People of Indian origin are the largest ethnic group in the UK, numbering 1.1 million of the total population, according to a census-based research.
LONDON: People of Indian origin are the largest ethnic group in the UK, numbering 1.1 million or two per cent of the total population of over 60 million, according to a census-based research.
More than 40 per cent of Indians live in London and 30 per cent in the West and East Midlands, the study published today said. Among the Indian population 76 per cent own homes in Britain while 66 per cent of the Whites own homes.
Hindus are the largest religious group, accounting for 45 per cent of the population, followed by Sikhs, with 30 per cent, the study reported in The Times, said.
Leicester has the biggest proportion of Indians of any local council, more than 25 per cent of the authority's population. In 2001, a third of British Indians came from India, 13 per cent from East Africa and 46 per cent from Britain.
Most British Indians are aged between 20 and 50 years, with only 7 per cent over 65.
According to the latest figures, from the 2001 census, in nine out of the 32 London boroughs, less than 50 per cent of the population was white, with the figure falling to 34 per cent in Newham, East London, and lower still in Brent.
Brent was the most ethnically diverse part of the country with a population comprising 29 per cent white British, 18 per cent Indian, 10 per cent black Caribbean, 8 per cent black African and 9 per cent other white.
Overall, the ethnic minority population in 2001 was 4.6 million or 7 per cent of the total population. More than 41 million said they were Christian, with the second biggest group being 8.5 million who claimed no faith. Muslims accounted for 1.5 million, of whom 60,000 were white British Muslims.
British Pakistanis are the second biggest ethnic group, numbering 746,000 in 2001. They are concentrated in the West Midlands, Yorkshire and Humberside and London, which each have a fifth of the group's overall population.
Fifteen per cent of people in Bradford, 13 per cent in Pendle, Lancashire, and 11 per cent of people in Birmingham are Pakistani.
Many Pakistani immigrants come from rural areas and as such tended to have fewer skills than Indian immigrants. More than 90 per cent of British Pakistanis are Muslim. The population is young, with 35 per cent under 16 years and 4 per cent aged over 65. Two fifths of British Pakistani women have never worked or are long-term unemployed.
Bangladeshis are the largest new minority, numbering 2.82 lakh. Mass immigration began in the 1960s but increased after the formation of the state of Bangladesh in 1971. By 2001, 46 per cent of the Bangladeshi community had been born in Britain.
Half the population lives in London, mainly in the East End, but there are many Bangladeshis in the West Midlands and also in the North West of England. Nine out of ten Bangladeshis are Muslim and almost 40 per cent are aged under 16.
British Bangladeshis are least likely to be in managerial or professional jobs and half of British Bangladesh is women have never worked or are long-term unemployed.
The nearby borough of Harrow had the highest religious diversity, leading to an almost 66 per cent chance that two people at random would belong to a different faith. The major religious group in Harrow was Christian, which made up 47 per cent of the population followed by 20 per cent Hindu, 7 per cent Muslim and 6 per cent Jewish.
—PTI
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