What Will The United Kingdom Look Like Without Scotland?
The impact is not as big as you think.
September 17, 2014
1. On September 18, 2014, Scotland will hold a referendum on whether it will separate from the UK and become an independent nation.
2. In 1707 — 307 years ago — Scotland and England joined to form the Kingdom of Great Britain.
3. In 1801, they incorporated the Kingdom of Ireland to form the UK.
4. If Scotland leaves the UK, it will be the first major change to the nation since the declaration of the Irish Free State in 1922.
5. Based on its estimated population of 63.5 million, the UK has the 22nd largest population in the world.
6. It ranks just behind France (64.4 million), the third-largest nation in Europe after Russia (142.5 million) and Germany (82.7 million).
7. If the UK loses the 5.2 million Scots, it would have a population of 58.3 million.
8. The smaller UK would fall only one place in the world population league table, ranking behind Italy, the world’s 23rd most-populous country.
Source: United Nations Population Division’s World Population Prospects: The 2012 Revision (medium fertility estimate for 2014) and Scotland.org
