26.07.2013 Views

The universal geography : earth and its inhabitants

The universal geography : earth and its inhabitants

The universal geography : earth and its inhabitants

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

Create successful ePaper yourself

Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.

CHAPTER XVI.<br />

STATISTICS OF THE UNITED KINGDOM.<br />

PorULATION.<br />

P to tlie beginning of the present century the population of the<br />

British Isl<strong>and</strong>s was only known approximately, the estimates<br />

being based upon the number of h<strong>earth</strong>s or the yield of certain<br />

taxes. Its increase dui-ing the whole of the Middle Ages can<br />

have been only slow, for <strong>its</strong> growth was impeded by a want of<br />

roads, the low state of agriculture, the rudimentary condition of industry, frequent<br />

wars, <strong>and</strong> a neglect of sanitary laws ; <strong>and</strong> famines often carried off more men<br />

in a few months than had been added to the population in a generation. It is<br />

probable that at the commencement of the seventeenth century the number<br />

of <strong>inhabitants</strong> did not exceed 5,000,000. Since then the growth has been<br />

continuous, for the construction of roads has rendered it possible to supply corn to<br />

districts afflicted by bad harvests, whilst the increase of commerce <strong>and</strong> industry<br />

has opened up fresh resources to the <strong>inhabitants</strong>.<br />

When the first census was taken in 1801, it was found that the British<br />

Isl<strong>and</strong>s were inhabited by 16,000,000 individuals, <strong>and</strong> their number has<br />

more than doubled during the eighty years which have since elapsed.* At the<br />

present time the population increases annually at the rate of more than 300,000<br />

souls. Between 1861 <strong>and</strong> 1871 the daily increase amounted to 500 persons,<br />

<strong>and</strong> since then it has risen to a diurnal increment of 1,000 souls, without there<br />

being any sign of a reaction. <strong>The</strong> British Isl<strong>and</strong>s are amongst the most densely<br />

populated countries of the world. In Engl<strong>and</strong> the number of <strong>inhabitants</strong><br />

* Population of tlie British Isles :<br />

Engl<strong>and</strong> <strong>and</strong> Wales<br />

Scotl<strong>and</strong> .<br />

Irel<strong>and</strong> .<br />

—<br />

Isle of Man <strong>and</strong> Channel Isl<strong>and</strong>s<br />

1801.<br />

8,892,500<br />

1,008,400<br />

5,395,500<br />

100,000<br />

15,996,400

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!