The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. It includes the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland, and most of the smaller islands within the British Isles. Northern Ireland shares a land border with the Republic of Ireland; otherwise, the United Kingdom is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, the North Sea, the English Channel, the Celtic Sea, and the Irish Sea. The total area of the United Kingdom is 94,060 square miles (243,610 km2), with an estimated 2022 population of nearly 67 million people.
The population of the United Kingdom was estimated at over 67.0 million in 2020. It is the 21st most populated country in the world and has a population density of 270 people per square kilometre, with England having significantly greater density than Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. Almost a third of the population lives in south east England, which is predominantly urban and suburban, with about 9 million in the capital city, London, whose population density is just over 5,200 per square kilometre.
Demographics of Wales include the numbers in population, place of birth, age, ethnicity, religion, and number of marriages in Wales.
The demography of England has since 1801 been measured by the decennial national census, and is marked by centuries of population growth and urbanization. Due to the lack of authoritative contemporary sources, estimates of the population of England for dates prior to the first census in 1801 vary considerably. The population of England at the 2021 census was 56,489,800.
A nationwide census, known as Census 2001, was conducted in the United Kingdom on Sunday, 29 April 2001. This was the 20th UK census and recorded a resident population of 58,789,194.
British society is one of the most secularised in the world and in many surveys determining religious beliefs of the population agnosticism, nontheism, atheism, secular humanism, and non-affiliation are views shared by a majority of Britons. Historically, it was dominated for over 1,400 years by various forms of Christianity, which replaced preceding Romano-British religions, including Celtic and Anglo-Saxon paganism. Religious affiliations of United Kingdom citizens are recorded by regular surveys, the four major ones being the national decennial census, the Labour Force Survey, the British Social Attitudes survey and the European Social Survey.
Coincident full censuses have taken place in the different jurisdictions of the United Kingdom every ten years since 1801, with the exceptions of 1941, Ireland in 1921/Northern Ireland in 1931, and Scotland in 2021. In addition to providing detailed information about national demographics, the results of the census play an important part in the calculation of resource allocation to regional and local service providers by the UK government.
The demography of Scotland includes all aspects of population, past and present, in the area that is now Scotland. Scotland had a population of 5,463,300 in 2019. The population growth rate in 2011 was estimated as 0.6% per annum according to the 2011 GROS Annual Review.
The United Kingdom Census of 1841 recorded the occupants of every United Kingdom household on the night of Sunday 6 June 1841. The enactment of the Population Act 1840 meant a new procedure was adopted for taking the 1841 census. It was described as the "first modern census" as it was the first to record information about every member of the household, and administered as a single event, under central control, rather than being devolved to a local level. It formed the model for all subsequent UK censuses, although each went on to refine and expand the questions asked of householders.
White British is an ethnicity classification used for the native white population identifying as English, Scottish, Welsh, Cornish, Northern Irish, or British in the United Kingdom Census. In the 2011 census, the White British population was 49,997,686, 81.5% of Great Britain's total population. For the United Kingdom entirely, due to different reporting measures within Northern Ireland which includes all those who identified as British with those who identified as Irish, an amalgamated total of 52,320,080 including those who identified as White Irish in Great Britain is given making up 82.8% of the population.
The term Other White, or White Other, is a classification of ethnicity in the United Kingdom, used in documents such as the 2021 United Kingdom Census, to describe people who identify as white persons who are not of the English, Welsh, Scottish, Gypsy, Roma, Irish or Irish Traveller ethnic groupings. In Scotland, the term Other White is also used to refer collectively to those not of Scottish or Other British ethnicity, in which case it also includes those of a Gypsy, Roma, Irish or Irish Traveller background.
The National Registration Act 1939 was an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom. The initial National Registration Bill was introduced to Parliament as an emergency measure at the start of the Second World War.
Since 1922, the United Kingdom has been made up of four countries: England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The UK Prime Minister's website has used the phrase "countries within a country" to describe the United Kingdom. Some statistical summaries, such as those for the twelve NUTS 1 regions of the UK, refer to Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales as "regions". With regard to Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales particularly, the descriptive name one uses "can be controversial, with the choice often revealing one's political preferences".
A census of the population of the United Kingdom is taken every ten years. The 2011 census was held in all counties of the UK on 27 March 2011. It was the first UK census which could be completed online via the Internet. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) is responsible for the census in England and Wales, the General Register Office for Scotland (GROS) is responsible for the census in Scotland, and the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) is responsible for the census in Northern Ireland.
The 2021 United Kingdom census is the 23rd official census of the United Kingdom. Beginning in 1801, they have been recorded every 10 years. The decadal 2021 censuses of England, Wales, and Northern Ireland took place on 21 March 2021, and the census of Scotland took place 364 days later on 20 March 2022. The censuses were administered by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) in England and Wales, by the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) in Northern Ireland, and by the National Records of Scotland in Scotland. These were the first British censuses for which most of the data was gathered online. Two of them went ahead despite the COVID-19 pandemic, in part because the information obtained would assist government and public understanding of the pandemic's impact. The census-taking in Scotland was postponed, and took place in 2022 because of the pandemic.
James Harwood Panting was a British writer who specialised in school stories for boys. He was the editor of Young Folks and a member of the editorial staff of the South London Press.
The United Kingdom Census 1931 was a census of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland that was carried out on 26 April 1931. A census in Northern Ireland had been taken in April 1926, so no census was taken there in 1931. The questions asked were similar to those in 1921, with the addition of a question about everyone's usual place of residence, as opposed to where they actually were on that night.
James Galt was a Scottish medical missionary under the Church Mission Society. He is best known for founding the Church Missionary Society's opium hospital in Hangzhou, (Hangchow) China in 1871. The hospital continued to be operational and influential past 1948 and contained a medical school.
The 1841 Census of Ireland was a census that covered the whole island of Ireland. It was conducted as part of the broader 1841 United Kingdom census, which was the first modern census undertaken in the UK. The census is of particular note in Ireland as it was taken shortly before the Great Famine (1845-1852), which resulted in over 1 million deaths and spurred decades of mass emigration. The total population of the island in 1841 was estimated to be just under 8.2 million, which remains the highest recorded population Ireland has ever had. During this year, Ireland also held about 31% of the UK's population. As of the latest censuses – 2022 in the Republic of Ireland and 2021 in Northern Ireland – the island's population stood at just over 7 million, roughly 16% lower than its pre-famine peak.
England and Wales 
Scotland 
Jersey 
Guernsey and others
Isle of Man 
Great Britain (total)
Northern Ireland 
Irish Free State 
Ireland (total)