|
The People | |
| |POPULATION |
| |England is the largest political and |
| |geographic division of the United |
| |Kingdom which also includes Wales, |
| |Scotland, and Northern Ireland. About |
| |four-fifths of the UK's population |
| |lives in England. Since the end of |
| |World War II, there has been |
| |large-scale immigration, with people |
| |arriving from the UK's former |
| |territories in the West Indies, Africa,|
| |India, Pakistan, and other parts of |
| |Asia. These people now account for |
| |nearly 3 per cent of the population. |
| |England has been fairly successful in |
| |assimilating its ethnic communities, |
| |but racial tensions remain a problem in|
| |some areas, particularly in inner-city |
| |districts with a relatively high |
| |proportion of immigrants. |
| |LANGUAGE |
| |English is the official language of the|
| |UK. There are considerable variations |
| |in regional accents throughout England.|
| |The influx of immigrants has also meant|
| |that many other languages are spoken |
| |among these communities. |
| |RELIGION |
| |In 1533, during the reign of Henry |
| |VIII, England broke from the Roman |
| |Catholic Church to form the Anglican |
| |Church, which became the established |
| |church of the country, of which the |
| |monarch is head. The Church of England |
| |no longer has any political power, |
| |although its archbishops and some |
| |bishops still sit in the House of |
| |Lords. There are about 27 million |
| |Anglicans in the UK, although |
| |relatively few attend church. Roman |
| |Catholics number more than 5 million, |
| |Presbyterians about 2 million, |
| |Methodists about 700,000, and Jews |
| |about 400,000. Numerous other religions|
| |are practised in England, and in many |
| |cities there are significant Muslim and|
| |Hindu communities. Society is secular, |
| |and religious education in schools now |
| |embraces a wide range of religions, |