   File:KylieShowgirl.jpg  
| |
| Regions with significant populations | |
|---|---|
| All States and territories of Australia | |
| Languages | |
| English | |
| Religion | |
| Predominantly Christian significant nonreligious population | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Anglo-African · British American · Irish American · British Latin American · Cornish · English · Irish · New Zealand European · Scottish · Welsh · White British and other white/European ethnicities. |
Anglo-Celtic Australian is the dominant[2] Australian ethnic or cultural category, used to describe Australians with British and/or Irish ancestral origins.[3]
Demography
In 1999, the Anglo-Celtic ethnic strength in the Australian population was calculated as 69.88%[4]. This represents a proportional decline from 1947 when Anglo-Celtic ethnic strength was 90% and 1988 when it was 74.55%. A 1999 study projected that in 2025 the Anglo-Celtic proportion will fall to 62.5%.
From the beginning of the colonial era until the mid-20th Century, British and/or Irish comprised the vast majority of settlers, and later, post-Federation immigrants coming to Australia.
Anglo-Celtic is not a catergory in the the Australian census. The ABS believes that most who list "Australian" as their ancestry are part of the Anglo-Celtic group. Australian census tend to show significantly fewer people of Scottish and Irish ancestry than ethnic composition studies indicate. It is conjectured that many of these people prefer to list themsevlves as being of Australain ancestry[5].
At the 2006 Census of Australia[6] where citizens could self-select their ancestry, out of a total of 19,855,288 people in Australia, 6,283,647 (31.6%) Australians selected English ancestry, 1,803,740 (9.1%) selected Irish ancestry, 1,501,204 (7.6%) selected Scottish, 113,242 (0.7%) selected Welsh, 1,864 (0.01%) selected Manx, and 5,686 (0.3%) selected British ancestry (respondants could nominate up to two ancestries).[7]
In comparison to the 2000 US Census where respondants selected an ancestry, 24,515,138 (8.7%) selected English, 30,528,492 (10.8%) selected Irish, 4,890,581 (1.7%) selected Scottish, 1,753,794 (0.6%) selected Welsh, and 1,085,720 (0.4%) declared British ancestry.[8]
The United Kingdom remains the leading source of immigrants to Australia. In 2005-06 22,143 persons born in the United Kingdom settled in Australia, representing 21.4% of all migrants. At the 2006 Census (excluding overseas visitors)[9] 1,038,165 persons identified themselves as having been born in the United Kingdom (5.2% of the Australian population), while 50,251 identified themselves as Irish born.
Sydney has the largest number of British-born residents (175,166), followed closely by Perth (171,023).
Usage
The term Anglo-Celtic is primarily associated with Australians of British and/or Irish ancestry. The broad term reflects the ethno-cultural composition of post-colonial Australian society, in which English, Irish, Scottish and Welsh components fused [citation needed] into a singular national group.[citation needed]
Some have argued that the term is entirely a product of multiculturalism.[citation needed] Historian John Hirst wrote in 1994: "Mainstream Australian society was reduced to an ethnic group and given an ethnic name: Anglo-Celt."[10]
Other terms like "Anglo", "Anglo-Saxon" or "Anglo-Saxon-Celtic" are used interchangeably with "Anglo-Celtic" (sometimes inaccurately, such as for persons whose lineage cannot be confirmed or established, or who are of an exclusively Celtic background). The word "skip" (sometimes derogatory) has been used by some ethnic groups in Australia to refer to Anglo-Celtic Australians[citation needed]; the term is in reference to the 1960s television program Skippy the Bush Kangaroo.
Anglo-Celtic Australian Identity
The emergence of Australian nationalism in the second half of the nineteenth century diminished the degree in which Anglo-Celtic Australians identified themselves as primarily from their homelands, although many elements of Australian culture and life, from jurisprudence to gardening, are transplanted from British and Irish traditions.
References
- ^ [1] 20680-Country of Birth of Person (full classification list) by Sex - Australia. Retrieved 8 April 2008]
- ^ [2]
- ^ 1301.0 - Year Book Australia, 1995
- ^ [3]
- ^ [4]
- ^ 1301.0 - Year Book Australia, 2008
- ^ [20680-Ancestry (full classification list) by Sex - Australia http://www.censusdata.abs.gov.au/ABSNavigation/download?format=xls&collection=Census&period=2006&productlabel=Ancestry (full classification list) by Sex&producttype=Census Tables&method=Place of Usual Residence&areacode=0]
- ^ [US 2000 Census http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/QTTable?_bm=y&-geo_id=01000US&-qr_name=DEC_2000_SF3_U_QTP13&-ds_name=DEC_2000_SF3_U]
- ^ [20680-Country of Birth of Person (minor groups) by Sex - Australia http://www.censusdata.abs.gov.au/ABSNavigation/download?format=xls&collection=Census&period=2006&productlabel=Country of Birth of Person (minor groups) by Sex&producttype=Census Tables&method=Place of Usual Residence&areacode=0]
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