Diversity in Great Britain Who lives here? What are we like? Where are we from? Are we all British?

Britain is a very diverse place. That means lots of different kinds of people live here. What sort of people?

Did you know? Around 19% of the population (about 11m people) have a long term illness or disability. It is estimated that the lesbian, gay and bisexual population of Britain is between 5-7%.

Britain is getting older ! % of the population (almost 10m people) were aged 65 and over 21% of the UK were aged under % of the population (more than 15m people) will be aged 65 and over. 4.1% will be aged 85 or more However, only 18% of Britain will be under 18 You will be aged between 31 and 39 in 2031.

Britain is also a multicultural nation of around 60.6 million people from different racial, religious and cultural backgrounds.

There are… … 64,500 Pakistanis in Birmingham and Bradford …25,000 Indians in Leicester …4,000 Bangladeshis in Oldham … 4,000 West Indians in Nottingham …1,000+ French people in Bristol and Brighton …650 Greeks in Colchester …600 Portuguese in Bournemouth and Poole …800 Poles in Bradford …1,300 Somalis in Sheffield …770 Zimbabweans in Luton …370 Iranians in Newcastle and 400 in Stockport

Religions in Britain 72% Christian 3% Muslim 1% Hindu 1% other religions 15% no religion 8% unknown

Ethnic diversity The main ethnic group in the UK is “ White British”. However, Britain is increasing in ethnic diversity. We now have more people from different countries and backgrounds. Ethnic diversity varies a lot across Britain: Wales and Scotland are not as diverse as England. Ethnic diversity varies across Essex: Harlow, Brentwood, Basildon have the most diverse populations. This is because they are large towns and also people often move out from London to live in these places.

London London is a particularly diverse city. About 35% of the population are from non-White groups, mainly Asian (14%) and then Black (12%). Half of the 1.2 million pupils that attend schools in London are from minority ethnic groups. It is estimated that over 300 languages are spoken in London.

Britain’s diversity is a great asset and it is part of the rich fabric of life, but it also brings us some challenges.

Recently there has been great discussion of issues like multiculturalism immigration national identity

Some of this is due to recent events the 9/11 attack on the twin towers the murder of black teenager Stephen Lawrence new countries joining the European Union wars in some countries, creating asylum seekers and refugees

But different communities have settled in Britain for centuries. They include: The Celts The Romans (who also brought the first black people to Britain) Settlers from Northern Europe ( the Danes, Angles and Saxons) Jewish settlers after 1066 Gypsies in the 16th century Muslims from the 18th century onwards Immigrants from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and the Caribbean (after the collapse of the British Empire) Eastern Europeans (in recent years)

How well all the people who are in Britain live and work together will determine the extent to which Britain prospers in the future

“ The British are not a single tribe, or a single religion and we don’t come from a single place. But we are building a home where we are all able to be who we want to be yet still be British. This is what we do: we take, we adapt and we move forward. We are the British; we are Britain.”

all different - all still potatoes !

all different all still British