Editing Scotland (section)

===Population===
[[File:Scotland population cartogram.svg|thumb|right|Scotland population [[cartogram]]. The size of councils is in proportion to their population.]]

During the 1820s, many Scots migrated from Scotland to countries such as [[Australia]], the [[United States]] and [[Canada]], principally from the Highlands which remained poor in comparison to elsewhere in Scotland.<ref>{{cite web |title=Emigration |url=https://www.nls.uk/family-history/emigration/ |website=www.nls.uk |publisher=National Library of Scotland |access-date=11 January 2024 |archive-date=11 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240111212104/https://www.nls.uk/family-history/emigration/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The Highlands was the only part of mainland Britain with a recurrent famine.<ref>{{cite web |title=Poverty, Protest and Politics: Perceptions of the Scottish Highlands in the 1880s |url=https://www.gla.ac.uk/media/Media_792389_smxx.pdf |website=www.gla.ac.uk |publisher=University of Glasgow |access-date=11 January 2024 |archive-date=11 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240111212100/https://www.gla.ac.uk/media/Media_792389_smxx.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> A small range of products were exported from the region, which had negligible industrial production and a continued population growth that tested the subsistence agriculture. These problems, and the desire to improve agriculture and profits were the driving forces of the ongoing [[Highland Clearances]], in which many of the population of the Highlands suffered eviction as lands were enclosed, principally so that they could be used for sheep farming. The first phase of the clearances followed patterns of agricultural change throughout Britain. The second phase was driven by overpopulation, the [[Highland Potato Famine]] and the collapse of industries that had relied on the wartime economy of the Napoleonic Wars.<ref>E. Richards, ''The Highland Clearances: People, Landlords and Rural Turmoil'' (2008).</ref>

The population of Scotland grew steadily in the 19th century, from 1,608,000 in the census of 1801 to 2,889,000 in 1851 and 4,472,000 in 1901.<ref>A. K. Cairncross, ''The Scottish Economy: A Statistical Account of Scottish Life by Members of the Staff of Glasgow University'' (Glasgow: Glasgow University Press, 1953), p. 10.</ref> Even with the development of industry, there were not enough good jobs. As a result, during the period 1841–1931, about 2 million Scots migrated to North America and Australia, and another 750,000 Scots relocated to England.<ref name="Huston&Knox2001pxxxii">R. A. Houston and W. W. Knox, eds, ''The New Penguin History of Scotland'' (Penguin, 2001), p. xxxii.</ref> Caused by the advent of [[refrigeration]] and imports of lamb, mutton and wool from overseas, the 1870s brought with them a collapse of sheep prices and an abrupt halt in the previous sheep farming boom.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Warren |first=Charles R. |url=https://archive.org/details/managingscotland00warr |title=Managing Scotland's environment |publisher=Edinburgh University Press |year=2009 |isbn=9780748630639 |edition=2nd ed., completely rev. and updated |location=Edinburgh |pages=[https://archive.org/details/managingscotland00warr/page/n73 45] ff., 179 ff |oclc=647881331 |url-access=limited}}</ref>

Scotland is the [[Population density|most sparsely populated]] [[Countries of the United Kingdom|country]] of the United Kingdom.<ref>{{cite web |title=Number of people per square kilometer in the United Kingdom in 2023, by region |url=https://www.statista.com/statistics/281322/population-density-in-the-uk-by-region/ |website=Statista |access-date=27 February 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Population estimates for the UK, England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland - Office for National Statistics |url=https://www.beta.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/populationestimates/bulletins/annualmidyearpopulationestimates/mid2023 |website=www.beta.ons.gov.uk |access-date=27 February 2025}}</ref> In August 2012, the Scottish population reached an all-time high of 5.25&nbsp;million people.<ref name="thecourier1">{{Cite web |date=3 August 2012 |title=Scotland's population reaches record of high of 5.25&nbsp;million |url=http://www.thecourier.co.uk/news/scotland-s-population-reaches-record-of-high-of-5-25-million-1.57049 |access-date=3 January 2014 |publisher=The Courier |archive-date=28 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160328131036/http://www.thecourier.co.uk/news/scotland-s-population-reaches-record-of-high-of-5-25-million-1.57049 |url-status=live }}</ref> The reasons given were that, in Scotland, births were outnumbering the number of deaths, and immigrants were moving to Scotland from overseas. In 2011, 43,700 people moved from Wales, Northern Ireland or England to live in Scotland.<ref name="thecourier1"/> The [[2021 United Kingdom census#2022 Census for Scotland|most recent census in Scotland]] was conducted by the Scottish Government and the [[National Records of Scotland]] in March 2022.<ref name="auto2">{{cite web | url=https://www.scotlandscensus.gov.uk/about/2022-census/2022-timeline/key-milestones/ | title=Scotland's Census 2022 - key milestones | access-date=4 April 2023 | archive-date=4 April 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230404221004/https://www.scotlandscensus.gov.uk/about/2022-census/2022-timeline/key-milestones/ | url-status=live }}</ref> The population of Scotland at the 2022 Census was 5,436,600, the highest ever,<ref name="auto2"/> beating the previous record of 5,295,400 at the 2011 Census. It was 5,062,011 at the 2001 Census.<ref name="autogenerated1">{{Cite web |date=30 April 2015 |title=Scotland's Population at its Highest Ever |url=http://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/news/2015/scotlands-population-at-its-highest-ever |access-date=12 February 2015 |publisher=National Records of Scotland |archive-date=13 August 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150813015600/http://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/news/2015/scotlands-population-at-its-highest-ever |url-status=live }}</ref> An ONS estimate for mid-2021 was 5,480,000.<ref name="ONS mid-year pop est">{{cite web |url=https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/populationestimates/bulletins/annualmidyearpopulationestimates/mid2021 |title=Population estimates for the UK, England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland: mid-2021 |last=Park |first=Neil |date=21 December 2022 |website=Office for National Statistics |publisher= |access-date=14 August 2023 |archive-date=13 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230813214319/https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/populationestimates/bulletins/annualmidyearpopulationestimates/mid2021 |url-status=live }}</ref> In the 2011 Census, 62% of Scotland's population stated their [[national identity]] as '[[Scottish people|Scottish]] only', 18% as 'Scottish and British', 8% as 'British only', and 4% chose 'other identity only'.<ref>[http://www.scotlandscensus.gov.uk/news/census-2011-detailed-characteristics-ethnicity-identity-language-and-religion-scotland-%E2%80%93 Census 2011: Detailed characteristics on Ethnicity, Identity, Language and Religion in Scotland – Release 3A] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180630062854/http://www.scotlandscensus.gov.uk/news/census-2011-detailed-characteristics-ethnicity-identity-language-and-religion-scotland-%E2%80%93 |date=30 June 2018 }}. Scotland Census 2011. Retrieved 20 September 2014.</ref>

Throughout its history, Scotland has long had a tradition of migration from Scotland and immigration into Scotland. In 2021, the Scottish Government released figures showing that an estimated 41,000 people had immigrated from other international countries into Scotland, while an average of 22,100 people had migrated from Scotland.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://statistics.gov.scot/slice?dataset=http://statistics.gov.scot/data/migration-to-and-from-scotland&http://purl.org/linked-data/cube#measureType=http://statistics.gov.scot/def/measure-properties/count&http://purl.org/linked-data/sdmx/2009/dimension|title=statistics.gov.scot|website=statistics.gov.scot|access-date=12 April 2023|archive-date=9 July 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230709184633/https://statistics.gov.scot/slice?dataset=http://statistics.gov.scot/data/migration-to-and-from-scotland&http://purl.org/linked-data/cube#measureType=http://statistics.gov.scot/def/measure-properties/count&http://purl.org/linked-data/sdmx/2009/dimension|url-status=live}}</ref> Scottish Government data from 2002 shows that by 2021, there had been a sharp increase in immigration to Scotland, with 2002 estimates standing at 27,800 immigrants. While immigration had increased from 2002, migration from Scotland had dropped, with 2002 estimates standing at 26,200 people migrating from Scotland.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://statistics.gov.scot/slice?dataset=http://statistics.gov.scot/data/migration-to-and-from-scotland&http://purl.org/linked-data/cube#measureType=http://statistics.gov.scot/def/measure-properties/count&http://purl.org/linked-data/sdmx/2009/dimension|title=statistics.gov.scot|website=statistics.gov.scot|access-date=12 April 2023|archive-date=10 June 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240610011750/https://statistics.gov.scot/slice?dataset=http://statistics.gov.scot/data/migration-to-and-from-scotland&http://purl.org/linked-data/cube#measureType=http://statistics.gov.scot/def/measure-properties/count&http://purl.org/linked-data/sdmx/2009/dimension|url-status=live}}</ref>