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The British (also known as Britons, informally Brits or Britishers) are citizens of the United Kingdom, of the Isle of Man, any of the Channel Islands, or of any of the British overseas territories, and their descendants. British nationality law governs modern British citizenship and nationality, which are acquired, for instance, by birth in the UK or by descent from British nationals. When used in a historical context, the term British people refers to the ancient Britons, the indigenous inhabitants of Great Britain south of the Forth. Although early assertions of being British date from the Late Middle Ages, the creation of the united kingdom of Great Britain in 1707 triggered a sense of British national identity. The notion of Britishness was forged during the Napoleonic Wars between Britain and the First French Empire, and developed further during the Victorian era. The complex history of the formation of the United Kingdom created a "particular sense of nationhood and belonging" in Britain; Britishness became "superimposed on much older identities", of English, Scot and Welsh cultures, whose distinctiveness still resist notions of a homogenized British identity. Because of longstanding ethno-sectarian divisions, British identity in Northern Ireland is controversial, but it is held with strong conviction by unionists. Contemporary Britons are descended mainly from the varied ethnic stocks that settled in Great Britain before the 11th century. Prehistoric, Celtic, Roman, Anglo-Saxon, and Norse influences were blended in Britain under the Normans, Scandinavian Vikings from northern France. Conquest and union facilitated migration, cultural and linguistic exchange, and intermarriage between the peoples of England, Scotland and Wales during the Middle Ages, Early Modern period and beyond. Since the 19th century, and particularly since the mid-20th century, there has been immigration to the United Kingdom by people from the Republic of Ireland, the Commonwealth, other parts of Europe and elsewhere; they and their descendants are mostly British citizens with some assuming a British, dual or hyphenated identity. The British are a diverse, multi-national and multicultural society, with "strong regional accents, expressions and identities". The social structure of Britain has changed radically since the 19th century, with the decline in religious observance, enlargement of the middle class, and increased ethnic diversity. The population of the United Kingdom stands at around 61 million, with a British diaspora concentrated in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United States. |