In separate articles throughout this Encyclopaedia the main subjects of interest in connexion with British institutions are fully dealt with; and it is only necessary here to give such details as are needed to supplement those given under the subject-heading. See Agriculture; Navy (also Ship and Ship-Building); Education; English Finance; English History; Civil Service; National Debt; Police; Poor Law; &c. A separate section, however, is devoted to the army, the constitution of which in 1910 is described; the history is given under Army.
National Debt (q.v.).—The table on the preceding page shows the position of the national debt at quinquennial intervals during 1891–1910.
Area and Population.—The United Kingdom has an area of 120,651 sq. m., and at the census of 1891 had a population of 37,732,922 and in 1901 of 41,458,721. If the islands in British seas are included, the area is increased to 120,953 sq. m., and the population to 41,609,091. The main divisions are as follows:—
| Area sq. m. |
Population. | ||
| 1891. | 1901. | ||
| England and Wales . . . | 58,324 | 29,002,525 | 32,527,843 |
| Scotland . . . . . . | 29,796 | 4,025,647 | 4,472,103 |
| Ireland . . . . . . | 32,531 | 4,704,750 | 4,458,775 |
| Islands in the British seas . | 302 | 147,842 | 150,370 |
Vital Statistics.—The following table institutes a comparison and the total between the birth-rates per thousand of the population in the United Kingdom and certain other countries, at intervals (so far as possible) of five years, adding the figures for other years in specific years when there was a marked fluctuation:—
| 1881. | 1886. | 1891. | 1896. | 1901. | 1905. | 1906. | |
| Russia in Europe* . . . . . | 47·8 (1882, 50·4) | 46·5 | 48·8 | 49·7 | 47·9 | — | — |
| Hungary . . . . . . . . | 42·9 | 45·6 | 42·3 | 40·5 | 37·8 | — | 36·0 |
| Austria . . . . . . . . | 37·5 (1882, 38·9) | 38·1 | 38·3 | 38·0 | 36·6 | 33·7 | — |
| Germany . . . . . . . . | 37·0 | 37·0 | 37·0 | 36·3 | 35·7 | 33·0 | — |
| Japan . . . . . . . . | 25·6 | 27·3 (1889, 30·2) | 26·7 | 30·0 | 32·7 | 30·6 | — |
| Holland . . . . . . . . | 35·0 | 34·6 | 33·7 | 32·7 | 32·3 | — | 30·4 |
| Denmark . . . . . . . . | 32·2 | 32·4 | 31·0 (1892, 29·6) | 30·5 | 29·7 | — | 28·5 |
| Switzerland . . . . . . . | 29·8 | 27·8 | 28·2 | 28·1 | 29·1 | 27·4 | — |
| United Kingdom . . . . | 32·5 | 31·5 (1890, 29·2) | 30·4 | 29·0 | 28·0 | — | 26·8 |
| England . . . . . . . | 33·9 | 32·8 (1890, 30·2) | 31·4 | 29·6 | 28·5 | — | 27·1 |
| Scotland . . . . . . . | 33·7 | 32·9 (1890, 30·4) | 31.2 (1894, 29·9) | 30·4 | 29·5 | — | 27·9 |
| Ireland . . . . . . . | 24·5 | 23·2 (1890, 22·3) | 23·1 (1892, 22·5) | 23·7 | 22·7 | — | 23·6 |
| Norway . . . . . . . . | 30·6 | 31·2 | 30·9 | 30·2 | 29·6 | — | 26·5 |
| Sweden . . . . . . . . | 29·1 | 29·8 | 28·3 | 27·2 | 27·0 | — | 25·7 |
| Belgium . . . . . . . . | 31·8 | 29·9 | 30·0 | 29·0 | 29·4 | — | 25·7 |
| France . . . . . . . . | 24·9 | 23·9 | 22·6 | 22·5 | 22·0 | — | 20·6 |
The number of births in the United Kingdom in 1909 was 1,146,118, giving a rate per thousand of 25·5.
* Not including Finland.
The death-rate is similarly treated:—
| 1881. | 1886. | 1891. | 1896. | 1901. | 1905. | 1906. | |
| Denmark . . . | 18·3 | 18·1 | 20·0 | 15·7 | 15·8 | — | 13·5 |
| Norway . . . | 17·0 | 16·2 | 17·5 | 15·1 | 14·9 | — | 13·7 |
| Sweden . . . | 17·7 | 16·6 | 16·8 | 15·6 | 16·1 | — | 14·4 |
| Holland . . . | 21·5 | 21·8 | 20·7 | 17·2 | 17·2 | — | 14·8 |
| United Kingdom . | 18·7 | 19·2 | 20·0 | 16·9 | 17·1 | — | 15·6 |
| England . . . | 18·9 | 19·5 | 20·2 | 17·1 | 16·9 | — | 15·4 |
| Scotland . . . | 19·3 | 18·9 | 20·7 | 16·6 | 17·9 | — | 16·0 |
| Ireland . . . | 17·5 | 17·8 | 18·4 | 16·7 | 17·8 | — | 17·0 |
| Belgium . . . | 21·2 | 21·3 | 21·2 | 17·5 | 17·2 | — | 16·4 |
| Switzerland . . | 22·4 | 20·7 | 20·6 | 17·8 | 18·0 | 17·9 | — |
| Germany . . . | 25·5 | 26·2 | 23·4 | 20·8 | 20·7 | 19·8 | — |
| France . . . . | 22·0 | 22·5 | 22·9 | 20·0 | 20·1 | — | 19·9 |
| Japan . . . . | 18·7 | 24·4 | 21·0 | 21·4 | 20·4 | 22·0 | — |
| Hungary . . . | 34·4 | 31·7 | 33·1 | 28·9 | 25·4 | — | 24·8 |
| Austria . . . | 30·5 | 29·5 | 28·1 | 26·3 | 24·0 | 25·0 | — |
| Russia in Europe* . | 33·2 | 31·2 | 34·6 | 32·8 | 32·1 | — | — |
* Not including Finland.
The deaths in the United Kingdom in 1909 numbered 667,765, the rate per thousand being 14·8.
The number of marriages (a) and the proportion of persons married per thousand of the population (b) are thus shown:—
| Year. | England and Wales. |
Scotland. | Ireland. | United Kingdom. | ||||
| (a) | (b) | (a) | (b) | (a) | (b) | (a) | (b) | |
| 1896 | 242,764 | 15·7 | 30,270 | 14·2 | 23,055 | 10·2 | 296,089 | 15·0 |
| 1901 | 259,400 | 15·9 | 31,387 | 14·0 | 22,564 | 10·2 | 313,351 | 15·1 |
| 1906 | 269,734 | 15·6 | 33,123 | 14·0 | 22,557 | 10·3 | 325,414 | 14·9 |
| 1909 | 260,259 | 14·6 | 30,092 | 12·3 | 22,769 | 10·4 | 313,120 | 13·9 |
Emigration.—The following table shows the number of passengers, distinguishing English and Welsh, Scottish and Irish, who left the United Kingdom for extra-European countries in 1895, 1900 and 1905, and the total for 1909, and in certain other years in which the numbers show marked fluctuations:—
| Year. | English and Welsh. | Scottish. | Irish. | Total. |
| 1895 | 112,538 | 18,294 | 54,349 | 185,181 |
| 1898 | 90,679 | 15,570 | 34,395 | 140,644 |
| 1900 | 102,448 | 20,472 | 45,905 | 168,825 |
| 1904 | 175,733 | 37,445 | 58,285 | 271,435 |
| 1905 | 170,408 | 41,510 | 50,159 | 262,077 |
| 1906 | 219,765 | 53,162 | 52,210 | 325,137 |
In 1909 the total number to British dominions was 163,594 and the total number to other extra-European countries was 125,167.
Occupations.—The following table shows the occupations (excluding children under ten years of age) as distinguished in five great orders, according to the census of 1901:—
| England and Wales. | Scotland. | Ireland. | |
| Professional . | 804,427 | 101,061 | 131,035 |
| Domestic . . | 1,994,197 | 201,230 | 219,418 |
| Commercial . | 1,858,454 | 245,715 | 97,889 |
| Agricultural . | 1,152,495 | 237,311 | 876,062 |
| Industrial . . | 7,534,994 | 1,197,495 | 69,413 |
Agriculture.—The following table illustrates broadly the difference in the position of agriculture in Great Britain and in Ireland:—
| Percentage to total area of area— |
Great Britain. | Ireland. | ||
| 1890. | 1909. | 1890. | 1909. | |
| Cultivated . . . . . . | 57·7 | 56·6 | 73·1 | 70·3 |
| Under grain crops . . . . | 14·1 | 12·4 | 7·3 | 6·1 |
| Under green crops . . . . | 5·8 | 5·4 | 5·8 | 5·0 |
| Under grasses and other crops . | 8·5 | 7·9 | 5·9 | 11·2 |
| In permanent pasture . . . | 28·2 | 30·2 | 53·4 | 43·1 |
