Ethnic Diversity in Britain

Unsurprisingly, given its close proximity to Northern Ireland and Eire, Glasgow has a sizeable Irish population which has left a strong cultural imprint on the city. During the two years from June 2004, an estimated 32,000 people from Eastern Europe came to live and work in Scotland; 20,000 of whom were Poles. For context, in the 2001 census, the White Other group - within which many of these new migrants are likely to belong - accounting for just 78,000 people in the whole of Scotland. Within this total are small numbers of American - and Dutch-born residents; 800 people from the Netherlands alone live in the Aberdeen area, where the Dutch oil company Shell operates a refinery.

Given is close proximity to Ireland, it is not surprising that Scotland has a relatively large Irish population. Nearly 50,000 people indicated this as their ethnic origin in the 2001 census. In Glasgow, which is the city physically closest to the Irish mainland, Irish people make up 2% of the local population. Aside from the Other White British, the next largest ethnic minority group in Scotland is Asian. Although Asian residents make up barely more than 1% of the population as a whole (55,000 people), in some inner-city areas they are highly concentrated. In parts of central Glasgow, such as Pollokshields, as much as 40% of the local population are of Pakistani origin. This city has more than 15,000 Pakistani residents; very nearly half of all people from this group living in Scotland. Unlike in England, where Indians form the largest Asian sub-group, in Scotland it is Pakistanis who predominate, by nearly two-to-one.

Scotland has very few black residents; around 8,000, or 0.2% of the population. Even where people from this group are most strongly concentrated (in Perth), they account for rather less than half of one percent of the local population. Black Africans outnumber Black Caribbean's by almost three-to-one; in England, the latter is slightly more populous than the former. The Chinese population is twice as large as the black population, and proportionally almost the same as in England; only this and the White Irish group are proportionally similarly represented in the population of both countries. [6]

1.3 Wales

Wales is much less ethnically diverse than England; people from ethnic minorities made up only 4% of its population in 2001, compared to 13% for England. Out of every 1,000 people, on average: 959 are White British; 19 are White non-British; 9 are Asian; 6 are of mixed race; 2 are Black; 2 are Chinese.

In 2001, 2.7% of people living in Wales were born abroad, up from 2.2% in 1991. It is also less diverse than Scotland, although like-for-like comparisons are difficult, because Scotland uses a different system of ethnic classification.

At the time of the 2001 census, there were 2.9 million people living in Wales across an area of 20,779 square kilometers. Its population density of 140 people per square kilometer is lower than any region of England.

The population distribution within Wales is very uneven, as it combines a few large population centers with large areas of sparsely inhabited, mostly rural land. Cardiff, its capital city, is home to more than half of all black people living in Wales, and just under half of its total Asian population. Wales has fewer foreign-born residents than any other nation or region in Britain - just 2.7% of the total population - and also recorded the smallest increase in people born abroad at the 2001 census. The whole population: 2,903,085. [5]

Table 1.2 Ethnic groups in Wales

South Wales' Somalis form one of the oldest migrant communities in Britain. The first migrants came to work in the docks of Cardiff and Newport at the end of the 19th century. Today, there are believed to be around 7,000 people of Somali descent living in Wales.

Nearly 26,000 Asian people living in Wales in 2001, making this group the largest ethnic minority in the country. The population is split very evenly between Indians and Pakistanis, although in Cardiff there is a rapidly growing Bangladeshi population which now makes up more than a quarter of all Asians in the city. Aside from Cardiff, where 4% of all residents are Asian, the next largest concentration of this group is in Wrexham (2.6%), where Pakistanis predominate.

Although the number of black people living in Wales appears small, amounting to just over 7,000 people or a quarter of one percent of the population, there is some doubt as to whether the Census 2001 data accurately reflect the true size of the black population. For example, the Somali population in Cardiff alone is estimated at anywhere between 4,000 and 10,000 people, and is thought to be the largest concentration of people originating from this country anywhere in Britain. Unlike England, Wales has a majority African black population. In many parts of Wales, especially in the valleys and to the north of the country, non-white people are a rare sight. In Wrexham, 99% of the population are white, and there are only 164 black people out of a total population of 128,000. [6]

1.4 Northern Ireland

Here is given the number of all persons resident in Northern Ireland and those having moved from Northern Ireland to elsewhere in the UK in the past year.

Table 1.3 Ethnic groups by migration (persons)

Inflow is not an exact count of persons moving into Northern Ireland as it does not include persons who had no usual address one year ago who did not live within Northern Ireland. Outflow is not a count of all persons moving out of Northern Ireland as it does not include persons who have moved outside the UK. Persons under one year old, living in households, take the migration characteristics of their next of kin, instead of 'no usual address one year ago'. Net migration within the UK subtracts the number of persons who have moved out of Northern Ireland but within UK from the number of persons who lived elsewhere outside Northern Ireland but within UK. It does not include persons who lived elsewhere outside the UK. Here is given the number of all persons aged 16 to 74 in employment in the area.

Table 1.4. Ethnic groups by distance to place of work (workplace population)

In this table, the workplace population in an area does not include those persons working in the area who live outside the UK. 'In employment' includes economically active full-time students in employment. 'Works elsewhere outside the UK' includes working at an offshore installation. The distance to place of work is a calculation of the straight line distance between the postcode of place of residence and postcode of workplace. For full-time students their place of residence is their term-time address and their distance to place of work is based on this address. When a full-time student spends part of the week at their 'home' or 'vacation' address, their place of work may be closer to this address and the actual distance traveled to work may be much less. [7]

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