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The population of Scotland reached its highest level in a generation last year, according to the latest figures.Registrar General for Scotland, Duncan Macniven, said the population was 5,194,000 in the middle of last year.
This represented a rise of 25,500 on the previous year, and the highest total since 1979.
Mr Macniven said migration accounted for most of the increase, while there were also about 4,600 more births than deaths.
Over the year, 45,400 people came to Scotland from England, Wales and Northern Ireland - fewer than in the previous year - while 41,300 left Scotland to go in the opposite direction
But about 42,700 people, including asylum seekers, came from overseas and only 25,200 went in the opposite direction, giving a net gain of about 17,500 people - the highest net gain from overseas migration since current records began in 1991-92.
Other changes including variations in the prison population, and changes in the number of armed forces stationed in Scotland, amounted to a decrease of 800 people.
"Scotland's population has reached a level not seen since the late 1970s," Mr Macniven said.
"The increase in the year ending in June 2009 was 25,500, which was slightly greater than the previous year's 24,300.
"Migration accounted for most of the increase although, at 21,700, it was less than the record 27,000 net migration in 2006-07."This article is from the BBC News website. ? British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.