What is the population of scotland

Scotland Population 2022

The latest estimate for the population of Scotland was released in May 2012 by National Statistics Scotland. They reported that, in mid-2011, Scotland’s population was 5,254,800.

This represents an increase of almost 200,000 in the decade since the 2001 census, which recorded 5,062,011 people living in Scotland in mid 2001. It’s worth noting, though, that the population count might need to be adjusted once the official results of the 2011 census are released later this year.

Following a period of decline in the latter half of the 20th century, Scotland’s population is once again increasing steadily, fueled mainly by immigration from England and further afield, but also supported by an upswing in the domestic birth rate.

Ethnicity, Religion and Language in Scotland

Scotland is a relatively homogenous nation, although becoming increasingly more ethnically diverse. The latest data, from the 2001 census, revealed that 98.19% of people living in Scotland were white, mostly (88.09%) white Scottish. South Asian was the next largest non-white ethnic group recorded, at 1.09% of the population, followed by Chinese (0.32%), Mixed (0.25%) and Black (0.16%).

As noted at the top of this article, much of Scotland’s current population growth is fueled by immigration, particularly from other European Union countries, so expect to see this data change a bit once the 2011 census results are revealed.

The most popular religion in Scotland is Christianity. In the 2001 census, 42.4% of people reported that they were Church of Scotland, 15.9% Roman Catholic and a further 6.8% were members of another Christian denomination. The next largest grouping (27.5%) reported that they had no religion, followed by 5.5% who did not answer the question on religious beliefs. 0.8% of people in Scotland were Muslim, but no other religion is followed by more than 0.1% of the people in Scotland.

Largest cities in Scotland

Edinburgh, Scotland’s capital city, comes in second with a 2011 population of 495,360. It is the 7th most populous city in the UK, and the 59th most populous city in the EU. Both cities are growing at a reasonable rate, so it’s likely that we’ll see the number of people in Glasgow top 600,000 and the number of people in Edinburgh top 500,000 in the next few years.

The two other major cities in Scotland are Aberdeen (pop 220,420) and Dundee (pop 145,570).

It’s no coincidence that all of Scotland’s largest towns and cities – and, indeed, more than two thirds of its total population – are concentrated in a belt of land across the South and the East Coast of Scotland. This area, often known as the Scottish Lowlands, is the most geographically hospitable part of Scotland. The Scottish Highlands in the North and West of the country are, by contrast, far less densely populated.

(Note, unless otherwise specified, all city data comes from the National Statistics Scotland report linked to at the top of this article.)

Scottish Diaspora

No accurate data on people of Scottish ethnicity around the world exists but as well as Scottish people living in Scotland, there are thought to be around 2 million people of Scottish descent living in the rest of the United Kingdom.

Millions of Scots have over the years emigrated to other parts of the world – mostly, but not always, to other parts of the British Empire. The United States is home to the largest population claiming Scottish descent – approximately 22 million – followed by Australia (5 million) and Canada (4.5 million). Intriguingly, Brazil is also home to a major Scottish population – around 1 million according to the CIA Factbook – as are a number of European countries, such as the Netherlands (750,000) and Poland (500,000).

What is the population of scotland

Scotland is a country and once independent Kingdom that covers 31,510 square miles (78,772 square kilometres, about half the size of England. The capital town is Edinburgh. The majority of the population is based around the cities of Edinburgh, Glasgow and Dundee. The population of Scotland is over 5,000,000 people. Its currency is the pound sterling although the Bank of Scotland issues its own notes and coinage.

Almost all Scots speak English, but many speak various Scots dialects, which differ markedly from English and some speak Gaelic (pronounced Gallic).

About 2% of the population use Scots Gaelic as their language of every-day use, mainly in the northern and western regions of the country. Most Gaelic speakers also speak fluent English.

The Gaelic Language is spoken by around 86,000 individuals primarily in the North of Scotland and in the Western Isles (e.g.. Skye, Lewis, Harris). The vast majority of Gaelic speakers are bilingual Gaelic/English. Today there are very few people who do not speak English.

Gaelic (or Scottish Gaelic as it is sometimes known outside Scotland) has similarities to the other Celtic languages, and is particularly close to Irish (or Irish Gaelic) to the extent that a mutual understanding is possible.

At the time of James VI‘s accession to the English throne, the Scottish Court and Parliament spoke Scots, also known as Lallans.

Scots developed from the Germanic language in the Northumbrian kingdom of Bernicia, which conquered the kingdom of Gododdin and renamed its capital of Dunedin to Edinburgh, in the 6th century.

The Scots language is a Germanic language related to English. It is not a dialect but a language in it\’s own right. It is not Celtic, but has been influenced by Gaelic.

The Scots language has a wide range of dialects. In Shetland and Orkney, there is strong Norse influence.

Mainland Scotland has three main dialect divisions: Northern, Central and Southern.

Central is further divided into East Central (north and south of the Forth), West Central (Glasgow and surrounding area) and South-West (mainly Dumfries and Galloway).

Southern covers most of the Borders area. Scots is also spoken in Northern Ireland, the result of many crossings of the waters by populations over the centuries, in particular from the settlements of the early seventeenth century.

As well as being the everyday language of an estimated 1.5 million people in Scotland, Scots is «the classical language of Scotland», and many of the historical epics written in Scots, such as The Bruce, Wallace, The Complaynt of Scotland, etc

Population of Scotland 2022

The latest official estimate shows that the population of Scotland is 5,466,000

Scotland is the second largest of the four countries which make up the United Kingdom. It makes up 8.015% of the total UK population and has only about a tenth of the population of England.

If Scotland were an independent country it would be the 28 largest country in Europe and the 20th largest country in the European Union. It is roughly comparable in size to Finland and Slovakia.

Scotland Population Growth

When the kingdom of Scotland joined with the kingdom of England in 1707 to form the United Kingdom the population of Scotland was about 1 million people.

From then until the 1970s Scotland’s population increased every decade. The country’s population declined stayed relatively static in the is 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, falling from a high of 5,229,000 in 1971 to a low of 5,062,000 in 2001.

Economic prosperity and increased confidence has seen Scotland’s population returned to growth again this 21st-century. Between 2001 2011 Scotland’s population grew by 5% to reach 5,295,000 at the time of the 2011 census.

The table below records the population of Scotland at the time of the census from 1801 onwards. No census was carried out in 1941 because of the Second World War, so data has been added from the 1939 National Register of the Civilian Population.

Largest cities in Scotland

Glasgow (population: 606,300) is the largest city in Scotland. Edinburgh (population: 464,990), which is the capital city of Scotland, is only the second largest city. Data is from 2015.

There are two other cities with a population of more than 100,000. They are Aberdeen (population 196,670) and Dundee (147,710). Data from 2012.

The table below lists the 10 largest cities and towns in Scotland. Data is drawn from the Mid-2012 Population Estimates for Settlements and Localities in Scotland, which was published by National Records of Scotland in 2014.

The greater Glasgow urban area, which includes towns such as Paisley, Hamilton, Airdrie and Motherwell, has a population of 1.2 million people.

The wider urban area around Edinburgh, known as the Edinburgh and South East Scotland City Region, is slightly larger with a population of 1.3 million people.

Scotland Ethnicity

White is the largest single ethnic group in Scotland, comprising 96.02% of the population. Further to this 83.95% of people reported that they were White: Scottish. A further 7.88% reported that they were White: Other British.

Other major ethnic groups reported in the 2011 census were Asian (2.66%), African (0.56%), Mixed (0.37%), Other (0.27%) and Caribbean or Black (0.12%).

The chart below shows all groups with more than 0.5% of population

Scotland Population 2022

Scotland is part of the United Kingdom and it is located at the northern third of the island of Great Britain with population over 5.4 million. This country shares border with England, majority or its parts are covered by the great Atlantic Ocean. The North Sea is in the direction of the east sea and the Irish sea is in the direction of south-west. Scotland is a country with 790 islands.

The capital of Scotland is Edinburgh, which is the second largest country in the country. Edinburgh was the main focus of the enlightenment that occurred in the country during eighteenth century. The largest city in Scotland is Glasgow, this city has one largest seaport in UK.

Based on our research, Scotland population will reach 5.538 million by 1st July of 2022. We use first day of July each year due to Office for National Statistics (ONS) normally publishes the estimated population data for the same period. The calculation is based on the average growth rate of 0.422% over last 10 years since 2011. We believe using the recent years’ figures (see the table in next section) will make the estimation more accurate.

Population Growth of Scotland

The population of Scotland has been increasing every decade since 1970’s from that point. There was a modest reduction in the population of the country during the 1970’s and 1990’s. The population of the country dropped from 5.229 Million in the year 1971 to 5.062 Million in 2001.

Looking back last ten years, the population growth of Scotland is slow but consistent ranging from 0.09% to 0.93% adding 5,000 to 50,000 people to the overall population.

Demographics of Scotland

The largest ethnic group in Scotland is the white community, estimated to be around 96.02% of the population. Although, only 83.95% of the population verified that they are white. The other substantial ethnic groups in the country includes:

Christianity is the major religion in Scotland, with 53.8% of the population declaring they are Christians in the registration done in 2011. The percentage of Christians in 2011 shows that there is reduction in the percentage of Christians in the population when compared to the population of Christians in 2001.

The Church of Scotland dominates the population of Christians in Scotland with 32.4% of the total population of the country. Other groups of Christians include the Roman Catholic (15.9%) and other Christians (5%).

The common language in Scotland is English with 93% of population indicating that English is their natural dialect. 1% of the population speaks Polish as their natural dialect.

Population Density of Scotland

Scotland has a population density of 65 people per square kilometer.

Facts About Scotland

References

The following links provide data for this topic:

Demography of Scotland

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The demography of Scotland includes all aspects of population, past and present, in the area that is now Scotland. Scotland has a population of 5,463,300, as of 2019. The population growth rate in 2011 was estimated as 0.6% per annum according to the 2011 GROS Annual Review. [3]

Covering an area of 78,782 square kilometres (30,418 sq mi), Scotland has a population density of 67.2/km 2 (174/sq mi). Around 70% of the country’s population (3.5 million) live in the Central Belt —a region stretching in a northeast–southwest orientation between the major cities of Edinburgh and Glasgow, and including the major settlements of Paisley, Stirling, Falkirk, Perth and Dundee, in the Central Lowlands (80%). Other concentrations of population include the northeast coast of Scotland, principally the regions around the cities of Aberdeen and Inverness, and the west coast around the town of Ayr. The Scottish Highlands and the island group of Eilean Siar have the lowest population densities at 9/km 2 (23/sq mi). Glasgow has the highest population density at 3,289/km 2 (8,520/sq mi). [4]

Until April 2011, responsibility for estimating the population of Scotland, as well as recording births, deaths and marriages, was overseen by the General Register Office for Scotland (GROS), headed by the Registrar-General for Scotland. From 1 April 2011 onwards, the GROS merged with the National Archives of Scotland to become the National Records of Scotland. The new organisation is still required under the terms of the Registration of Births, Deaths and Marriages (Scotland) Act 1965, to present a Registrar-General’s annual report of demographic trends to Scottish Ministers. (Prior to devolution it was to the Secretary of State for Scotland). In conjunction with the rest of the United Kingdom, the National Records for Scotland is also responsible for conducting a decadal census of population. The most recent one took place in March 2011, with the next due to take place in 2022. [5]