Ancestors. Waves of invasion

The people who now live in Britain are descended from various peoples who inhabited the British Isles many centuries ago. The first settlers on the British Isles were Iberians who came from the Iberian peninsular (the area of Spain and Portugal) between 3000 BC and 2000 BC. The Iberians stayed comparatively long before they were attacked, slain or driven westwards by the numerous Celtic tribes (Picts, Scots and Britons), which came from central Europe and the Rhine valley in the period between the 6th and 3d centimes BC. In. the middle of the 1st century AD Britain was successfully invaded by the Romans who stayed on the island for four centuries, living in military camps, building towns, roads, walls and bridges, so that to defend their gains (seized territories) from other invaders. After the Roman legions left Britain at the beginning of the 5th century to defend their own Empire from the barbarians, the British Isles were almost immediately attacked by numerous invaders from all sides. Germanic tribes — the Jutes, the Saxon and the Angles attacked Britain from the south and east, Danes and Norsemen from Scandinavia in the north-east. Again the native population was driven to the west (Wales) and north (Scotland). These tribes gave the name to the country, and their language formed the basis of the old English language.

The last in the long successions of invaders on the British Isles were the Normans. In 1066, led by Duke of Normandy (who went into history as William the Conqueror). For almost two centuries there were two languages, two nations and two cultures in the country. Norman-French was the language of the ruling class, the official language of the country, while Anglo-Saxon (old English) was spoken by the majority of the oppressed native population. The victorious Normans gradually broke their ties with France and by the 13th century had mingled in blood and language with Anglo-Saxons and united into one nation, speaking one language, born as a result of the marriage of the two nations and the two languages. The new English (Middle English) greatly enriched and changed under the influence of Norman-French, had become the language of educated classes and the official language of the state by the end of the 13th century.

The fact that the British people are descendants of many Peoples is reflected in the nationalities, national character and languages of the peoples, inhabiting the British Isles today. They are the English, the Scots, the Welsh and the Irish who constitute the British nation and collectively are called "the British", or "Britons".

The mixture of peoples in Britain must not be overlooked. It is inaccurate to refer to the British as English. This mistake is made all over the world — when talking about the English most people really mean British. Such reference may hurt the Welsh, the Scots or the Irish. Thus everybody from the UK is British, but only people from England are English.

LANGUAGES AND NATIONALITIES

The UK is inhabited by the English — 49856 million, who constitute about 83 % of the total population, the Scots -5057 million (8,5 %), the Welsh - 2938 million (about 5 %), the. Irish — 1703 million, constituting 2,9 % of the total population. Among other nationalities inhabiting the UK there are Gaels Jews, Poles, Germans, Frenchmen, Italians as well as migrants from India, Pakistan and African countries.

English is the official language of the country. Besides standard literary English there are many regional and social dialects. The Celtic language still exists as Gaelic in Scotland and Ireland. In Scotland some 100000 people, mainly in the Highlands and western coastal regions and in the Hebrides, are able to speak the Scottish form of Gaelic. A few families in Northern Ireland speak the Irish form of Gaelic. French is still the official language of Jersey (the Channel Isls) and on the Isle of Man. It is used for ceremonial and official procedure. Both French and English are used in courts.

DENSITY. DISTRIBUTION With over 59 million people the UK claims the 14th place in the world as to its population. Britain has always been a densely populated country. According to the latest full census taken in 2003 the population density in Britain is 246 per sq. km. Britain is the third in Europe (after Netherlands) — 383 and Belgium — 325). England is the most thickly peopled part, its density is 361. The second is Wales — 142 per sq. km, then Northern Ireland — 125. Scotland is one of the most sparsely populated areas in Europe.

Britain is a highly urbanized country, 90 % of its population live in cities and towns, and only 10 % are rural inhabitants.

As in many other developed countries the recent trend shows a movement of people away from the main conurbations (particularly their centres) to the surrounding suburbs.

SOCIAL RATES

In the 60s there was a marked tendency for earlier marriage s: young people married in their late teens or early 20. The trend of the 60s towards earlier marriages was reversed at the beginning of the 70s. Since then there has been a slow increase in the average age for the first marriages, which in England and Wales is now just over 26 for men and 24 for women.

Britain has one of the highest divorce rates in Western Europe. The European average is 6,9 per thousand. The divorce rate in Britain has been increasing steadily, about 167. 700 divorces were granted in the UK in 2002, 2,5 % more than in 2001. Nowadays one in almost every two marriages ends in divorce. The rates for Scotland and Northern Ireland are much lower.

The image of the traditional British household of the 50s with 3—4 children in a family has changed. Nowadays only 7 % of British families consist of 5 or more people. The average British couple today has only 1,8 children. 29 % of the married couples have no children, 28 % — have children, 29 % — one-member families (widows or divorced men), 10 % — lone parent families with children.

Another feature of the present British family, common to many other Western European countries, has been a considerable increase in cohabitation. 18 % of unmarried people aged between 16—59 are leaving with someone without being officially married.

As in many other developed countries, the fertility rate (63 births per 1000 women of childbearing age) is low compared with past rates and it remains below the level required for the long-term replacement of the population. Such factors as later marriages, postponement of childbirth, effective contraception, voluntary sterilisation of men and women has contributed to the relatively low birth rate.

Birth rate tendencies have brought noticeable changes in the age d istribution. There is a marked decline in the proportion of young people under 16 and an increase in the proportion of elderly people, especially those aged 85 and over. The British population is already one of the oldest in Europe, and it is slowly getting older.

Sex distribution is also different. There are nearly 106 female to every 100 males in average in Britain. This imbalance increases with age, among elderly over 70 years old there are 18 women to every 10 men.

SOCIAL CLASS MAKE-UP

Undoubtedly Britain is a class-conscious society but this does not mean that society is more divided than, for example, in France.

Most people are classified according to their work occupations, falling into two broad groups, as in other industrialised societies: the middle class (or white-collar workers) and the working class (or blue-collar workers).

The peculiarity of the British class make-up is that there are no peasants at all. There are farmers and their hired (mostly for a season) labourers, which make a part of the working class.

The working class is rapidly declining. Since the 50s there has been a massive growth of the middle class.

The middle class embraces a range of people from senior professionals, judges, senior medical specialists and senior civil servants to clerical workers. The middle class is the engine room of the economy. Over half of today's middle class started life in the working class. This increase was quite considerable during the rule of Margaret Thatcher.

Beyond the middle class lies a small but powerful upper class, which survives from one generation to another. It is characterised by three things: property, networks and power. The core of the class is probably only between 25000 and 50000 people, but they control key areas of capital in the national economy.

The strangest feature of class in Britain is that it is not entirely dependent on money. In certain circumstances one can be high class and poor, or low class and rich. It is so because the class system is also based on something historical which does not exactly match present conditions.

Those who think that Britain has a class-ridden society usually think of the contrast between this small group, maintained by-its great wealth, property and privileged education, and the shrinking unskilled manual working class, which has been characterised by significantly higher unemployment than other groups. But these two extremes are where there is the least social mobility. Almost half those born into the upper class remain in it, while 40 % of sons of unskilled manual workers themselves remain in that class. But among the intermediate categories of people, skilled manual workers, clerical workers, supervisors, managers and professionals, there is a high degree of social mobility.

Official statistics treats class as a strictly economic distinctio which is based on a six-point scale of employment types;

A — Upper middle class (top managers, doctors, lawyers...

В — Middle class (middle managers, teachers...)

C— Lower middle class (office workers...)

C — Skilled working class (electricians, car mechanics...)

D — Unskilled working class (farm or building labourers...)

E — Residual (unemployed...)

The weakest group economically are retired people, single women and people belonging to ethnic minorities. Pension age is 65 for males and 60 for females.

GENDER

Men continue to control the positions of power and wealth and are slow to share these with women. In spite of having a female monarch and having had a female Prime Minister for over a decade, only 6,2 % of seats in the Commons are held by women. Fewer than 3 % of university professors are women, only 2 % of surgeons are women and there are only few successful women in business and industry. Women sense that a "glass ceiling" exists which prevents them reaching the top. Women are also paid less than men. On average women earn between 2/3 and 3/4 of man's pay.

MIGRATION WAVES

From the beginning of the 15th century until the 20th the balance of emigration was markedly outward due to colonial expansions. During the 19th century over 20 million people left Britain for destinations outside Europe, mainly in the Commonwealth and the United States. But since 1930s the balance of migration for Britain was inward. Many emigrants began to return. The dismantling of the Empire has been a gradual process accompanied by the great inflow of people to Britain. Right up until 1962 the citizens of the huge area of the former Empire had the automatic right to live and work in Britain.

Many Irish people came to England in 1845 to escape famine, to find work. Most of the roads, railways and canals built in the 19th century were made by Irish workers. The greatest wave of immigration was in the 1950-60s. Many companies needed people for unskilled or semi-skilled jobs. Britain advertised and many people came from the Caribbean islands, from Pakistan, Bangladesh, India and Hong Kong. People came here in search of better life, political or religious freedom. British government and people regarded this as a threat to the health of the nation: it increased unemployment, worsened living conditions. It was in these circumstances that the government introduced the Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1962 which gave it power to restrict the number of people from the Commonwealth, especially from the Irish Republic. Another Act was passed in 1968 and still another in 1971. The last has sharply reduced the number of people allowed to stay in Britain.

Before she came to power, Margaret Thatcher promised that a Conservative government would "finally see an end to immigration". During the 1980s her government restricted it further and ended the automatic right of anyone born in Britain to British citizenship. More than 36000 Londoners born in Britain describe themselves as "Black British" instead of "African" or "Afro-Caribbean". The most recent arrivals in Britain have not been from the Commonwealth but from countries with wars or other serious problems.

To regulate the inflow into Britain more strictly the 1971 Act has been amended by subsequent legislation, including the Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 and the Asylum and Immigration Act 2004. National of the European Economic Area (EEA) — EU Member States and Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway — are not subject to substantive immigration control. They may work in the UK without restriction and, provided they are working or able to support themselves financially, have the right to reside in the UK.