ABSTRACT
The British Isles have attracted settlers, invaders and immigrants throughout their history. The contemporary British are consequently composed of people from worldwide origins and are divided into what eventually became the English, Scots, Welsh and (Northern) Irish. These populations have mixed roots derived from diverse settlement and immigration patterns over time. There has also been considerable internal migration throughout the British Isles (particularly in the nineteenth century) as individuals moved between the four nations of England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland. In a similar integration process, the English language, which binds most of the people together linguistically in its various dialect forms, is a mixture of Germanic, Romance and other world languages.
