Great Britain Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ==Demographics== {{Main|Demographics of the United Kingdom}} ===Settlements=== [[London]] is the capital of [[England]] and the [[United Kingdom]] as a whole, and is the seat of the [[Government of the United Kingdom|United Kingdom's government]]. [[Edinburgh]] is the capital city of [[Scotland]], and is the seat of the [[Scottish Government]] as well as the [[Courts of Scotland|highest courts in Scotland]]. The [[Palace of Holyroodhouse]] in Edinburgh is the [[official residence]] of the [[Monarchy of the United Kingdom|British monarch]] in Scotland. [[Cardiff]] is the capital city of [[Wales]], and is the seat of the [[Welsh Government]]. ;Largest urban areas {{See also|List of urban areas in the United Kingdom}} {|class="wikitable sortable" !Rank !City-region !Built-up area<ref name="BUA">{{cite web | url=http://www.nomisweb.co.uk/articles/747.aspx|title=2011 Census - Built-up areas| publisher=[[Office for National Statistics|ONS]] | access-date=12 July 2015}}</ref> !Population<br />(2011 Census) !Area<br />(km<sup>2</sup>) !Density<br />(people/km<sup>2</sup>) |- !1 |[[London]] |[[Greater London Urban Area|Greater London]] |9,787,426 |1,737.9 |5,630 |- !2 |[[Manchester]]–[[Salford]] |[[Greater Manchester Urban Area|Greater Manchester]] |2,553,379 |630.3 |4,051 |- !3 |[[Birmingham]]–[[Wolverhampton]] |[[West Midlands Urban Area|West Midlands]] |2,440,986 |598.9 |4,076 |- !4 |[[Leeds]]–[[Bradford]] |[[West Yorkshire Urban Area|West Yorkshire]] |1,777,934 |487.8 |3,645 |- !5 |[[Glasgow]] |[[Greater Glasgow]] |1,209,143 |368.5 |3,390 |- !6 |[[Liverpool]] |[[Liverpool Urban Area|Liverpool]] |864,122 |199.6 |4,329 |- !7 |[[Southampton]]–[[Portsmouth]] |[[South Hampshire]] |855,569 |192.0 |4,455 |- !8 |[[Newcastle upon Tyne]]–[[Sunderland, Tyne and Wear|Sunderland]] |[[Tyneside]] |774,891 |180.5 |4,292 |- !9 |[[Nottingham]] |[[Nottingham Urban Area|Nottingham]] |729,977 |176.4 |4,139 |- !10 |[[Sheffield]] |[[Sheffield Urban Area|Sheffield]] |685,368 |167.5 |4,092 |} ===Language=== {{Further|Languages of England|Languages of Scotland|Languages of Wales}} {{See also|Languages of the United Kingdom}} In the Late Bronze Age, Britain was part of a culture called the [[Atlantic Bronze Age]], held together by maritime trading, which also included Ireland, France, Spain and Portugal. In contrast to the generally accepted view<ref name=Eska2013>{{cite journal|last1=Eska|first1=Joseph F.|title=Bryn Mawr Classical Review 2013.12.35|url=http://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2013/2013-12-35.html|journal=Bryn Mawr Classical Review|access-date=2 September 2014|date=December 2013}}</ref> that [[Celtic languages|Celtic]] originated in the context of the [[Hallstatt culture]], since 2009, [[John T. Koch]] and others have proposed that the origins of the Celtic languages are to be sought in Bronze Age Western Europe, especially the Iberian Peninsula.<ref>[http://www.aber.ac.uk/aberonline/en/archive/2008/05/au7608/ Aberystwyth University - News]. Aber.ac.uk. Retrieved on 17 July 2013.</ref><ref name=Koch>{{cite web| url= http://www.wales.ac.uk/Resources/Documents/Research/ODonnell.pdf| work =O'Donnell Lecture | year = 2008 | title = Appendix | access-date = 15 August 2011}}</ref><ref name= Koch2009>{{Cite journal| last = Koch | first = John | title = Tartessian: Celtic from the Southwest at the Dawn of History in Acta Palaeohispanica X Palaeohispanica 9 | journal = Palaeohispánica: Revista Sobre Lenguas y Culturas de la Hispania Antigua | publisher = Palaeohispanica | year = 2009 | pages = 339–51 | url = http://ifc.dpz.es/recursos/publicaciones/29/54/26koch.pdf | issn = 1578-5386 | access-date = 17 May 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.megalithic.co.uk/article.php?sid=2146413465|title=New research suggests Welsh Celtic roots lie in Spain and Portugal|last=Koch|first=John|access-date=10 May 2010}}</ref> Koch et al.'s proposal has failed to find wide acceptance among experts on the Celtic languages.<ref name=Eska2013/> All the modern Brythonic languages (Breton, Cornish, Welsh) are generally considered to derive from a common ancestral language termed ''Brittonic'', ''British'', ''Common Brythonic'', ''Old Brythonic'' or ''Proto-Brythonic'', which is thought to have developed from [[Proto-Celtic]] or early [[Insular Celtic]] by the 6th century AD.<ref>{{cite book| title=An Atlas for Celtic Studies| first=John T.| last=Koch| publisher=Oxbow Books| location=Oxford| year=2007| isbn=978-1-84217-309-1}}</ref> Brythonic languages were probably spoken before the Roman invasion at least in the majority of Great Britain south of the rivers [[River Forth|Forth]] and [[River Clyde|Clyde]], though the [[Isle of Man]] later had a Goidelic language, [[Manx language|Manx]]. Northern Scotland mainly spoke [[Pritennic]], which became [[Pictish]], which may have been a Brythonic language. During the period of the Roman occupation of [[Southern Britain]] (AD 43 to {{Circa|410}}), Common Brythonic borrowed a large stock of [[Latin]] words. Approximately 800 of these Latin loan-words have survived in the three modern Brythonic languages. ''Romano-British'' is the name for the Latinised form of the language used by Roman authors. [[British English]] is spoken in the present day across the island, and developed from the [[Old English]] brought to the island by [[Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain|Anglo-Saxon settlers]] from the mid 5th century. Some 1.5 million people speak [[Scots language|Scots]]—which was indigenous language of Scotland and has become closer to English over centuries.<ref name=SCOTSCENSUS>Scotland's Census 2011 – Language, All people aged 3 and over. Out of the 60,815,385 residents of the UK over the age of three, 1,541,693 (2.5%) can speak Scots.</ref><ref name="English Language 1992. p.894">[[A.J. Aitken]] in ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'', Oxford University Press 1992. p.894</ref> An estimated 700,000 people speak [[Welsh language|Welsh]],<ref name=WelshStatOverview>[https://www.webarchive.org.uk/wayback/archive/20120330040554/http://www.byig-wlb.org.uk/English/publications/Publications/A%20statistical%20overview%20of%20the%20Welsh%20languagef2.pdf Bwrdd yr Iaith Gymraeg, A statistical overview of the Welsh language], by Hywel M Jones, page 115, 13.5.1.6, England. Published February 2012. Retrieved 28 March 2016.</ref> an official language in [[Wales]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.legislation.gov.uk/mwa/2011/1/section/1/enacted |publisher=[[The National Archives (United Kingdom)|The National Archives]] |work=[[legislation.gov.uk]] |title=Welsh Language (Wales) Measure 2011 |access-date=30 May 2016 }}</ref> In parts of north west Scotland, [[Scottish Gaelic]] remains widely spoken. There are various regional dialects of English, and numerous languages spoken by some immigrant populations. ===Religion=== {{Further|Religion in England|Religion in Scotland|Religion in Wales}} {{See also|Religion in the United Kingdom}} [[File:Canterbury Cathedral - Portal Nave Cross-spire.jpeg|thumb|alt=stone cathedral oblique view showing two west towers and central tower|[[Canterbury Cathedral]], seat of the [[Church of England]] – the island's largest denomination]] [[Christianity]] has been the largest religion by number of adherents since the [[Early Middle Ages]]: it was introduced under the ancient Romans, developing as [[Celtic Christianity]]. According to tradition, Christianity arrived in the [[Christianity in the 1st century|1st]] or [[Christianity in the 2nd century|2nd century]]. The most popular form is [[Anglicanism]] (known as [[Scottish Episcopal Church|Episcopalism]] in Scotland). Dating from the 16th-century [[English Reformation|Reformation]], it regards itself as both [[Catholic]] and [[Reformed church|Reformed]]. The Head of the Church is the monarch of the United Kingdom, as the [[Supreme Governor of the Church of England|Supreme Governor]]. It has the status of [[established church]] in England. There are just over 26 million adherents to Anglicanism in Britain today,<ref>{{cite web|title=Global Anglicanism at a Crossroads|url=http://pewresearch.org/pubs/896/global-anglicanism-at-a-crossroads|publisher=PewResearch.org|access-date=15 August 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110813045413/http://pewresearch.org/pubs/896/global-anglicanism-at-a-crossroads|archive-date=13 August 2011|date=19 June 2008}} Retrieved on 1 February 2009.</ref> although only around one million regularly attend services. The second largest Christian practice is the [[Latin Church]] of the [[Catholic Church]], which traces its history to the 6th century with [[Augustine of Canterbury]] and the [[Gregorian mission]]. It was the main religion for around a thousand years. There are over 5 million adherents today, 4.5 million [[Catholic Church in England and Wales|Catholics in England and Wales]]<ref>{{Cite news|title=People here 'must obey the laws of the land'|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1578212/People-here-must-obey-the-laws-of-the-land.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220110/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1578212/People-here-must-obey-the-laws-of-the-land.html |archive-date=10 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|work=[[The Daily Telegraph]] | location=London | date=9 February 2008 | access-date=4 May 2010}}{{cbignore}} Retrieved on 1 February 2009.</ref> and 750,000 in [[Roman Catholic Church in Scotland|Scotland]],<ref>{{cite web|title=Cardinal not much altered by his new job|url=http://living.scotsman.com/features/Cardinal-not-much-altered-by.2573781.jp|publisher=Living Scotsman|access-date=15 August 2011}} Retrieved on 1 February 2009.</ref> although fewer than a million Catholics regularly attend [[Mass (liturgy)|mass]].<ref>{{cite news|title=How many Catholics are there in Britain?|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/11297461|publisher=BBC|access-date=15 September 2010|date=15 September 2010}} Retrieved on 17 October 2011.</ref> [[File:Glasgow-cathedral-may-2007.jpg|upright=0.8|left|thumb|alt=black weathered stone cathedral showing west front stained glass window|[[Glasgow Cathedral]], a meeting place of the [[Church of Scotland]]]] The [[Church of Scotland]], a form of [[Protestantism]] with a [[Presbyterian]] system of ecclesiastical [[polity]], is the third most numerous on the island with around 2.1 million members.<ref>{{cite web|title=Analysis of Religion in the 2001 Census – Current Religion in Scotland|url=http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2005/02/20757/53570|publisher=Scotland.gov.uk|access-date=15 August 2011|date=28 February 2005}} Retrieved on 1 February 2009.</ref> Introduced in Scotland by clergyman [[John Knox]], it has the status of national church in Scotland. The monarch of the United Kingdom is represented by a [[Lord High Commissioner]]. [[Methodist Church of Great Britain|Methodism]] is the fourth largest and grew out of Anglicanism through [[John Wesley]].<ref>{{cite web|title=The Methodist Church|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/subdivisions/methodist_1.shtml|publisher=BBC.co.uk}} Retrieved on 1 February 2009.</ref> It gained popularity in the old mill towns of [[Lancashire]] and [[Yorkshire]], also amongst tin miners in [[Cornwall]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Methodism in Britain |url=http://www.goffsoakmethodistchurch.co.uk/page4.html |publisher=GoffsOakMethodistChurch.co.uk |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090131203811/http://www.goffsoakmethodistchurch.co.uk/page4.html |archive-date=31 January 2009 }} Retrieved on 1 February 2009.</ref> The [[Presbyterian Church of Wales]], which follows [[Calvinistic Methodism]], is the largest denomination in [[Wales]]. There are other [[Nonconformist (Protestantism)|non-conformist]] minorities, such as [[Baptists]], [[Quakers]], the [[United Reformed Church]] (a union of [[Congregational church|Congregationalists]] and [[English Presbyterianism|English Presbyterians]]), [[Unitarianism|Unitarians]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Cambridge History of Christianity |url=http://www.cambridge.org/uk/catalogue/catalogue.asp?isbn=9780521815000&ss=exc |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120721000044/http://www.cambridge.org/uk/catalogue/catalogue.asp?isbn=9780521815000&ss=exc |url-status=dead |archive-date=21 July 2012 |publisher=Hugh McLeod }} Retrieved on 1 February 2009.</ref> The first [[patron saint]] of Great Britain was [[Saint Alban]].<ref>Dawkins, ''The Shakespeare Enigma'', 343.</ref> He was the first Christian martyr dating from the [[Romano-British]] period, condemned to death for his faith and sacrificed to the [[Roman mythology|pagan gods]].<ref>Butler, ''Butler's Lives of the Saints'', 141.</ref> In more recent times, some have suggested the adoption of [[Aidan of Lindisfarne|St Aidan]] as another patron saint of Britain.<ref name="aiden">{{cite news|title=Cry God for Harry, Britain and... St Aidan |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/homegrown-holy-man-cry-god-for-harry-britain-and-st-aidan-814057.html |newspaper=[[The Independent]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121023202402/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/homegrown-holy-man-cry-god-for-harry-britain-and-st-aidan-814057.html |archive-date=23 October 2012 |location=London |date=23 April 2008 |url-status=dead }} Retrieved on 1 February 2009.</ref> From Ireland, he worked at [[Iona]] amongst the Dál Riata and then [[Lindisfarne]] where he restored Christianity to [[Northumbria]].<ref name="aiden" /> The three constituent countries of the United Kingdom have patron saints: [[Saint George]] and [[Saint Andrew]] are represented in the flags of [[Flag of England|England]] and [[Flag of Scotland|Scotland]] respectively.<ref name="flaghistory">{{cite web|title=United Kingdom – History of the Flag|url=http://flagspot.net/flags/gb-hist.html|publisher=FlagSpot.net}} Retrieved on 1 February 2009.</ref> These two flags combined to form the basis of the Great Britain royal flag of 1604.<ref name="flaghistory" /> [[Saint David]] is the patron saint of Wales.<ref name="britsaints" /> There are many other British saints. Some of the best known are [[Cuthbert of Lindisfarne|Cuthbert]], [[Saint Columba|Columba]], [[Saint Patrick|Patrick]], [[Saint Margaret of Scotland|Margaret]], [[Edward the Confessor]], [[Saint Mungo|Mungo]], [[Thomas More]], [[Saint Petroc|Petroc]], [[Bede]], and [[Thomas Becket]].<ref name="britsaints">{{cite web|title=Saints|url=http://www.britsattheirbest.com/heroes_adventurers/h_saints.htm|publisher=Brits at their Best}} Retrieved on 1 February 2009.</ref> Numerous other religions are practised.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/religion/page/0,,818217,00.html |work=The Guardian |title=Guide to religions in the UK |location=London |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110123210954/http://www.guardian.co.uk/religion/page/0%2C%2C818217%2C00.html |archive-date=23 January 2011 }} Retrieved on 16 August 2011</ref> The 2011 census recorded that [[Islam]] had around 2.7 million adherents (excluding Scotland with about 76,000).<ref name=latestcen>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/culturalidentity/religion/articles/religioninenglandandwales2011/2012-12-11|title = Religion in England and Wales 2011 - Office for National Statistics}}</ref> More than 1.4 million people (excluding Scotland's about 38,000) believe in [[Hinduism]], [[Sikhism]], or [[Buddhism]]—religions that developed in the [[Indian subcontinent]] and [[Southeast Asia]].<ref name=latestcen/> [[Judaism]] figured slightly more than Buddhism at the 2011 census, having 263,000 adherents (excluding Scotland's about 6000).<ref name=latestcen/> Jews have inhabited Britain since 1070. However, those resident and open about their religion were [[Edict of Expulsion|expelled]] from England in 1290, replicated in some other Catholic countries of the era. Jews were permitted to re-establish settlement as of 1656, in the interregnum which was a peak of anti-Catholicism.<ref name="jews">{{cite web|title=From Expulsion (1290) to Readmission (1656): Jews and England |url=http://www.goldsmiths.ac.uk/history/350th-anniversary.pdf |publisher=Goldsmiths.ac.uk |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080626062306/http://www.goldsmiths.ac.uk/history/350th-anniversary.pdf |archive-date=26 June 2008 }} Retrieved on 1 February 2009.</ref> [[History of the Jews in Scotland|Most Jews in Great Britain have ancestors]] who [[refugee|fled for their lives]], particularly from 19th century [[Lithuania]] and the territories occupied by [[Nazi Germany]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Jews in Scotland |url=http://www.british-jewry.org.uk/britishjewry/geography/scotland.htm |publisher=British-Jewry.org.uk |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050509134139/http://british-jewry.org.uk/britishjewry/geography/scotland.htm |archive-date=9 May 2005 }} Retrieved on 1 February 2009.</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. 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