British Culture

In this document I have described my findings from my research in to the key aspects of British culture.

There are four countries that fall under the bracket of British culture, these are; England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. However, most stereotypes seem to come from England, specifically its capital city London.

Facts

The average current population of Britain is 67 Million people.

London is the capital city of England, with over 9 Million inhabitants.

Although British and American people both speak English as their main language, there are huge variants in the spelling and pronunciation of certain words.

Britain hosts the 3rd largest coastline in Europe, at 12430 km long.

Britain has over 13 overseas territories.

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Some stereotypes that people often think of when asked about British culture include; sarcasm, tea, pubs, fish and chips, roast dinners, full English breakfasts, the prime minister, corgis, gifting, sports, complaining, the royal family, posh accents, the word ‘sorry’, social classes, tanning, over exaggerated makeup, ques and varying weather.

However as previously explored there is much more to a culture then its stereotypes, below I will explore some of these factors.

In Britain, there are a huge range of languages spoken. The most popular language being English, with 98% of the population able to speak it, a huge number compared to the second most popular language – Scots, with 1.5 million speakers. As you may have guessed, Scots is mainly spoken in Scotland, and its founding language is Galec. Next, the third most popular language is Welsh, the official language of Wales, with 600,000 speakers.

 

Following Welsh is Polish, with 500,000 speakers – which sounds like a lot but this is only around 1% of Britain’s residents.However, this number is quickly rising, as Britain has seen more than half a million Polish Immigrants arrive in the last ten years. 

Some other less spoken languages include; Punjabi, Bengali, and Gujarati, with around 250,000 speakers each. These languages are spoken on such a scale due to the large number of Indian immigrants, who made the move to Britain during the 19th and 20th centuries.

Other languages spoken on a much smaller scale include; Arabic, Spanish, French, and Portuguese. These languages are usually present in larger, tourist cities such as London, Manchester and Brighton.

As well as a vast range of languages, Britain is a cultural hub for many religions. Its main religion, with the monarch as head of the church, is Christianity, which is followed by 46.2% of the population. The second most popular religion is Islam, with only a 6.5% following, next comes Hinduism with 1.5%, Sikhism with 0.9%, and Judaism and Buddhism with 0.5%. The huge jump in percentages is due to the large 37.2% of the population who describe themselves to be non religious.

As just mentioned christianity is the official religion of the United kingdom, with churches of all denominations (catholic, Protestant, Baptist, Methodist) found all across territories of the UK.

Fashion trends are often changing in Britain, but some staple clothing items are; Trench coats, Tweed jackets, Jeans, leggings, Trainers, Suits, Bodycon dresses, Grey Joggers, Black colored everything, Wellies  and Umbrellas. I can almost guarantee you will see nearly all of these items each time you leave the house. Compared to America, Britain has a much more dressy everyday style, but is not overly formal or business like.

Just like fashion, the hair and beauty trends are constantly changing in and around Britain, however some current dominant styles include; the wolf cut, graphic eyeliner, eyebrow lamination, manicures, copper hair, Y2K, warm tones in hair, face and body jewelry.

Britain boasts a huge music scene, with many world wide stars from all kinds of genres. Punk,  Pop, R&B, Rock, Garage, House, Hip Hop and Drum and Bass are among the most celebrated throughout British history.

Furthermore, Britain’s wide range of modern and historical architecture makes it one of the most unique countries in the world. This is because it is home to some of the most significant, and an extremely large number of historic homes, with its dominating styles being; Tudor, Elizabethan, Baroque, Georgian and Post WW2. Britain also carries a huge number of castles, cathedrals, and royal residences.

Sports are a fundamental part of British culture, with Football being the most prominent. Cricket, Tennis, Rugby, and Badminton are also extremely popular. Although not everyone’s ideal, hunting sports, horse and dog eventing and racing are also huge events in British sport.

Below I have listed some of the most famous faces in Britain, from historical to celebrity figures.

Winston Churchill

Churchill was the British Prime minister twice, famously leading the country towards its victory against the NAZI’s during the second world war.

Isambard Kingdom Brunell

A mechanical and Civil engineer who was responsible for creating many bridges, ships, and tunnels, including the Clifton Suspension Bridge. He was an influential character during the revolution and changed public transport forever with the creation of the Great Western Railway.

Diana, Princess of Wales

First wife of Prince (now King) Charles, and mother to Prince William, and Harry. Dianna was admired by the British population for her kind nature.

Charles Darwin

Biologist, Geologist, Naturalist and originator of the theory of evolution through natural selection.

William Shakespeare

Poet and playwright, who is often referred to as the ‘greatest writer in the history of the English language’. His work introduced many new words and phrases into our language, and is so celebrated that it is still read and performed today.

Isaac Newton

Physicist, Mathematician, Astronomer, Theologian and Natural Philosopher. He was the originator of the universal gravitation theory, as well as the laws of classical mechanics and motion.

Queen Elizabeth I

Former Queen of England and Ireland from 1558-1603, she brought stability to Britain and led us to victory over the Spanish Armada during the Anglo Spanish war.

John Lennon

A pop/rock singer, song-writer, musician and activist, as well as a member of the hugely famous band the Beatles. John is considered one of the most famous, influential and most covered artists of all time.

Horatio Nelson

A naval commander famous for his time in the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic wars. His victory at the Battle of Trafalgar prevented the invasion of Britain.

Margaret Thatcher

First woman prime minister, who also held office longer than anyone else in the 20th century.

Queen Elizabeth II

Former Queen of the UK and its territories, until her death last year in 2022, she was the longest reigning monarch in British history.

Freddie mercury

Singer, song-writer, and lead vocalist of legendary rock band Queen. Famous for his carelessness to break barriers in order to express himself, and being an openly gay man in a time where this wasn’t openly acceptable.

Kathryn Jenkins OBE

A Welsh singer, known for performing operatic arias, musical theater and hymns. She officially became world’s most successful singer after her title artist of the century was received from classical FM.

Kate Moss

World wide supermodel.

Stephen Hawking

Theoretical physicist and cosmetologist, who was the first to set out a theory of cosmetology explained by a union of the general theory of relativity and quantum mechanics, despite his physical limitations due to suffering motor neurone disease.

Dua Lipa

A singer songwriter whose career started at just 14 years old. She owns 2 Grammy’s and set history at the 2018 Brit awards as she was the first woman to be nominated for 5 Brits.

Emma Watson

Actress, model, activist and feminist. Known for speaking her mind and fighting for the rights of women, despite potentially damaging her career or reputation by doing this.

Tom Hardy

Actor and director who has been hugely successful his whole career and is currently one of the biggest stars in British cinematography. At age 45, Tom has spent almost half his life in the industry.

David Bowie

Singer song writer, and actor who is considered one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century. Also named the greatest rock star ever by the rolling stone.

Ed Sheeran

Singer, songwriter, who has been hugely popular over the last decade of British music. Ed has broken multiple records in multiple countries, and is among one of the best selling artists, with over 150 million records sold world wide.

Sir David Attenborough

Broadcaster, biologist, natural historian and author, he was also previously a senior manager of the BBC. Best known for his presenting of natural and historic programmes, that changed the way Britain viewed nature and history.

Sir Richard Branson

Billionaire, entrepreneur, commercial astronaut and businessman. Creator of the Virgin group, which now owns over 400 companies.

JK Rowling

Author and philanthropist. Also the founder and president of Lumos, an international children’s charity. Best known for the creation of the Harry Potter series. 

Dame Judy Dench

She is celebrated for her versatile work in film and TV, and named one of Britain’s best actresses.

Sir Paul McCartney

Singer song-writer and musician who gained worldwide fame as part of the Beatles – where he played guitar and shared songwriting and vocals with John Lennon.

Mo Farah

Long distance runner, made the most successful male track runner ever by his 10 global championship gold medals. He is also the most successful track athlete in modern Olympic history.

Sir James Dyson

Inventor, industrial designer, billionaire entrepreneur and farmer. Best known for founding Dyson LTD, and creating the dual cyclone, bag less vacuum cleaner.

Adele

Singer, songwriter known for her soulful and emotive songs. More recently she has been recognized for sharing her huge weight loss journey, but continuing to empower women.

Sir Ranulph Fiennes

Explorer, writer and poet. He is known for holding multiple endurance awards and most famous for being the first, and oldest Britain to conquer mount Everest.

Baron Alan Sugar

Magnate, media personality, author, politician and political advisor. Most famous for the creation of his consumer electronics business Amstrad, and star of popular TV series the apprentice.

David Beckham

World famous former professional footballer, and celebrity personality.

Andy Murray

Professional tennis player, who was ranked NO.1 by the association of Tennis Players, for 41 weeks in a row.

Stephen Fry

Actor, broadcaster, comedian, director and writer. Famous for his roles in TV shows Black adder II and Jeeves and Wooster, as well as his entries in the Daily Telegraph.

Simon Cowell

Television personality, record executive and entrepreneur. Best known as the creator of the X-Factor and Got Talent franchises that reached a world wide status.

Lewis Hamilton

Race car driver, who is currently competing in the formula 1 driving from Mercedes AMG.

Dame Mary Berry

Food writer, baker, chef and television presenter. Famous for releasing over 75 cookery books, and presenting multiple television series such as the Great British Bake off.