LONDON — Nearly three-quarters of the people of the United Kingdom — which covers England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland — describe themselves as Christian, according to the census carried out in 2001. It was the first national census since they began in 1801 to ask people about their religion. However, no distinction was made between different denominations as far as the United Kingdom as a whole was concerned, whereas respondents in Scotland and in Northern Ireland were able to specify their denominational allegiance.
The census showed that 71.6 percent described themselves as Christians, 15.5 percent said they had no religion, and 7.3 percent declined to answer the question. As for non-Christians, 2.7 percent — or more than 1.5 million people — said they were Muslim, 1 percent Hindu, 0.5 percent Jewish, 0.6 percent Sikh and 0.3 percent Buddhist.
Other religions made up 0.3 percent of the population.
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