尽管面积相对较小，但是英国人口众多。根据2011年统计数据，英国在全世界排名第22位。英国国家统计局的数据显示，截止2011年，英国人口为63.18百万，比10年前增加的4百万，其中一半是新近移居英国的移民。分地区看，英格兰人口最高，是英国人口密度最高的地区；苏格兰次之；下面依次为威尔士和北爱尔兰。
从公元前700年开始，来自欧洲的凯尔特人、古罗马人、盎格鲁-萨克森人、斯堪地那维亚人以及诺曼人就先后以各种形式来到大不列颠，进而成为今天英国的主要种族—白人—的祖先。英国的非白人种族主要来自其过去的殖民地国家，其中以加勒比海地区和印度次大陆为主。他们移民到英国的目的各不相同，有的是为了躲避政治或宗教迫害，有的则是为了寻求经济发展。来自世界各地的移民使得英国成为一个多种族、多民族的国家。目前，英国的少数族裔人口为4.6百万，约占总人口的7.9%，其中最大的是印度裔，其次是巴基斯坦裔和非洲裔。
英国是一个由四个民族联合起来的联合王国，它们分别是英格兰、威尔士、苏格兰和爱尔兰民族。在这四个民族中，英格兰在历史上长期占优势和统治地位，威尔士、苏格兰和爱尔兰民族则扮演着被征服者或被兼并者的角色。因此，这三个民族与英格兰之间都有或多或少的民族矛盾，其中尤以爱尔兰人和苏格兰人为甚。因此，在英国，长期以来就存在着所谓的地方主义（regionalism），在政治、文化、教育和宗教等方面体现出来。
英国的通用语言为英语。英语属于印欧语系日尔曼语族，现代英语在历史上曾受到包括拉丁语、希腊语、古斯堪的那维亚语、以及法语在内的多种语言的影响。英语本来是英格兰的民族语言，随着英格兰政治经济势力的扩张，英语逐步传播到了威尔士、苏格兰和北爱尔兰，成为这些地区的正式语言。如今以上三个地区的大部分人口都以英语为通用语言。除英语以外，英格兰以外地区还有其他官方语言，如威尔士语（威尔士人口的26%）、苏格兰盖尔语（6万人使用）等。世界各地移民到英国的人也讲自己的家乡语言，如孟加拉语、粤语、客家话、印地语、旁遮普语和乌尔都语。
学银课程（The People in the UK）
学习要点（Learning Objectives）
(1) Have an understanding of theethnic composition in theUK.
(2) Know what “regionalism” meansin theUK.
(3) Have an idea of what languagesare used in theUK.
中心问题（Project）
What different groups of people togethermake up the nation of theUnited Kingdom?
生词与词组（New Words and Expressions）
population density 人口密度
variation 变化，变动
densely populated 人口稠密的
sparsely populated 人口稀少的
decline 减少，下滑
Birmingham 伯明翰（城市名）
Manchester 曼彻斯特（城市名）
Liverpool 利物浦（城市名）
ethnic groups 民族群体
indigenous 本土的、土生土长的
descend …的后裔
ancestor 祖先
inhabitants 居民
predominantly 占主导地位地
dominions 英联邦自治领
Indiansubcontinent 印度次大陆
Caribbean 加勒比海
proportion 比例
regionalism 地方主义
subjugate 征服、制服
partition 分割、分裂
semi-autonomous 半自治的
rugby 英式橄榄球
identity 身份
monolingual 单语的、只用一种语言的
de facto <拉丁语>实际的、事实上的
Old Norse 古斯堪的那维亚语
royal family 王室
accent 口音
dialect 方言
innate 固有的、内在的
Gaelic 盖尔语
Cornish 康沃尔语
注释\解释（Notes and Explanations）
Celts—They are of Indo-European people originally of central Europe andspreading to western Europe, the British Isles, and southeast toGalatiaduring pre-Roman times, especially aBriton or Gaul.
Anglo-Saxons--The term Anglo-Saxon is used by some historians to designate theGermanic tribes—the Angles, the Saxons, and the Jutes, who settled inBritainin the fifth and sixth century. The Anglo-Saxon era denotes the period ofEnglish history between about 550 and 1066.
Norse—Also known as Norsemen or Vikings.These terms are applied to the Scandinavian population of the period from thelate 8th to the 11th century.
Normans—The term refers to Scandinavian people who settledin northernFrancein the tenth century. The Normans were the peoplewho gave their name to Normandy, a region innorthernFrance.In 1066, Duke William II of Normandy conqueredEngland, and the invading Normans and their descendants replaced the Anglo-Saxons asthe ruling class ofEngland.Later, the Normansmerged with the natives, and the Anglo-Norman language was also eventuallyabsorbed into the Anglo-Saxon language of their subjects and influenced it,helping the development of Middle English which would gain much vocabulary ofFrench origin.
Commonwealth--The Commonwealth of Nations is avoluntary association of 54 independent sovereign states (one of whosemembership is currently suspended). Most are former British colonies, ordependencies of these colonies. The Commonwealth was officially formed in 1931when the Statute of Westminster gave legal recognition to the independence ofdominions. The first members, such as theUnited Kingdom,Canada,Australia,New Zealand, andSouth Africaare collectively known as the “Old Commonwealth”,and the “New Commonwealth”refers to the modern Commonwealth after the signing of the 1949 LondonDeclaration, such as Indian andPakistan.
Received Pronunciation--Received Pronunciation (RP) is thestandard accent of English as spoken in the south ofEngland,although it can be heard from native speakers throughoutEnglandandWales. Although there is nothingintrinsic about RP that marks it as superior to any other variety,sociolinguistic factors have given Received Pronunciation particular prestigein parts ofBritain.It has thus been the accent of those with power, money and influence since theearly to mid 20th century. Recently, it has been criticized as a symbol ofundeserved privilege and today most people in theUKbelieve that no standard pronunciationis necessary, and that regional accents all have their own innate value.
Population
Likemost of its European neighbors,Britainis a crowded country. In 2011, the population stood at 63.18 million, which wasroughly the same as that ofFrance,but living on a land area half the size ofFrance. British population densityruns at nearly 250 people per square kilometer, although there is wider regionalvariation: more than 380 people per sq km inEnglandand just 65 per sq km inScotland.The most densely populated parts of the country are in and around London and the south-east, while the most sparselypopulated regions are south-west and northernEngland,Walesand most ofScotland.
Amongthe four components of theUnited Kingdom,Englandis largest not only in area, but also in population. Nearly 84 per cent of theBritish population live in England, which has also had the greatest populationincrease over the past century, and the population is expected to continue togrow for many years while that of Scotland has already started to decline. Mostof the major cities of theUKare inEngland, including London, Birmingham, Manchester and Liverpool.
UK Population byAdministrative Division
| Administrative Division | Population by mid-2010 (million) | Population Density (people/km2) |
| England | 52.23 | 383 |
| Scotland | 5.22 | 65 |
| Wales | 3.01 | 142 |
| Northern Ireland | 1.80 | 125 |
| Total | 62.26 | 246 |
英国行政区人口分布
Historically,indigenous British people were thought to be descended from the various ethnicgroups that settled there before the 11th century: the Celts, Romans,Anglo-Saxons, Norse and the Normans.The ancestors of today’s English are Anglo-Saxons, while the Scots, Welsh andIrish are all descendants of the Celts. Today, those of English descentconstitute about 77% of the nation’s inhabitants. The Scottish make up 8%, andthere are smaller groups of Welsh (about 4.5%) and Irish (2.7%) descent.
Untilthe Second World War,Britainwas a predominantly white country—most immigrants over the centuries had comefrom continental Europe, and later from the white dominions of the Old Commonwealth:Australia,Canada,New ZealandandSouth Africa.Also, the number of emigrants was much greater than the number of immigrants. However,since 1945, especially in the last two decades, there have been some new trendsin migration in theUK.Among them, a significant one is that immigration from the New Commonwealth,notably the Indian subcontinent (India,Pakistan, andBangladesh) and the Caribbean,has grown. In 2009, official estimates showed that the non-white Britishpopulation ofEnglandandWaleshad increased by 38% from 6.6 million in 2001 to 9.1 million in 2009. Thefastest growing group is the mixed-race population that doubled from 672,000 in 2001 to 986,600 in 2009. Also in thesame period, a decrease of 36,000 white British people was recorded. The piechart below shows the proportions of non-White populations inEnglandandWalesin 2009 based on populationestimates. Nearly half of non-Whites are Asian (Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshior other Asian) and almost a fifth are Black (Black Caribbean, Black African orother Black).
Regionalism
Despitethe existence of a “United Kingdom”,the relationship among the four nations (England,Scotland,Wales, andNorthern Ireland) in the kingdomhas not always been an easy one. The history ofBritainactually was not reallyabout a single British people, but about four nations and their peoples, whohad been hostile toward one another. Among the four nations,Englandhas always been thepredominant one, for the three other nations were, in one way or another,subjugated by it.Waleslostits independence in 1285 and was united withEnglandin 1536-42. As a result,todayWalesandEnglandhave the same legal and administrative systems.Scotlandwas different. TheScottish and English crowns were united in 1603, but political union did notcome until 1707, and the two countries have retained separate legal, religious,and educational structures since then. As forNorthern Ireland, which is the result of the 1922 partition ofIreland,it has been governed mainly as a semi-autonomous state.
Dueto the historical reasons, the four countries of theUKeach has its own flag, its ownculture, and its own writers and artists. Each country even has its own sportsteams, so that while English, Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish athletes at theOlympics wear the colors ofGreat Britain, there are separate nationalfootball and rugby teams. Moreover, in recent years, both Welsh and Scots havebecome increasingly conscious of their own traditions and national identities,leading even to minority support inWalesandScotlandfor complete independence from the union.
It is also important to appreciate that regionalism doesnot merely exist among the four nations, but thatScotland,Wales, andNorthern Irelandare divided withinthemselves. The Scots have different religions, and there are cultural rivalriesbetween highlanders and lowlanders. The Welsh are divided economically betweenthe old industrial centers and coal-mining communities of the south and the agriculturalregions of the north, and between those who speak Welsh and those who do not. Meanwhile,Northern Irelandsuffers avariety of religious, economic and cultural division, and is split betweenthose who support continued union withBritainand those who do not. Inthis sense, the union is being weakened.
Languages
There is no single British language, althoughEnglish is the main language spoken by British citizens, being spokenmonolingually by over 70% of theUKpopulation. English is,therefore, the de facto official language of theUnited Kingdom.
Modern English isa West Germanic language descended from Old English which features a largenumber of borrowings from Old Norse, Norman French, Greek and Latin. Thanks tothe great influence of the British Empire fromthe 17th to the mid-20th century, the English language has spread across theworld and has become the main international language of business as well as themost widely taught second language.
English language learners often wonder whetherthere is a “correct” or “standard” way of speaking English inBritain. The answer is that formuch of the twentieth century the BBC and other institutions tried to promote aStandard English, which is commonly known as the “Received Pronunciation”(RP), “theQueen’s English”, or “BBC English”. But today, RP is no longer as widely usedtoday as it was 50 years ago. It is still the standard accent of the RoyalFamily, Parliament, the Church of England, and other national institutions; butless than 3 per cent of the British people speak it in a pure form now.
Infact, an important feature of British English is the great variety of regionalaccents of the language. Throughout theUnited Kingdom, one will readilyfind that accents, dialects, and vocabulary can differ, not only from region toregion, but even from village to village or town to town. InEnglandalone, many places have theirown distinctive accents. For instance, the accent spoken in the East End ofLondon is called “Cockney”; Liverpool has its unique accent called the “Scouse”;Birmingham is known for its “Brummie” accent; Manchester has “Mancunian” accent; and Newcastle’s accent is called “Geordie”. Today,it is recognized by most that no standard pronunciation is necessary, and thatregional accents all have their own innate value. Nowadays, BBC listeners andviewers hear a variety of accents from all over the country.
Insuch a multi-national and multi-cultural nation as theUK, English is not the onlylanguage officially recognized. As a matter of fact, the four Celticlanguages—Welsh, Irish, Scottish Gaelic and Cornish—are all officiallyrecognized as Regional or Minority languages by the UK Government. Among them,Welsh is probably the best protected. It is estimated that some 20 per cent ofthe population ofWalesare Welsh speakers, with Welsh being the first language spoken in the rural northand west of the country. Welsh is extensively used in broadcasting, most roadsigns are bilingual, and it is used equally with English in the Welsh Assembly.Since 2000 it has been taught as a first or second language to pupilsthroughoutWales; inaddition, it is used as a first teaching language in some five hundred primaryand secondary schools inWales.In contrast, inNorthern Ireland,only about 10 per cent of the population claim to have some knowledge of Irish,while just under 2 per cent of the population inScotlandstate that they have someGaelic language ability.
Itcan be imagined that such a multi-lingual language environment in theUKishelpful not only to the preservation of different cultures, but also to thepromotion of multiculturalism, making the country increasingly diverse anddynamic.
