General

With 50,431,700 inhabitants, or 84% of the UK's total, England is the most populous nation in the United Kingdom; as well as being the most ethnically diverse. England would have the fourth largest population in the European Union and would be the 25th largest country by population if it were a sovereign state.

The country's population is 'ageing', with a declining percentage of the population under age 16 and a rising one of over 65. Population continues to rise and in every year since 1901, with the exception of 1976, there have been more births than deaths. England is one of the most densely populated countries in Europe, with 383 people per square kilometre (992/sq mi), making it second only to the Netherlands.

The generally accepted view is that the ethnic background of the English populace, before 19th- and 20th century immigration, was a mixed European one deriving from historical waves of Celtic, Roman, Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Norman invasions, along with the possible survival of pre-Celtic ancestry. Genetic studies have shown that the modern-day English gene pool contains more than 50% Germanic Y-chromosomes.

The economic prosperity of England has also made it a destination for economic migrants from Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. This was particularly true during the Industrial Revolution.

Since the fall of the British Empire, many denizens of former colonies have migrated to Britain including the Indian sub-continent and the British Caribbean. A BBC-published report of the 2001 census, by the Institute for Public Policy Research stated that the vast majority of immigrants settled in London and the South East of England. The largest groups of residents born in other countries were from the Republic of Ireland, India, Pakistan, Germany and the Caribbean. Although Germany was high on the list, this was mainly the result of children being born to British forces personnel stationed in that country.

About half the population increase between 1991 and 2001 was due to foreign-born immigration. In 2004 the number of people who became British citizens rose to a record 140,795 – a rise of 12% on the previous year. The number had risen dramatically since 2000. The overwhelming majority of new citizens come from Africa (32%) and Asia (40%), the largest two groups being people from India and Pakistan. One in five babies in the UK are born to immigrant mothers, according to official statistics released in 2007. 21.9% of all births in the UK in 2006 were to mothers born outside the United Kingdom compared with just 12.8% in 1995.