Editing Sheffield (section)

==Demographics==
{{Main|Demographics of Sheffield}}{{Historical populations
| title    = Population Change
| type     = UK
| footnote = <ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/data_cube_page.jsp?data_theme=T_POP&data_cube=N_TOT_POP&u_id=10076882&c_id=10001043&add=N |title=Sheffield District: Total Population |access-date=16 August 2009 |work=A Vision of Britain Through Time |publisher=Great Britain Historical GIS Project |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110628202826/http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/data_cube_page.jsp?data_theme=T_POP&data_cube=N_TOT_POP&u_id=10076882&c_id=10001043&add=N |archive-date=28 June 2011 |url-status=live}}</ref>
| 1801 | 60095
| 1821 | 84540
| 1841 | 134599
| 1861 | 219634
| 1881 | 335953
| 1901 | 451195
| 1921 | 543336
| 1941 | 569884
| 1951 | 577050
| 1961 | 574915
| 1971 | 572794
| 1981 | 530844
| 1991 | 528708
| 2001 | 513234
| 2011 | 551800
| 2021 | 556500}}
[[File:SheffPop.png|thumb|left|alt=Population of Sheffield from 1700 to 2011|Population of Sheffield from 1700 to 2011. The exponential population growth during the 19th century and the subsequent plateauing during the 20th century are evident.]]
The [[United Kingdom Census 2001]] reported a resident population for Sheffield of 513,234, a 2% decline from the 1991 census.<ref name="Sheffield 2001">{{cite web |url=http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadAreaSearch.do?a=7&c=&i=1001&m=0&enc=1&areaSearchText=sheffield&areaSearchType=13&extendedList=true&searchAreas=Search |title=Sheffield (Local Authority) |author=United Kingdom Census 2001 |publisher=Office for National Statistics |access-date=11 July 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071013184904/http://neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadAreaSearch.do?a=7&c=&i=1001&m=0&enc=1&areaSearchText=sheffield&areaSearchType=13&extendedList=true&searchAreas=Search |archive-date=13 October 2007}}</ref> The city is part of the wider [[Sheffield urban area]], which had a population of 640,720.<ref name="SUA 2001">{{cite web |url=http://www.statistics.gov.uk/StatBase/Expodata/Spreadsheets/D8271.xls |title=Usual Resident population: Census 2001, Key statistics for urban areas |publisher=Office for National Statistics |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110628203914/http://www.statistics.gov.uk/statbase/Expodata/Spreadsheets/D8271.xls |archive-date=28 June 2011 |format=XLS File}}</ref> [[2021 United Kingdom census|In 2021]] the racial composition of Sheffield's population was 79.1% [[White people|White]] (74.5% [[White British]], 0.5% [[Irish migration to Great Britain|White Irish]], 0.5% [[Romani people in the United Kingdom|Romani]] or [[Irish Traveller]], 3.6% [[Other White]]), 3.5% of [[Mixed (United Kingdom ethnicity category)|mixed race]] (1.4% White and Black Caribbean, 0.4% White and Black African, 0.9% White and Asian, 0.8% Other Mixed), 9.6% [[British Asian|Asian]] (1.2% [[British Indian|Indian]], 5% [[British Pakistanis|Pakistani]], 0.8% [[British Bangladeshi|Bangladeshi]], 1.3% [[British Chinese|Chinese]], 1.3% Other Asian), 4.6% [[Black British|Black]] (3.3% African, 0.8% [[British African-Caribbean people|Caribbean]], 0.5% [[Other Black]]), 1.6% [[British Arab|Arab]] and 1.5% of other ethnic heritage.<ref>{{cite web |title=Ethnic group – Office for National Statistics |url=https://www.ons.gov.uk/datasets/TS021/editions/2021/versions/1/filter-outputs/d2f0a39a-75b6-4995-b4bd-a5b68ff79027#get-data |access-date=29 November 2022 |website=www.ons.gov.uk}}</ref> In terms of religion, 38% of the population are Christian, 10% are Muslim, 0.7% are Hindu, 0.4% are Buddhist, 0.2% are Sikh, 0.1% are Jewish, 0.5% belong to another religion, 43% have no religion and 6% did not state their religion.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/census/2011-census/key-statistics-for-local-authorities-in-england-and-wales/rft-table-ks209ew.xls |title=2011 Census: Religion, local authorities in England and Wales |access-date=12 December 2012 |work=United Kingdom Census 2011 |publisher=Office for National Statistics |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130126035854/http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/census/2011-census/key-statistics-for-local-authorities-in-england-and-wales/rft-table-ks209ew.xls |archive-date=26 January 2013 |url-status=live}}</ref> The largest [[quinary]] group is 20- to 24-year-olds (9%) because of the large university student population.<ref>{{cite web |title=TS030 – Religion Edit query |url=https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/datasets/c2021ts030 |access-date=29 November 2022 |website=www.nomisweb.co.uk}}</ref>

The [[Industrial Revolution]] served as a catalyst for considerable population growth and demographic change in Sheffield. Large numbers of people were driven to the city as the [[cutlery]] and steel industries flourished. The population continued to grow until the mid-20th century, at which point, due to industrial decline, the population began to contract. However, by the early 21st century, the population had begun to grow once again.

The population of Sheffield previously peaked in 1951 at 577,050, and was declining steadily until the start of the century. The mid-2007 population estimate was 530,300, representing an increase of about 17,000 residents since 2001. The population of Sheffield has been increasing since.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.statistics.gov.uk/statbase/Product.asp?vlnk=15106 |title=Population estimates for UK, England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland |work=National Statistics Online |publisher=Office for National Statistics |access-date=22 July 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081216083533/http://www.statistics.gov.uk/statbase/Product.asp?vlnk=15106 |archive-date=16 December 2008 |url-status=live}}</ref>

Although a city, Sheffield is informally known as "the [[largest village in England]]",<ref name="BaldwinBottomsWalker"/><ref name="Binfield"/><ref name="BurgoyneClark"/> because of a combination of topographical isolation and demographic stability.<ref name="BaldwinBottomsWalker"/> It is relatively geographically isolated, being cut off from other places by a ring of hills.<ref name="Hampton"/><ref name="TaylorEvansFraser"/> Local folklore insists that, like Rome, Sheffield was built "on seven hills".<ref name="TaylorEvansFraser"/> The land surrounding Sheffield was unsuitable for industrial use,<ref name="BaldwinBottomsWalker"/> and now includes several protected [[green belt]] areas.<ref name="Mann"/> These topographical factors have served to restrict urban spread,<ref name="Mann"/> resulting in a relatively stable population size and a low degree of mobility.
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[[Sidney Pollard]]'s analysis of the 1851 Census data caused him to describe Sheffield as "the most proletarian city in England" at the time, it has more people per 100,000 employed in manufacturing occupations (188 for Sheffield, as compared to 146 for Leeds) and fewer people per 100,000 employed in professional occupations (41 for Sheffield, as compared to 66 for Birmingham, and 43 for Leeds).{{dubious|date=July 2012}} He attributed this to the cutlery trade in the city, which was organised not on polarised Capital-versus-Labour lines, but as a complex network of contracts between cutlery workshops, craftsmen and merchants, whose positive influence on community cohesion and equality lasted through the rise of the steel industry in the city later in the 19th&nbsp; century. Even by 1981, social polarisation (as defined by the Census and Registrar-General) in Sheffield was far lower than in many other cities, with only 4% of the population having professional occupations, as opposed to 62% classified as skilled or unskilled manual laborers.<ref name=TaylorEvansFraser/> -->