The Scots

The Scots have a strong sense of national identity, of their own distinct values, and traditions. This is partly due to history.

Scotland’s history is a history of endless battles against the English for independence, and Scots have many national heroes who fought in these battles. The well-known Scotsman’s fierce independence and pride are rooted in a long story of struggle.

Scotland is a country with an intense national tradition, with its own national dances, its own songs, its poetry, its own national food and drink, sports and manners.

To many foreigners, the image of Scotland is a cliché. Kilts, tartans, bagpipes, and tweed play an important role in it.

Although a part of the UK, to this day Scots law is different and many important aspects from English law, and Scotland retains her own Church and institutions, as well as its own educational system, its own banknotes and now its own one pound coin.

The Welsh

The Welsh pride themselves on being the true Britons: their forefathers believed themselves to have grown out of the ground, since they were the oldest people on the island. Twenty percent of them still speak Welsh, the oldest language in Europe.

Wales was inhabited from ancient times. The mysterious standing stones and tombs which dot the Welsh landscape bear witness to the presence of prehistoric man on the land.

The roman invasion left its mark on Wales where the Romans had their major military centers in Britain.

From the 6^th century the Welsh fiercely resisted the attacks of the Anglo-Saxons into their land. The Anglo-Saxons christened their opponents ‘the Welsh’, a name which means ‘stranger, foreigner’, but the ‘Cymru’, the Celtic word for the welsh, derives from the word for ‘friend’.

The Welsh fought for many years against the English to win their freedom but they were defeated in 1282.

The Welsh are proud of their culture, traditions and their language. They are really gifted in the art of self-expression in words, they are not afraid of being poetic in speech, of using bright and pictorial descriptions of men and events in ordinary conversations.

There is much literary, musical and dramatic activity in modern Wales. Special festivals are held to encourage Welsh literature and music. Wales has been called ‘The Land of Song’. The Welsh people are renowned for their good voices and it is rare to find a village without at least one choir competing in arts festivals.

The Irish people (Irish: Muintir na hÉ ireann or Na hÉ ireannaigh) are a nation and ethnic group native to the island of Ireland, who share a common Irish ancestry, identity and culture. Ireland has been inhabited for about 9, 000 years according to archaeological studies (see Prehistoric Ireland). For most of Ireland's recorded history, the Irish have been primarily a Gaelic people (see Gaelic Ireland). Anglo-Normans conquered parts of Ireland in the 12th century, while England's 16th/17th century (re)conquest and colonization of Ireland brought a large number of English and Lowland Scots to parts of the island, especially the north. Today, Ireland is made up of the Republic of Ireland (an independent state), and the smaller Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kingdom). The people of Northern Ireland hold various national identities; including Irish, Northern Irish, British, or some combination thereof.

The Irish have their own customs, language, music, dance, sports, cuisine, and mythology. Although Irish (Gaelic) was their main language in the past, today most Irish people speak English. Historically, the Irish nation was made up of kin groups or clans, and the Irish also had their own religion, law code and style of dress.

There have been many notable Irish people throughout history. After Ireland's conversion to Christianity, Irish missionaries and scholars exerted great influence on Western Europe, and the Irish came to be seen as a nation of " saints and scholars". The 6th-century Irish monk and missionary Columbanus is regarded as one of the " fathers of Europe", followed by saints Cillian and Fergal. The scientist Robert Boyle is considered the " father of chemistry", and Robert Mallet one of the " fathers of seismology". Famous Irish writers include Oscar Wilde, W. B. Yeats, George Bernard Shaw, Bram Stoker and James Joyce. Notable Irish explorers include Brendan the Navigator, Robert McClure, Ernest Shackleton and Tom Crean. By some accounts, the first European child born in North America had Irish descent on both sides; and an Irishman was the first European to set foot on American soil in Columbus' expedition of 1492. Many presidents of the United States have had some Irish ancestry.

The population of Ireland is about 6.3 million, but it is estimated that 50 to 80 million people around the world have Irish forebears; making the Irish diaspora one of the biggest of any nation. Historically, emigration from Ireland has been the result of conflict, famine and economic issues. People of Irish descent are found mainly in English-speaking countries, especially the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada and Australia. There are also significant numbers in Argentina and Mexico. The United States has the most people of Irish descent, while in Australia those of Irish descent are a higher percentage of the population than in any other country. Many Icelanders have Irish and Scottish Gaelic forebears.

The 2001 UK Census classified ethnicity into several groups: White, Black, Asian, Mixed, Chinese and Other. These categories formed the basis for all National Statistics ethnicity statistics until the 2011 Census results were issued. The 1991 UK census was the first to include a question on ethnicity. A number of academics have pointed out that the ethnicity classification employed in the census and other official statistics in the UK since 1991 involve confusion between the concepts of ethnicity and race. David I. Kertzer and Dominique Arel argue that this is the case in many censuses, and that " the case of Britain is illuminative of the recurring failure to distinguish race from ethnicity".` User consultation undertaken for the purpose of planning the 2011 census revealed that some participants thought the " use of colour (White and Black) to define ethnicity is confusing or unacceptable".

According to the 2011 Census, the ethnic composition of the United Kingdom was as set out in the table below.

For the purpose of harmonising results to make them comparable across the UK, the ONS includes individuals in Scotland who classified themselves in the " African" category (29, 638 people), which in the Scottish version of the census is separate from " Caribbean or Black" (6, 540 people), ^[18] in this grouping. The ONS note that " the African categories used in Scotland could potentially capture White/Asian/Other African in addition to Black identities".