Indians largest ethnic group in London

LONDON: Indians are the largest ethnic minority group living in Greater London, according to the official figures.
    
Of the total population of 74.04 lakh in Greater London in 2007, the British population accounted for 49.56 lakh followed by Indians 1.97 lakh and Bangladeshis 1.15 lakh.
    
Next are those from Ireland 1.13 lakh, Jamaica 1.08 lakh, Poland 1.05 lakh, Nigeria 91,000 and Pakistan 81,000. Others are from the USA 63,000, South Africa 61,000, Australia 56,000, Turkey 52,000, China 25,000, Brazil 24,000, New Zealand 19,000, Canada 14,000 and Sweden 13,000.
    
One in three people living in London was born on foreign soil, the figures released by the Office for National Statistics said.
    
And it's hardly surprising - one can hear anything from a Bangladeshi brogue or Afghan accent to an Irish intonation or Turkish timbre after walking into any pub in the British capital or looking around on the tube.
    
London's melting pot is only becoming more of a mix, with more than 10,000 foreign-born citizens setting up shops every month.
    
However, Asians make up just over 3.5 per cent of the total UK population - about 20.84 lakh out of nearly 5.88 crore. Of these nearly 1.8 per cent are Indians - 10.54 lakh, 1.25 per cent are Pakistani - 7.47 lakh and just under 0.5 per cent are Bangladeshi - 2.83 lakh.
    
Outside London, the single region with the most Asians is the West Midlands (3.65 lakh), followed by the North West (2.15 lakh), Yorkshire and the Humber (2.10 lakh), the South-East (1.63 lakh) and the East Midlands (1.57 lakh).
    
The Indian communities are concentrated in the boroughs of Ealing including Southall, Brent and Harrow; Pakistani communities in Walthamstow, Newham and Ealing; and the Bangladeshi communities in Tower Hamlets, Newham and Camden.