A nation is born from its land, its history, its art and its institution. These things work together to make us what we are. But above all a nation is made up of people, and although there are things they all share, all of those people are different.
But, how important are these differences? Is there still a "British nation"? And in what ways is Britain changing?
In the old days, it was easy to talk about the British society. But these days is harder to describe the British. The old differences are still there, but people are divided in manynew ways as well.
One difference is the change in age groups. more people are living longer than seventy or eighty years, so the number of old people is growing. At the same time, fewer babies are being born ( the average British family has two children).
Traditions of work are changing too. About three million people have no job. Poor people these days are not only people with badly paid jobs, but people without a job at all.
There are now about four millions "black" and "brown" Britons, who have come (or whose parents have come) to Britain since the 1950s. MOst came from the West Indies, East Africa, India and Pakistan, and live in big cities like London, Manchester, Birmingham and Liverpool.
But somehow, the traditional British way of life still goes on.
The things that differentiate them makes them interesting.
The things they agree about make them British.
