British people

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Britons/British people
Notable Britons: Isambard Kingdom Brunel · Gordon Brown · Keira Knightley · Winston Churchill David Lloyd George · Kelly Holmes · Adam Smith · Horatio Nelson
Total population
Regions with significant populations
United Kingdom 50,366,497 ("White British" only, 2001 census) 60,000,000 (British born of any race or ethnicity)
United States 36,564,465 1 678,000 2 [1][2]  Canada 603,000 2 12,134,745 1 [3]  Australia 1,300,000 2 10,000,000 1 [4]  New Zealand 215,000 2 2,425,278 1 [5]  Spain 761,000 2 [6]  Peru 378 000 [7] Republic of Ireland 291,000 2 [8] British Overseas Territories 247,899 3 [9]  South Africa 212,000 2 [10]  France 200,000 2 [10]  Germany 115,000 2 [11]  Argentina 100,000 1 [12]  Cyprus 59,000 2 [11]  Pakistan 47,000 2 [13]  Switzerland 45,000 2 [14]  Singapore 45,000 2 [15]  Netherlands 44,000 2 [14]  Israel 44,000 2 [16]  Thailand 41,000 2 [15]  Portugal 38,000 2 [14]  People's Republic of China 36,000 2 [15]  Turkey 34,000 2 [14]  India 32,000 2 [13]  Kenya 29,000 2 [17]  Saudi Arabia 26,000 2 [16]  Jamaica 25,000 2 [18]
Languages
Cornish · Dgèrnésiais · English · Irish · Jèrriais · Llanito · Manx · Scots · Scottish Gaelic · Welsh
Religion
Mainly Christianity (Anglicanism, Presbyterianism and Roman Catholicism).
Related ethnic groups
British Americans · Anglo-Celtic Australian · Anglo-African · Belongers · English Canadians · Channel Islanders · English · Gibraltarian · Anglo-Irish · Ulster-Scots · Irish · Manx · New Zealand European · Scottish · Welsh
Footnotes
People of full or partial British ancestry born in to that country British born people of British ancestry only (i.e. not 1) Politically British citizens due to the fact they reside in British overseas territories; however, few are ethnically British

British people, or Britons,^[19] are the native inhabitants of Great Britain and their descendants^[20][21] or citizens of the United Kingdom, of the Isle of Man, one of the Channel Islands, or of one of the British overseas territories. In a historical context, the word is used to refer to the ancient Britons, the indigenous inhabitants of Great Britain south of the Forth. Contemporary Britons are descended mainly from the varied ethnic stocks that settled there before the 11th century. The pre-Celtic, Celtic, Roman, Anglo-Saxon, and Norse influences were blended in Britain under the Normans, Scandinavian Vikings who had lived in Northern France.^[22] Since the 19th century, and particularly since the mid-20th century, there has also been migration into Britain by people from the Commonwealth, other parts of Europe and elsewhere; they and their descendants are mostly British citizens.

The British people are today regarded by some as a single nation,^[23] and by others as a collection of separate nations - English, Scots, Welsh, - who share the island of Great Britain.^[24][25]

Origins

Further information: Prehistoric settlement of Great Britain and Ireland

Greek and Roman writers between the first century BC and the first century AD describe the inhabitants of Great Britain and Ireland as Priteni,^[26] the origin of the Latin word Britannic. Etymologicum Genuinum and Parthenius^[27] mention of Bretannus (the Latinized form of the Ancient Greek Βρεττανός) as a Celt forefather of the Britons. It has been suggested that this name came from a Gaullish description meaning "people of the forms" referring to their practice of tattooing or painting their bodies using blue woad.^[28] By 50 BC Greek geographers were using equivalents of Prettanikē as a group name for the islands.^[29][30] However, with the Roman conquest of Britain the Latin term Britannia was used for the island of Great Britain.^[31][32] The name became associated with the Roman province of Britannia and as the Romans failed to establish control of the Scottish Highlands the frontier was effectively drawn at the Antonine Wall, then around AD 200 at Hadrian's Wall. The post-Roman period brought a series of invasions, and in medieval Britain control of territory by Britons became confined to Wales, Cornwall and northern England. The term Britannia remained in use as the Latin name for the island, and Historia Britonum claimed legendary British origins as a prestigious genealogy for Welsh kings, followed by the Historia Regum Britanniae which popularised this pseudo-history to support the claims of the kings of England.

The genetic record of the British people is still a matter for debate. It has been commonly supposed that today only the Welsh and the genetic descendants of the Cornish Britons remain in the same locations as their Dark Age and Medieval ancestors^{[citation needed]}. However, recent research suggests that the majority of persons in all regions of Britain are the genetic descendants of settlers from the Iberian peninsula who arrived in Britain between 7500 and 15000 years ago.^[33]

It is thought that ancient Iberia served as a refuge for palaeolithic humans during the last major glaciation when environments further north were too cold and dry for continuous habitation. When the climate warmed into the present interglacial, populations would have rapidly spread north along the west European coast. Genetically, in terms of Y-chromosomes and Mt-DNA, inhabitants of Britain and Ireland are closely related to the Basques,^[34][9] reflecting their common origin in this refugial area. Basques, along with Irish, show the highest frequency of the Y-chromosome DNA haplogroup R1b in Western Europe; some 95% of native Basque men have this haplogroup. The rest is mainly I and a minimal presence of E3b.^[34] The Y-chromosome and MtDNA relationship between Basques and people of Ireland and Wales is of equal ratios than to neighbouring areas of Spain, where similar ethnically "Spanish" people now live in close proximity to the Basques, although this genetic relationship is also very strong among Basques and other Spaniards. In fact, as Stephen Oppenheimer has stated in The Origins of the British (2006), although Basques have been more isolated than other Iberians, they are a population representative of south western Europe. As to the genetic relationship among Basques, Iberians and Britons, he also states (pages 375 and 378):

By far the majority of male gene types in the British Isles derive from Iberia (modern Spain and Portugal), ranging from a low of 59% in Fakenham, Norfolk to highs of 96% in Llangefni, north Wales and 93% Castlerea, Ireland. On average only 30% of gene types in England derive from north-west Europe. Even without dating the earlier waves of north-west European immigration, this invalidates the Anglo-Saxon wipeout theory... ...75-95% of British and Irish (genetic) matches derive from Iberia...Ireland, coastal Wales, and central and west-coast Scotland are almost entirely made up from Iberian founders, while the rest of the non-English parts of the Britain and Ireland have similarly high rates. England has rather lower rates of Iberian types with marked heterogeneity, but no English sample has less than 58% of Iberian samples...

Brian Sykes, in his book based on genetics Blood of the Isles (2006) comes to similar conclusions. Some quotations from the book follow. (Note that Sykes uses the terms "Celts" and "Picts" to designate the pre-Roman inhabitants of the Isles rather than as linguistic terms.)

British Identity

Development of the idea of "Britishness"

In mediaeval times, the term "British" was used to refer to the pre Anglo-Saxon inhabitants of the island, in particular the Welsh - that is, those we would now call "ancient" Britons - in contrast to the English. For example, references by Giraldus Cambrensis to the "British" refer to what were later called the Welsh.^[38]

British only became synonymous with a national civic identity with the formation in 1707 of the united Kingdom of Great Britain, which became the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and in turn, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland with the secession of what became the Republic of Ireland. Historian Linda Colley argues that following the 1707 Act of Union, it became common for the people of the Kingdom of Great Britain to have a "layered" identity, that is, to think of themselves as simultaneously British and also Scottish, English, and Welsh.^[39] She also elaborates that at time of its development, the notion of Britishness was "closely bound up with Protestantism".^[40] According to researcher Peter Borsay, the proliferation of neo-classical monuments at the end of the 18th century and start of the 19th, such as The Kymin at Monmouth, were attempts to solidify the concepts of "Great Britain" and "Britishness" at the time of the Act of Union with Ireland, war with France, and the expansion of the Empire through military and commercial might. He wrote^[41]:

"Britishness" today

Main article: Britishness

"Britishness" today is sometimes used as a political concept seeking to develop or more often to define what it is to be British. The term is often associated with the British unionist tradition however the term Unionist is often associated with Northern Ireland and so Britishness is more often used. It can be seen however that Britishness evokes a range of responses and attitudes that make an exact definition elusive.^[42]

Most recently this concept has been used by Prime Minister Gordon Brown to initiate debate on British identity.^[43] Brown's speech to the Fabian Society's Britishness Conference proposed that British values demand a new constitutional settlement and symbols to represent a modern patriotism, including a new youth community service scheme and a British Day to celebrate.^[44] He suggested that one focus could be in terms of celebrating the best of the United Kingdom stressing the view that what unites the United Kingdom is stronger than the issues dividing it, such as support in Scotland for Scottish independence, international football loyalties, or growing signs of English revolt against distribution of funds to the Scottish Parliament. One of the central issues identified at the Fabian Society conference was how the English identity fits within the framework of a devolved United Kingdom. Does England require a new constitutional settlement for instance?^[45]

A tangible expression of the Government's initiative to promote Britishness was the inaugural Veterans' Day which was first held on 27 June 2006. As well as celebrating the achievements of armed forces veterans, Browns' speech at the first event for the celebration said: "Scots and people from the rest of the UK share the purpose – that Britain has something to say to the rest of the world about the values of freedom, democracy and the dignity of the people that you stand up for. So at a time when people can talk about football and devolution and money, it is important that we also remember the values that we share in common".^[46]

Demographics

The UK is an ethnically diverse country with people from various stock. For most of the last millennium, the lands now constituting the United Kingdom were largely inhabited by indigenous peoples with small to medium-scale migration from Europe occurring between the 16th and 20th Century. In 1066, the Normans successfully took control of England and, in subsequent years, there was some migration from France. In the 19th century, immigration by people outside Europe began on a small scale as people arrived from the British colonies. This increased during the 20th century. Since World War II, however, substantial immigration from the New Commonwealth and European countries has considerably altered the demographic make-up of many cities in Britain. The majority of Britons are White (92%) with the remainder from various ethnic groups, mainly Black/Afro-Caribbean, Mixed Race and Asian People.

Historically, British was expounded as a meta-identity for all of the residents of Britain. However, the number of people in Great Britain identifying themselves as British has been declining in recent times. For example, the percentage identifying as British fell in England from 63% in 1991-2 to 48% in 2003, in Scotland from 31% in 1974 to 20% in 2003, and in Wales from 34% in 1978-9 to 27% in 2003. The percentage describing themselves equally as both British and in terms of their national origin has also fallen.^[48]

The 2001 UK General Household Survey (GHS) contained an element measuring the number of people describing themselves as British.^[47] The incidence of those willing to call themselves British in any sense is highest in England, but nowhere commands a majority. Interestingly, it does command a majority of non-White respondents (57%), compared to 45% White respondents. Furthermore, 51% of non-White respondents consider themselves British-only, whereas only 29% of White respondents describe themselves so.^[47]

Starting in the 2001 census, White Irish and White British were recognised as distinct ethnic groups in Great Britain. This distinction is avoided in the census of Northern Ireland, where White Irish and White British are combined into a single "White" ethnic group on the census forms. Naturally, numbers of those describing themselves as British in Northern Ireland are divided dramatically across community lines (approximate to religious differences between Catholic and Protestant). An Institute of Governance briefing in 2006^[50] described the division between the communities so:

The 2001 UK census measured the numbers of Protestant in Northern Ireland to be 53% and Catholic to be 44%.

The Northern Ireland Life & Times Survey samples attitudes to nationality and ethnicity every year. The results of the 2006 survey suggest that 90% of Protestants in Northern Ireland regard themselves as British and 15% of Roman Catholics regard themselves as such; 71% of Catholics regard themselves as Irish and 3% of Protestants regard themselves as this; 6% of Protestants and 8% of Catholics regard themselves as both British and Irish. The total of people who regard themselves as British in Northern Ireland was 56%; as Irish 33% and as both British and Irish was 8%.^[49]

In 2006 however, the Life & Times survey omitted the categories Northern Irish, Ulster and Don't know from the question. The category for Northern Irish had attracted 21% in 2004 (25% of Catholics and 17% of Protestants).^[51]

Of those claiming to not be of any particular religion, 60% regarded themselves as British; 23% as Irish; and 12% as both.^[49]

Sensitivity around use of term

Main article: British Isles (terminology)

Whether someone refers to their nationality as English, Northern Irish, Scottish, Welsh, it does not necessarily mean that they do not also consider themselves British.^[48] For example, a person may consider himself British or Welsh, or equally British and Welsh, or mostly one or the other. However, even when given the widest common choice of options, some people still prefer to identify themselves as exclusively English (17%), Scottish (31%), Welsh (21%),^[48] or Northern Irish (21%),^[51] referring to aspects of their own culture and history which distinguish the nations of the United Kingdom from each other.^[52] These figures can be compared to those who identity themselves as exclusively British, England (10%), Scotland (4%), and Wales (9%).^[48]

The use of the term is sensitive in some areas, particularly in Northern Ireland,^[53] and can vary in exact meaning depending on context and the author's personal prejudices.^{[citation needed]}

The term British is also used by naturalised immigrants and their descendants. By a slight margin it is the preferred term of non-White residents of the United Kingdom.^[47] Thus Black British is common usage, particularly in England, though less so in Scotland where such groups can be, for example, Pakistani Scots.^[54]

Since partition of the island in 1922, British identity has become a source of division in Northern Ireland.

At partition, Unionists in what was to become Northern Ireland, identified as Ulstermen or -women and the contentious term, British Isles, was avoided by Unionist historians as much as it was by Nationalist ones.^[55][56]

Since the Troubles, there has been a doubling of those identifying as British within the Protestant community in Northern Ireland (rising to nearly 70%), while Ulster and Irish identity has collapsed among that group. There has been a 75% drop among Catholics of those identifying as British (from 20% down to 6%) in the same period, where Irish is the predominant identity (approximately 60%).^[57] High rates of intermarriage between nationalists and unionists following independence is attributed as the disappearance of British Unionist and Anglo-Irish identities in the Republic of Ireland, where the political implications of intermarriage are perceived as unimportant. In Northern Ireland, in contrast, with high degrees of housing, educational, political and community segregation, only 5% of marriages cross community divides.^[57] The people of Northern Ireland are British citizens, and individuals may choose to assert Irish citizenship also, if they so choose.

In Ireland

National Identity in Northern Ireland
Identity in Northern Ireland since 1968. Protestant identity is shown on the left. Catholic identity is shown on the right.     British     Irish     Ulster

British identity has long been problematic in Ireland.^[58] Prior to the union with the Great Britain, British identity was never applied to Irish people.^[59] From an Irish perspective, regardless of religion or political persuasion, this status quo continued during the period when the whole island formed part of the United Kingdom,^[58] although a greater number of people on Great Britain began to describe Irish people as British during the same period.^[58] Since partition of the island in 1922, British identity has become a source of division in Northern Ireland.^[60] In the Republic of Ireland, British identity is never asserted and will almost certainly cause offence.^[61] A pejorative^[62] term, West Briton, has been in use since the 19th century, though not originally intended pejoratively, and was used by nationalist leader Daniel O'Connell British House of Commons in 1832:

Before the 20th century, and the partition of the country, the aristocratic class identified themselves as Anglo-Irish rather than British. At partition, Unionists in what was to become Northern Ireland, identified as Ulstermen or -women and the contentious term, British Isles, was avoided by Unionist historians as much as it was by Nationalist ones.^[55][56]

Since the Troubles, there has been a doubling of those identifying as British within the Protestant community in Northern Ireland (rising to nearly 70%), while Ulster and Irish identity has collapsed among that group. There has been a 75% drop among Catholics of those identifying as British (from 20% down to 6%) in the same period, where Irish is the predominant identity (approximately 60%).^[57] High rates of intermarriage between nationalists and unionists following independence is attributed as the disappearance of British Unionist and Anglo-Irish identities in the Republic of Ireland, where the political implications of intermarriage are perceived as unimportant. In Northern Ireland, in contrast, with high degrees of housing, educational, political and community segregation, only 5% of marriages cross community divides.^[57] The people of Northern Ireland are jointly British and Irish citizens, and individuals may choose to assert either or both as they choose fit.

In the British overseas territories

The people of the British overseas territories are British by citizenship, via origins or naturalization. Along with aspects of common British identity, each of them has their own distinct identity shaped in the respective particular circumstances of political, economic, ethnic, social and cultural history. For instance, in the case of the Falkland Islanders that is explained by Lewis Clifton, Speaker of the Falklands Legislative Council as follows:

In the Commonwealth

Canada

In the 2006 Canadian census^[64], the provided statistics allow for more than one response, so that a person could record their ancestry as being both Scottish and Welsh.

Ancestry as reported in 2006 Canadian census

Ethnic Origins	Total	Single Response	Multiple Response	Percentage
Total Population	31,241,030	18,319,580	12,921,445
English	6,570,015	1,367,125	5,202,890	21%
Scottish	4,719,850	568,515	4,151,340	15%
Welsh	440,965	27,115	413,855	1.5%
Cornish	1,550	65	1,485	< 0.1%

Australia

In the 2006 Australian census^[65], the provided statistics allow for more than one response, so that a person could record their ancestry as being both Scottish and Welsh.

Ancestry as reported in 2006 Australian census

Ancestry	Total	Percentage
Total Population	19,855,288
English	6,283,647	31.65%
Scottish	1,501,204	7.5%
Welsh	113,242	0.5%
British	5,656	< 0.1%

New Zealand

See also: New Zealand European

A significant number of New Zealanders are of British ancestry.^[66] As late as the 1950s, it was common for British New Zealanders to refer to themselves as simply British, such as when Prime Minister Keith Holyoake described Sir Edmund Hillary's successful ascent of Mt. Everest as "[putting] the British race and New Zealand on top of the world".^[67] New Zealand passports described nationals as "British Subject and New Zealand Citizen" until 1974, when this was changed to "New Zealand Citizen".^[68]

While "European" identity predominates political discourse in New Zealand today, the term "British" is still used by some to explain aspects of the country's overall cultural affiliation. Others see the term as better describing previous generations; for instance, journalist Colin James referred to "we ex-British New Zealanders" in a 2005 speech.^[69] It remains a relatively uncontroversial descriptor of ancestry.

In an interview with the New Zealand Listener in 2006, the opposition leader of that time Don Brash made the following statement;

British immigrants fit in here very well. My own ancestry is all British. New Zealand values are British values, derived from centuries of struggle since Magna Carta. Those things make New Zealand the society it is.^[70]

Geographic distribution

Further information: British American, English Canadian, Anglo-Celtic Australian, New Zealand European, and Anglo-African

United States

English American, Scottish American, Scotch-Irish American, Welsh American
Dark red and brown colours indicate a higher density.(see also Maps of American ancestries).

Many British Americans have ancestry in America that dates back to colonial times in the 17th and 18th centuries. Those who went to New England are known as Yankees. With their roots being in America for such a long period, many British Americans have begun to think of themselves ancestrally simply as "Americans." This is especially true in the South.

British emigrant and ethnic descent communities are found across the world, and in some places, settled in significant numbers. Countries with significant numbers of people of English, Scottish, Ulster (Scots-Irish) and Welsh ancestry or ethnic origin include the United States (particularly Utah, New England, New York, California, Virginia, West Virginia, and the Southern States), Australia, Canada, South Africa and New Zealand.

See also

Look up British people in
Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• Alternative words for British
• British Isles (terminology)
• British nationality law
• British subject
• Demographics of the United Kingdom
• Immigration to the United Kingdom
• Ethnic groups of the United Kingdom
• List of British people
• List of Black Britons
• Genetic history of Europe

References