| Chapter 1: | The Dying Gael |
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Chapter 1
The Dying Gael
Scotland is a nation in northwestern Europe incorporated politically into the United Kingdom with England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, and with a population of little more than 5 million. In 2004 Scotland enjoyed a per capita GDP of more than $27,000 dollars, compared to approximately $37,000 for the United States; a “human development rating index” of 15, as compared to the United States’ index of 10; and an adult literacy equivalent to that of the United States at 99% (Culturegrams, 2006a; 2006b).
However, Scotland is experiencing a shrinking and ageing of the population due to the combined factors of a low fertility rate and a negative net migration. With a lower percentage of its population composed of people under the age of 16 than any other region of the United Kingdom (National Statistics, 2005), and a low fertility rate of 1.48 per 1,000 women of childbearing age (as a point of comparison, the United Kingdom as a whole has a fertility rate of 1.65), the Scottish population is expected to decline by 10% over the next 40 years (Migration Watch U.K., 2004).