Around one in three of all Londoners belong to an ethnic minority group. The capital is home to resident communities from over 90 countries. Visitors come literally from all over the world. London welcomes people of every major faith and is home to 40 Hindu temples, at least 25 Sikh temples, and about 150 mosques. The 2001 census contained an optional religious question for the first time. A total of 621,366 people (8.7%) did not answer it. This was the third most popular choice, after Christian (58.2%) and No Religion (15.8%). 1% of Londoners described themselves as Jedi. They have been included in the No Religion figures. At the last census, England as a whole was 87% White British, while London was 59.8%. 3.2% of Londoners consider themselves to be of mixed race. Tower Hamlets has the highest proportion of Muslim residents of any local authority in the country, but even there it remains smaller than the Christian population. One in two black and Asian Britons are under 25. 41% of Bangladeshis are under the age of 16. The average age of members of the UK minority ethnic population is 27. Over the last 200 years various groups of immigrants have arrived in Britain. In the 19 th century Jewish people fled from persecution in Russia and Poland. Irish settlers tried to escape poverty. In 1948 the Windrush brought around 500 Jamaicans to the UK, followed by many more particularly as Caribbeans were encouraged to come to the UK to help rebuild post-war Britain. Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi settlers came in the 1950s and 1960s, followed by people from Vietnam and East African Asians in the 1970s. In the 1980s refugees arrived from Eastern Europe. |
