The United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and of Great Britain and

Northern IrelandNorthern Ireland

Fernando Trujillo

Concepts and Terms

The United Kingdom Great Britain England, Scotland, Wales & Northern

Ireland

Geography  Size (km2) Population [1]

England 129,634 49,536,600

Wales 20,637 2,918,700

Scotland 77,179 5,054,800

N. Ireland 13,438 1,696,600

[1] Fuente: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/

North to South: 955 kms; East to West: 483 kms (approx.)

Geography

History

Celtic communities: from 600 BC Romans: from 55 BC until circa 440 Germanic tribes: Angles, Saxons, Frisians and

Jutes– From first half of 5th century to 1066.

Scandinavian tribes: from 8th to 11th centuries Normans: from 14th October 1066 (up to 14th

century)

HistoryIreland Wales Scotland

Annexation 1169 1282-5 1603

Union 1801 1536-42 1707

History: sample of migrations

Between 11th & 13th centuries– Pre-capitalist migrations: Normans, Italians, Flemish, Dutch, Germans.

Between 16th & 17th centuries– Ideological, religious and economic migrations: French Huguenots,

Dutch Protestants, Gipsies, African Slaves. 20th century:

– Increase in immigration from the Commonwealth, notably the Indian sub-continent (India, Pakistan, Bangladesh ) and the Caribbean.

– Increase in migration to and from other EU member states.– Increase in the number of people seeking asylum in Britain: asylum-

seekers from the Balkans, the Middle East, and South Asia (particularly the former Yugoslavia, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka)

Migrations Ethnic minorities are not spread evenly throughout the country. The ethnic minority population, 47 per cent of whom had been born in

Britain, is young and growing. Blacks and Bangladeshis in the professions are so few that they don’t show up

in the percentages (...) but Indians, both male and female, are highly represented here. Unskilled jobs are largely done by Blacks and Whites (though the percentage of Blacks is double of the Whites).

– The highest percentage of overall unemployment is to be found among the Pakistanis and Bangladeshis, at 27.9 per cent, with Blacks only a shade less badly off. But Blacks were worst off with regard to long-term (over a year) unemployment, at 15.8 per cent (...) Among Whites, by contrast, overall unemployment was at 9.1 per cent and long-term at 4.0 per cent.

– Slowly, Black and Asian numbers were increasing in the police forces, as also in local government and many other walks of life.

In the five years 1988-93, reported racist attacks doubled.§ Marwick, A. 1996. British Society since 1945. London: Penguin.