THE BRITISH EMPIRE. A CENSUS OF ENORMOUS PROPORTIONS. FOUR HUNDRED MILLION PEOPLE—RELIGIONS, MARRIAGE RATES, AND OTHER FIGURES.

Progress, Volume I, Issue 10, 1 August 1906, Page 285

THE BRITISH EMPIRE. A CENSUS OF ENORMOUS PROPORTIONS. FOUR HUNDRED MILLION PEOPLE—RELIGIONS, MARRIAGE RATES, AND OTHER FIGURES.

" Thk Truth about the British Empire ! Price SS, 5d." So might run the advertisement of a recent Blue Book if so unthinkable a consummation as the competition of Blue Books with the ordinary mass of literature for the favour of the public were ever to come to pass. As it is, this Blue Book bears the formal title of " Census of the British Empire, 1901." It is a deeply interesting inventory — all the more interesting if the reader will imagine the hearts beating behind those solid piles of figures that show the condition of an Empire which covers one-fifth of the land surface of the globe. It is shown that in forty years (1861-1901) the area of the Empire has grown from 8,500,000 square miles to 11,908,378, and the population from 259,000,000, to 398,401,704. To this vast total the United Kingdom itself contributes only a population of 41,458,721 and an area of 121,089. Excepting, however, only the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands, there are more persons to the square mile in the United Kingdom than in any other part of the Empire, the next densest being the Indian Empire with its population of 294,361,056, or 172 persons per square mile. Canada's proportion is only 1.4 and Australia's 1.3 — a fact which shows eloquently how great an amount of unoccupied land is still available for the Empire's settlers. There are in the Empire 187 cities or towns with a population of over 50,000. Of these eighty-seven are in the United Kingdom, seventy-eight 111 India, seven in Australasia, five 111 the Dominion of Canada, two in the West Indies, two in the Straits Settlements, and one apiece m the Colonies of Hong Kong, Ceylon, Mauritius, Cape of Good Hope,

Natal, and the Transvaal. The most populous city next to London is Calcutta— B4B,ooo, an increase of 166,000 in ten years. In New South Wales, Victoria, and Western Australia more than half the population are in urban areas, while in New Zealand, South Australia, Queensland, and Tasmania the preponderance is in the rural areas. In Canada the greater proportion of the population live in rural areas, and the same rule holds good in South Africa. But in the United Kingdom 71 per cent of the population live in towns,

the proportions m the three divisions of the Kingdom being 31 per cent, in Ireland, 70 per cent, in Scotland, and 77 per cent in England and Wales. In India, out of 1000 males over fifteen years of age, 708 are married, and 1000 females over fifteen 669 are married. The following table shows the proportions of unmarried, married, and widowed m the United Kingdom and in some of the principal Colonies and Dependencies : Proportion per 1000 living. Unmarried. Marned.Widowed.

Analysis of the occupations of the people shows that 2.2 per cent, of the male population of England and Wales are employed on railways, 2.7 on roads, and 0.8 on seas, rivers, and canals. The information under the head of " Birthplaces " shows that the proportion of Colonials who were born in the United Kingdom is in New Zealand 25.2 per cent, of the population, in the Australian Commonwealth 17.7 per cent., in Canada 7.3 per cent., and 111 the Cape Colony 3.7 per cent With regard to religions, it is estimated that there are S7i millions in the Empire professing the Christian religion, and over 295 millions professing " nonChnstian religions." The seven greatest religious groups in the Empire may be stated thus Hindu 208,342,276 Mahommedan .. .. . . 62,884,811 Christian 57,500,000 Buddhist 11,643,432 Primitive Animistic, Pagan . . 8,910,826 Sikh 2,195,444 Jam i,334.m8

United Kingdom . . Indian Empire Cape of Good Hope Orange River Colony Canada New South Wales . . Victoria Queensland South Australia Western Australia New Zealand 609 419 649 664 617 657 647 677 652 647 6^7 334 465 307 309 34 r 303 300 259 3°4 •520 306 57 116 44 27 42 40 53 34 44 33 37