tyneside (Newcastle): 774,891
Nottingham: 729,977
Sheffield: 685,368
Bristol: 617,280
Leicester: 508,916
Brighton and Hove: 474,485
Bournemouth/Poole: 466,266
Cardiff: 447,287
Teesside: 376,633
Stoke-on-Trent: 372,775
Coventry: 359,262
Sunderland: 335,415
Birkenhead: 325,264
Reading: 318,014
Kingston upon Hull: 314,018
Preston: 313,322
Newport: 306,844
Swansea: 300,352
NBB AN205 G2 Regional Geography of the British Isles
Dolmányos P.
6
Scotland:
Greater Glasgow: 1,168,270
Edinburgh: 452,194
Aberdeen: 197,328
Dundee: 154,674
Northern Ireland:
Belfast: 579,554
Conurbations:
Greater London (9.79 million), West Midlands, Merseyside, Greater Manchester, West
Yorkshire, Tyneside, Clydeside
New Towns, New Cities
Post WW2 development – planned urban areas to reduce differences in population density by
relieving pressure on large urban centres, taking the overspill population of London, Birmingham
etc. Three waves (late 1940s; 1961-64; 1967-70), partly incorporating already existing smaller
settlements, varying success – the only absolute success is the city of Milton Keynes
Ireland
Overview:
- smaller population, smaller population density
- colonial status – principally agricultural society with very little industry – urbanisation was
not spectacular
- prominence of Dublin as an urban centre
Major population centres: Dublin (953,000), Cork (180,000), Limerick (79,000), Galway (57,000),
Waterford (44,000), Dundalk (30,000)