British Asians (also referred to as Asian Britons) are British citizens of Asian descent. They constitute a significant and growing minority of the people living in the United Kingdom, with 6.9% of the population identifying as Asian/Asian British in the 2011 United Kingdom census. This represented a national demographic increase from a 4.4% share of UK population in 2001. Represented predominantly by South Asian ethnic groups, census data regarding birthplace and ethnicity demonstrate around a million Asian British people derive their ancestry between

East Asia East Asia is the eastern region of Asia, which is defined in both Geography, geographical and culture, ethno-cultural terms. The modern State (polity), states of East Asia include China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan. ...

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical south-eastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of mainlan ...

Central Asia Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a subregion, region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes t ...

, and

West Asia Western Asia, West Asia, or Southwest Asia, is the westernmost subregion of the larger geographical region of Asia, as defined by some academics, UN bodies and other institutions. It is almost entirely a part of the Middle East, and includes Ana ...

. Since the 2001 census, British people of general Asian descent have been included in the "Asian/Asian British" grouping ("Asian, Asian Scottish or Asian British" grouping in Scotland) of the UK census questionnaires. Categories for British Indians,

British Pakistanis British Pakistanis ( ur, (Bratānia men maqīm pākstānī); also known as Pakistani British people or Pakistani Britons) are citizens or residents of the United Kingdom whose ancestral roots lie in Pakistan. This includes people born in ...

British Bangladeshis British Bangladeshis ( bn, বিলাতী বাংলাদেশী, Bilatī Bangladeshī) are people of Bangladeshi origin who have attained citizenship in the United Kingdom, through immigration and historical naturalisation. The term c ...

British Chinese British Chinese (also known as Chinese British or Chinese Britons) are people of Chineseparticularly Han Chineseancestry who reside in the United Kingdom, constituting the second-largest group of Overseas Chinese in Western Europe after France. ...

, and other Asians have existed under an Asian British heading since the 2011 census. In

British English British English (BrE, en-GB, or BE) is, according to Lexico, Oxford Dictionaries, "English language, English as used in Great Britain, as distinct from that used elsewhere". More narrowly, it can refer specifically to the English language in ...

usage, especially in less formal contexts, the term "Asian" usually refers to people who trace their ancestry to the

Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a list of the physiographic regions of the world, physiographical region in United Nations geoscheme for Asia#Southern Asia, Southern Asia. It is situated on the Indian Plate, projecting southwards into the Indian O ...

(

South Asia South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth descr ...

), contrary to other Anglosphere countries such as Australia and the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

, where the term "Asian" usually refers to people who trace their ancestry to the

Far East The ''Far East'' was a European term to refer to the geographical regions that includes East and Southeast Asia as well as the Russian Far East to a lesser extent. South Asia is sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons. The ter ...

(East Asia or Southeast Asia). There is a long history of migration to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

(and its predecessor states) from across

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...

. British colonies and protectorates throughout Asia brought ''

lascar A lascar was a sailor or militiaman from the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia, the Arab world, British Somaliland, or other land east of the Cape of Good Hope, who was employed on European ships from the 16th century until the middle of the ...

'' sailors and militiamen to port cities in Britain. Immigration of small numbers of

South Asians South Asian ethnic groups are an ethnolinguistic grouping of the diverse populations of South Asia, including the nations of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, the Maldives, and Sri Lanka. While Afghanistan is variously considered to b ...

to England began with the arrival of the

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and South ...

to the

, and the decline of the

Mughal Empire The Mughal Empire was an early-modern empire that controlled much of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries. Quote: "Although the first two Timurid emperors and many of their noblemen were recent migrants to the subcontinent, the d ...

, at the end of the 16th century. Between the 17th and mid-19th century, increasingly diverse lascar crews heading for Britain imported

ns, such as Japanese and Chinese seamen,

ns, such as Malays, South Asians such as the Indians (including the people from Pakistan), Bengalis and Ceylonese and post- Suez Canal;

ns, such as Armenians and

Yemenis Yemenis or Yemenites ( ar, يمنيون) are the nationals of Yemen. Social hierarchy There is a system of social stratification in Yemen that was officially abolished at the creation of the Republic of Yemen in 1962 but, in practice, this syst ...

, who settled throughout the United Kingdom. In particular, Indians also came to Britain, for educational or economic reasons, during the British Raj, with most returning to India after a few months or years, and in greater numbers as the

Indian independence movement The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events with the ultimate aim of ending British Raj, British rule in India. It lasted from 1857 to 1947. The first nationalistic revolutionary movement for Indian independence emerged ...

led to the partition of 1947, eventually creating the separate countries of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. The most significant wave of Asian immigration to and settlement in the United Kingdom came following the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, with the resumed control of

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

, the breakup of the

British Empire The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts e ...

and the independence of Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka and later Bangladesh, especially during the 1950s and 1960s. An influx of Asian immigrants also took place following the

expulsion Expulsion or expelled may refer to: General * Deportation * Ejection (sports) * Eviction * Exile * Expeller pressing * Expulsion (education) * Expulsion from the United States Congress * Extradition * Forced migration * Ostracism * Persona non ...

or flight of Indian communities (then holders of British passports) from the newly independent

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa. The country is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the south by Tanzania. The sou ...

Kenya ) , national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi ...

and

Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands ...

in the early 1970s. Rishi Sunak, who is of Punjabi descent, became the first British Asian

Prime Minister of the United Kingdom The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister advises the sovereign on the exercise of much of the royal prerogative, chairs the Cabinet and selects its ministers. As modern ...

in October 2022. According to the 2021 United Kingdom census, those identifying as Asian British in England & Wales enumerated 5,515,420, or 9.3% of the population

Terminology

In Britain, the word "Asian" most frequently refers to people of

Desi DESI may refer to * Desorption electrospray ionization * Drug Efficacy Study Implementation Drug Efficacy Study Implementation (DESI) was a program begun by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the 1960s after the requirement (in the Kefauve ...

ancestry ( Pakistanis, Indians,

Bangladeshis Bangladeshis ( bn, বাংলাদেশী ) are the citizens of Bangladesh, a South Asian country centered on the transnational historical region of Bengal along the eponymous bay. Bangladeshi citizenship was formed in 1971, when the ...

) and also Sri Lankans. This usage contrasts to that in the

, where it is used primarily to refer to people of Far Eastern origin. In

usage, the term ''Asian'' usually refers to people who trace their ancestry to

, in particular the former

British Raj The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Quote: "Mill, who was him ...

and Ceylon (the modern countries of

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

, Sri Lanka and the

Maldives Maldives (, ; dv, ދިވެހިރާއްޖެ, translit=Dhivehi Raajje, ), officially the Republic of Maldives ( dv, ދިވެހިރާއްޖޭގެ ޖުމްހޫރިއްޔާ, translit=Dhivehi Raajjeyge Jumhooriyyaa, label=none, ), is an archipelag ...

). The British Sociological Association's guidelines on equality and diversity suggest that "South Asian" is more precise than "Asian" and that the latter should not be used where there is a risk of it conflating South Asians with people from elsewhere in Asia.

Census

The

Office for National Statistics The Office for National Statistics (ONS; cy, Swyddfa Ystadegau Gwladol) is the executive office of the UK Statistics Authority, a non-ministerial department which reports directly to the UK Parliament. Overview The ONS is responsible for t ...

uses the term "Asian / Asian British" to categorise British Indians,

people and people of any other Asian ancestry. Definitions and naming conventions for the category have evolved in the history of UK censuses. The 1991 United Kingdom census was the first to include a question on ethnicity (apart from in Northern Ireland, where the question was not asked until 2001). The question had tick-boxes for "Indian", "Pakistani" and "Bangladeshi". There was also a tick box, as well as a general "Any other ethnic group (please describe)" option for those not wishing to identify with any of the pre-set tick boxes. For the 2001 census, in England and Wales, "Indian", "Pakistani" and "Bangladeshi" and "Any other Asian background (please write in)" options were grouped under an "Asian or Asian British" heading, with appearing under a separate heading. In Scotland, all of these tick-boxes were grouped together under an "Asian, Asian Scottish or Asian British" heading, and in Northern Ireland no broad headings were used, just tick-boxes for each of the Asian groups. The 2011 census questionnaire was more consistent with regard to the grouping of Asian ethnicities, such that Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Chinese and any other Asian background options appeared under a broad "Asian/Asian British" ("Asian, Asian Scottish or Asian British" in Scotland) heading in all parts of the UK. Shown in order, as listed on the 2011 Census form, the five categories of Asian British are: * Asian / Asian British: Indian, a reference to the

n nation of

and British Indians. * Asian / Asian British: Pakistani, a reference to the South Asian nation of

and

. * Asian / Asian British: Bangladeshi, a reference to the South Asian nation of

and

. * Asian / Asian British: Chinese, a reference to the

n nation of China and

people. * Asian / Asian British: Other Asian, a broad description suitable for specifying self-identified ethnic descent from South Asian nations without an exclusive category (e.g. Sri Lanka and

British Sri Lankans British Sri Lankans ( si, බ්‍රිතාන්‍ය ශ්‍රී ලාංකිකයන්, , ta, பிரித்தானிய இலங்கையர்) are an ethnic group referring to British people who can trace their a ...

), the same application for other East Asian nations (e.g. Japan and British Japanese) and British people of

Central Asian Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes the former S ...

and Southeast Asian heritage.

Subgroups

There are several regional subgroupings of Asian British people, and Asians living in the United Kingdom generally. As approximately defined concepts, sometimes due to varying geographical regionalisation of the Asian continent, the subgroups are often utilized in broad ethnic or cultural classification. Despite wider use, the

(ONS) does not provide geographic distinctions within the census, meaning all people born in Asia (regardless of region), or with Asian ancestry, are provided designation as "Asian / Asian British". The ONS did, however, acknowledge East, South, Southeast and West Asian individuals in its final recommendations report for the 2011 United Kingdom census. Census results show that Asian Britons with descent from across all of Asia are represented in the UK. For example, births in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

and

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...

, or

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

and

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...

, are among the highest in the Other Asian subcategory of "Asian / Asian British". Outside of the census, organisation and bodies have made explicit use of such geographic classifications. These have included the

British Heart Foundation The British Heart Foundation (BHF) is a cardiovascular research charity in the United Kingdom. It funds medical research related to heart and circulatory diseases and their risk factors, and runs influencing work aimed at shaping public policy ...

, the Greater London Authority, and the

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) is a department of the Government of the United Kingdom. Equivalent to other countries' ministries of foreign affairs, it was created on 2 September 2020 through the merger of the Foreig ...

. In alphabetical order, some of these subgroups are: * British East Asians, including

, British Hongkongers, British Japanese, British Koreans and British Mongolians * British South Asians, including

British Afghans British Afghans are British citizens and non-citizen residents born in or with ancestors from, Afghanistan, part of worldwide Afghan diaspora. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) estimates that there were 79,000 people born in Afghanistan l ...

, British Bhutanese, British Indians, British Nepalese,

and

* British Southeast Asian, including British Burmese, British Filipinos, British Indonesians, British Malaysians, British Singaporeans, British Thais and British Vietnamese *British West Asian, including British Armenians, British Azerbaijanis, British Iranians,

British Iraqis British Iraqis are British citizens who originate from Iraq. The three main ethnicities within the British Iraqi community are Arabs, Kurds and Turkmen, according to a publication by the International Organization for Migration. There are also ...

, British Israelis, British Kurds, British Lebanese, British Syrians, British Turks and British Yemenis

Various terms

Terms to describe British people with Asian heritage are varied and are subject to gradual change created by study in academia, reporting in journalistic works, coverage in other media forms, as well as concepts of self-identity and personhood. Some of the terms used to describe residents and citizens of the United Kingdom with ancestry from Asia are, in alphabetical order, as follows:

Asian Briton

The term Asian Briton has been consistently used to refer to someone who is a British citizen or resident with ancestry from across the continent of

. In 2005, social science researcher

Praful Bidwai Praful Bidwai (12 June 1949 – 23 June 2015) was an Indian journalist, political analyst, and activist. He was known for his left-leaning analysis of India's politics and economics. In Bidwai's memory, his friends, including The Transnational I ...

used Asian Briton as an example of a "mixed" identity. In 2011, multiple scholars, such as

Timothy Garton Ash Timothy Garton Ash CMG FRSA (born 12 July 1955) is a British historian, author and commentator. He is Professor of European Studies at Oxford University. Most of his work has been concerned with the contemporary history of Europe, with a spe ...

and Sonja Licht, used the term as an example of a hyphenated or dual identity within

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

. Use of "Asian Briton" has appeared as both an illustrative term in media and for purposes of self-identity. For example, in 2005, politician

Shailesh Vara Shailesh Lakhman Vara (born 4 September 1960) is a Ugandan-British politician, who served as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland from July to September 2022. A member of the Conservative Party, he has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) ...

was described as an

Ugandan }), is a landlocked country in East Africa. The country is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the south by Tanzania. The sou ...

Asian Briton. Television presenter Sonia Deol and journalist

Yasmin Alibhai-Brown Yasmin Alibhai-Brown (''née'' Damji; born 10 December 1949) is a British journalist and author, who describes herself as "a leftie liberal, anti-racist, feminist, Muslim...person". A regular columnist for the ''i '' newspaper and the ''Eveni ...

have identified themselves as Asian Britons. In 1999, Alibhai-Brown published an

Institute for Public Policy Research The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) is a progressive think tank based in London. It was founded in 1988 and is an independent registered charity. IPPR has offices in Newcastle upon Tyne, Manchester, and Edinburgh. Funding comes from ...

report, advising various departments of the Government of the United Kingdom to use the term Asian Briton. Research project

Minorities at Risk Minorities At Risk (MAR) is a university-based research project that monitors and analyzes the status and conflicts of 283 politically-active communal groups in many countries throughout the world from 1945 to 2006. Those minorities included have ...

described this as an effort "to link ethnic groups to their heritage, and to make greater recognition of the sacrifices made by members of ethnic groups during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

British Asian

British Asian is a widely used term to describe British persons of Asian descent with either citizenship or residency in the UK. Although not following the UK's census formatting, there are numerous examples of the term gaining cultural traction in the country. Founded by

Charles, Prince of Wales Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. He was the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales and, at age 73, became the oldest person to a ...

in 2007, the British Asian Trust follows the naming convention resultant from the popularity of the term, and projects an association to the category of British Asian people. After the appointment of Katy Perry as an ambassador of the Trust in 2020, ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' questioned the merit of whether the American singer was a person "who inhabits the values of the British Asian community", reporting that Perry was "neither British nor Asian". The term has also received some criticism.

BBC Asian Network BBC Asian Network is a British Asian radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station's target audience is people "with an interest in British Asian lifestyles", especially British Asians between the ages of 18 and 34. The station has ...

commissioned an opinion poll that found that the majority of Asians in the UK disliked the term due to its inferred generalisation. Academic Roxy harris has critiqued the term of "British Asian" as essentialising and hierarchising the values, or order of priority, of "British" and "Asian". The portmanteau ''Brasian'' has also been proposed as an alternative form of the term. In the course of the 2010s, usage of British Asian broadened in British media usage and in self-identification by British citizens or residents, to increasingly also include British people of heritage other than

, such as

and

. In the 2011 census, the two categories Chinese and Other Asian were listed explicitly under the broad heading and within the grouping of "Asian/Asian British".

Demographics

Asian British people are significant and growing minority of the United Kingdom's population. The 2011 United Kingdom census recorded 1,451,862 residents of Indian, 1,174,983 of Pakistani, 451,529 of Bangladeshi, 433,150 of Chinese, and 861,815 of "Other Asian" ethnicity, making a total Asian British population of 4,373,339 (6.9 per cent of the total population), excluding people of mixed ethnicity. The 2011 population represented a 1,794,513 increase on the 2001 United Kingdom census figures. All five of the subcategories (Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Chinese, and Other Asian) rose in their own right, representing both outright population growth, as well as increased demographic share of the UK's total population from 4.4% to 6.9%. According to the 2021 United Kingdom census, those identifying as Asian British in England & Wales enumerated 5,515,420, or 9.3% of the population Due to a growing sense of affiliation with Britain, many third generation South Asians chose to not mark "Asian or British Asian" and instead marked "British Asian" in the "Other Asian" write in section.

Birthplace

In terms of birthplace, the first four categories of "Asian / Asian British" people are vastly represented by births in the

and the corresponding national-based category (E.g. China and "Asian / Asian British: Chinese"). The following birthplace figures cover the region of

England and Wales England and Wales () is one of the three legal jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. It covers the constituent countries England and Wales and was formed by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. The substantive law of the jurisdiction is Eng ...

, which constitute 94.7 percent of the UK's Asian British statistics: * For the British Indian category, 606,298 (42.9 percent) were born in the United Kingdom, and 579,521 (41 percent) were born in

, accounting for 83.9 percent of the group. * In the

British Pakistani British Pakistanis ( ur, (Bratānia men maqīm pākstānī); also known as Pakistani British people or Pakistani Britons) are British people, citizens or residents of the United Kingdom whose ancestral roots lie in Pakistan. This includes ...

category, 631,171 (56.1 percent) were born in the UK, and 443,414 (39.4 percent) were born in

, accounting for 95.5 percent of the group. * For the

British Bangladeshi British Bangladeshis ( bn, বিলাতী বাংলাদেশী, Bilatī Bangladeshī) are people of Bangladeshi origin who have attained citizenship in the United Kingdom, through immigration and historical naturalisation. The term c ...

category, 232,089 (51.9 percent) were born in the UK, and 202,626 (45.3 percent) were born in

, accounting for 97.1 percent of the group. * In the

category, 93,164 (23.7 percent) were born in the UK, and 209,104 (53.2 percent) were born in China and its special administrative regions, accounting for 76.9 percent of the group. The break down of which was 139,723 in China (35.5 percent), 67,761 in

(17.2 percent) and 1,620 in

Macao Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a po ...

(0.4 percent). *In the Other Asian category, 207,319 (24.8 percent) were born in the UK, and then with significant births in many diverse nations, mainly in Asia. For example, in the 2011 census, countries of birth with significant representation (over 10,000 births) were recorded across different regions of

. In alphabetical order, these included two nations in

(Japan and South Korea), four in

(India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka), four in

(Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam), and two nations in

(Iran and Iraq). In 2001, the ONS designated the "Main countries of birth of Other Asian group" (the 10 places of birth with highest recorded figures), which, in descending order of population, were: United Kingdom, Sri Lanka, Iran, India, Iraq, Mauritius, Pakistan, Kenya, Nepal and Yemen. As updated a decade later by the

, the 2011 United Kingdom census recorded the following population figures for the "Asian / Asian British: Other" group by birthplace: Members of the Asian community with David Cameron

Members of the Asian community with David Cameron

ONS = Office for National Statistics, coding index.

Employment

British Asian professionals at a networking event in the City of London

The unemployment rate among Indian men was only slightly higher than that for White British or

White Irish } White Irish is an ethnicity classification used in the 2011 United Kingdom Census. In the 2011 census, the White Irish population was 1,105,673 or 1.7% of the UK total population. This total includes the White Irish population estimate for ...

men, 7 per cent compared with 5 per cent for the other two groups. On the other hand, Pakistanis have higher unemployment rates of 13–14%, and Bangladeshis have one of the highest rates, around 23%. Some surveys also revealed the Indian unemployment rate to be 6–7% Persons of Indian or mixed Indian origin are more likely than

White British White British is an ethnicity classification used for the native white population identifying as English, Scottish, Welsh, Cornish, Northern Irish, or British in the United Kingdom Census. In the 2011 census, the White British population ...

to have university degrees, whereas Pakistanis and Bangladeshis are less likely. With the exception of Bangladeshi women, every other group of South Asians, have higher attendance at university than the national average. GCSE pass rates have been rising for all South Asians. In the UK South Asian population has higher rates of unemployment compared to the White-British population, and number of 16 to 64 year old's who were employed, by ethnicity showed Indians overall had the same ratio in employment as White-British at 76%. However those from Pakistani, Bangladeshi backgrounds have far lower rates in employment at 57%. The gap between men and women was biggest in the combined Pakistani and Bangladeshi ethnic group, where 75% of men and 39% of women were employed compared to 80% of men and 73% of women amongst White-British. , citizens of India and the Philippines are the largest foreign-national groups of

National Health Service The National Health Service (NHS) is the umbrella term for the publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom (UK). Since 1948, they have been funded out of general taxation. There are three systems which are referred to using the " ...

workers.

Ethnoregion

South Asian ethnic groups mostly originate from a few select places in South Asia, these are known as place of origins. East Asian ethnic groups are particularly represented by the

Han Chinese The Han Chinese () or Han people (), are an East Asian ethnic group native to China. They constitute the world's largest ethnic group, making up about 18% of the global population and consisting of various subgroups speaking distinctiv ...

in the United Kingdom. British Indians tend to originate mainly from the two Indian States,

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising a ...

and

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...

. Evidence from Bradford and Birmingham have shown, Pakistanis originate largely from the Mirpur District in Azad Kashmir. The second largest ethnic group of

are the Punjabi people, largely from Attock District of

followed by

Pashtuns Pashtuns (, , ; ps, پښتانه, ), also known as Pakhtuns or Pathans, are an Iranian ethnic group who are native to the geographic region of Pashtunistan in the present-day countries of Afghanistan and Pakistan. They were historically r ...

and other ethnic groups from the districts of Nowshera,

Peshawar Peshawar (; ps, پېښور ; hnd, ; ; ur, ) is the sixth most populous city in Pakistan, with a population of over 2.3 million. It is situated in the north-west of the country, close to the International border with Afghanistan. It is ...

and Ghazi in province of

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (; ps, خېبر پښتونخوا; Urdu, Hindko: خیبر پختونخوا) commonly abbreviated as KP or KPK, is one of the Administrative units of Pakistan, four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the Geography of Pakistan, ...

. In the London Borough of Waltham Forest there are substantial numbers of Pakistani people originating from Jhelum, Punjab. Studies have shown 95 per cent of

s originate from the

Sylhet Division Sylhet Division ( bn, সিলেট বিভাগ) is the northeastern division of Bangladesh. It is bordered by the Indian states of Meghalaya, Assam and Tripura to the north, east and south respectively, and by the Bangladeshi divisions ...

, located in the Northeastern part of Bangladesh.

people originate primarily from former British colonies, such as

, but also from areas of

, where they were already diasporic populations. There have been three waves of migration of Hindus in the United Kingdom. The first wave was before India's independence in 1947. In the early 1950s the Conservative Health Minister,

Enoch Powell John Enoch Powell, (16 June 1912 – 8 February 1998) was a British politician, classical scholar, author, linguist, soldier, philologist, and poet. He served as a Conservative Member of Parliament (1950–1974) and was Minister of Health (1 ...

recruited a large number of doctors from the

. The second wave occurred in the 1970s mainly from East Africa. The later communities included those from Guyana,

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...

Mauritius Mauritius ( ; french: Maurice, link=no ; mfe, label= Mauritian Creole, Moris ), officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about off the southeast coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar. It ...

and Fiji. The last wave of migration began in the 1990s and included Tamil refugees from Sri Lanka and professionals including doctors and software engineers from India.

Language

Chinese Britons speak the Mandarin,

Cantonese Cantonese ( zh, t=廣東話, s=广东话, first=t, cy=Gwóngdūng wá) is a language within the Chinese (Sinitic) branch of the Sino-Tibetan languages originating from the city of Guangzhou (historically known as Canton) and its surrounding ar ...

Min Min or MIN may refer to: Places * Fujian, also called Mǐn, a province of China ** Min Kingdom (909–945), a state in Fujian * Min County, a county of Dingxi, Gansu province, China * Min River (Fujian) * Min River (Sichuan) * Mineola (Am ...

, and

Hakka The Hakka (), sometimes also referred to as Hakka Han, or Hakka Chinese, or Hakkas are a Han Chinese subgroup whose ancestral homes are chiefly in the Hakka-speaking provincial areas of Guangdong, Fujian, Jiangxi, Guangxi, Sichuan, Hunan, Zhej ...

languages. The language spoken by Indians are Punjabi,

Gujarati Gujarati may refer to: * something of, from, or related to Gujarat, a state of India * Gujarati people, the major ethnic group of Gujarat * Gujarati language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by them * Gujarati languages, the Western Indo-Aryan sub ...

, Kutchi, Hindustani,

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...

, Telugu and

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 2 ...

. People from Pakistan speak

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
'' Punjabi, Mirpuri, Hindko (dialects of Punjabi), Sindhi, Kashmiri,

Pashto Pashto (,; , ) is an Eastern Iranian language in the Indo-European language family. It is known in historical Persian literature as Afghani (). Spoken as a native language mostly by ethnic Pashtuns, it is one of the two official langua ...

and Saraiki. Gujaratis who emigrated from India and East Africa speak

Hindi Hindi ( Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been ...

, and Kutchi (a dialect of Sindhi), while a sizeable number of Gujarati Muslims speak Urdu for religious and cultural reasons. Bangladeshis speak

Sylheti Sylheti may refer to: * Sylhetis, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group in the Sylhet division and South Assam * Sylheti language, a language of the Sylheti region * Sylheti Nagri Sylheti Nagri or Sylheti Nagari ( syl, , ISO: , ), known in cla ...

and Bengali. People from Sri Lanka speak Tamil and Sinhala. Those who speak dialects mainly refer their language to the main language, for example Sylheti speakers say they speak Bengali or Mirpuri speakers say they speak Punjabi. The reason for this is because they do not expect outsiders to be well informed about dialects.

Religion

Asian Britons have significant numbers of adherents to various major religions. Based on 2011 census figures for

(94.7 percent of UK statistics), Muslims account for 43% of the group, while Hindus make up over 18%, and Christians almost 11%. Sikhs constitute nearly 9% of British Asians, and 3.5% are Buddhists.DC2201EW - Ethnic group and religion (Excel sheet 21Kb)
ONS. 15 September 2015. Retrieved 14 January 2016. British Chinese are mainly irreligious, with 55% of the population subscribing to no religion, 19% Christians and 12% Buddhists. British Pakistanis and Bangladeshis tend to be religiously homogeneous, with Muslims accounting for 92% of each group while their counterparts of Indian and Sri Lankan origin are more religiously diverse, with 55% Hindus, 29% Sikhs, and 15% Muslims. British Gujaratis are predominantly Hindu, belonging to various caste organizations, with large minorities of

Muslims Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

Jains Jainism ( ), also known as Jain Dharma, is an Indian religion. Jainism traces its spiritual ideas and history through the succession of twenty-four tirthankaras (supreme preachers of ''Dharma''), with the first in the current time cycle being ...

, and smaller numbers of Christians and Zoroastrians. Notable religious buildings are the East London Mosque,

London Central Mosque The London Central Mosque (also known as the Regent's Park Mosque) is an Islamic place of worship located on the edge of Regent's Park in central London. Design and location It was designed by Sir Frederick Gibberd, completed in 1977, and ...

, Birmingham Central Mosque, Baitul Futuh Mosque, BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir London, Bradford Lakshmi Narayan Hindu Temple, Shikharbandi Jain Derasar in

Potters Bar Potters Bar is a town in Hertfordshire, England,in the historic County of Middlesex Hertsmere Borough Council – Community Strategy First Review (PDF) north of central London. In 2011, it had a population of 21,882. In 2022 the population was ...

, Gurdwara Sri Guru Singh Sabha in

Southall Southall () is a large suburban county of West London, England, part of the London Borough of Ealing and is one of its seven major towns. It is situated west of Charing Cross and had a population of 69,857 as of 2011. It is generally divided ...

and Guru Nanak Darbar Gurdwara in Gravesend. The publication of

Salman Rushdie Sir Ahmed Salman Rushdie (; born 19 June 1947) is an Indian-born British-American novelist. His work often combines magic realism with historical fiction and primarily deals with connections, disruptions, and migrations between Eastern and We ...

's novel ''

The Satanic Verses ''The Satanic Verses'' is the fourth novel of British-Indian writer Salman Rushdie. First published in September 1988, the book was inspired by the life of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. As with his previous books, Rushdie used magical realism ...

'' in 1988 caused major controversy. Muslims condemned the book for blasphemy. On 2 December 1988 the book was publicly burned at a demonstration in

Bolton Bolton (, locally ) is a large town in Greater Manchester in North West England, formerly a part of Lancashire. A former mill town, Bolton has been a production centre for textiles since Flemish weavers settled in the area in the 14th ...

attended by 7,000 Muslims, followed by a similar demonstration and book-burning in Bradford on 14 January 1989. In 1989

Ayatollah Ayatollah ( ; fa, آیت‌الله, āyatollāh) is an honorific title for high-ranking Twelver Shia clergy in Iran and Iraq that came into widespread usage in the 20th century. Etymology The title is originally derived from Arabic word p ...

Ruhollah Khomeini of

issued a fatwa ordering Muslims to kill Rushdie. Britain is also home of notable Asian religious leaders and scholars. Some of them are

Mirza Masroor Ahmad Mirza Masroor Ahmad ( ur, ; born 15 September 1950) is the current and fifth leader of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. His official title within the movement is Fifth Caliph of the Messiah ( ar, خليفة المسيح الخامس, ''khal� ...

(Caliph of the

Ahmadiyya Ahmadiyya (, ), officially the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community or the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama'at (AMJ, ar, الجماعة الإسلامية الأحمدية, al-Jamāʿah al-Islāmīyah al-Aḥmadīyah; ur, , translit=Jamā'at Aḥmadiyyah Musl ...

Community), Sheikh Abdul Qayum (one of the best known scholars in Europe and Chief Imam of East London Mosque), Abu Yusuf Riyadh ul Haq (Khateeb of Birmingham Central Mosque), Dr. Mahmudul Hasan (Khateeb of Essex Mosque), Abdur Rahman Madani (Chairman of Global Eid Trust and Chief Imam of Darul Ummah Mosque), Faiz-ul-Aqtab Siddiqi (principal of Hijaz College), Ajmal Masroor (Imam and Liberal Democrats politician) and Pramukh Swami Maharaj (fifth spiritual successor of Hindu Swaminarayan).

History in Britain

The earliest date at which South Asians settled in

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It i ...

is unclear. If the Romany are included, then the earliest arrivals were in the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

. DNA surveys have linked Romanies to present-day South Asian populations and the

Romani language Romani (; also Romany, Romanes , Roma; rom, rromani ćhib, links=no) is an Indo-Aryan macrolanguage of the Romani communities. According to '' Ethnologue'', seven varieties of Romani are divergent enough to be considered languages of their ...

is a member of the Indo-Aryan language family. Romanies are believed to have begun travelling westward around 1000 CE, and have mixed with

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europ ...

ren and European populations over many centuries. Romani began arriving in sizeable numbers in parts of

Western Europe Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's countries and territories vary depending on context. The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the ancient Mediterranean ...

in the 16th century. The Romani who settled in Britain are known as

Romanichal Romanichal Travellers ( ; more commonly known as English Gypsies or English Travellers) are a Romani subgroup within the United Kingdom and other parts of the English-speaking world. There are an estimated 200,000 Romani in the United Kingdom ...

. The first educated South Asian to travel to Europe and live in Britain was

I'tisam-ud-Din Mīrzā Sayyid Muḥammad Iʿtiṣām ad-Dīn ibn Tāj ad-Dīn ibn Shahāb ad-Dīn Panchnūrī or Itesham Uddin ( bn, মির্জা সৈয়দ মোহাম্মদ ইতেশামুদ্দীন পাঁচনূরী, fa, ...

, a

Bengali Muslim Bengali Muslims ( bn, বাঙালি মুসলমান; ) are adherents of Islam who ethnically, linguistically and genealogically identify as Bengalis. Comprising about two-thirds of the global Bengali population, they are the sec ...

cleric,

munshi Munshi is a Persian word, originally used for a contractor, writer, or secretary, and later used in the Mughal Empire and India for native language teachers, teachers of various subjects, especially administrative principles, religious texts, ...

and diplomat to the

who arrived in 1765 with his servant Muhammad Muqim during the reign of

King George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...

. He wrote of his experiences and travels in his

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

book, ''Shigurf-nama-i-Wilayat'' ('Wonderous Chronicle of Europe'). This is also the earliest record of literature by a British Asian. Also during the reign of George III, the ''hookah-bardar'' (hookah servant/preparer) of

James Achilles Kirkpatrick Lieutenant-Colonel James Achilles Kirkpatrick (1764 – 15 October 1805) was an East India Company officer and diplomat who served as the Resident at Hyderabad Deccan from 1798 until 1805. Kirkpatrick also ordered the construction of the Koti Resi ...

was said to have robbed and cheated Kirkpatrick, making his way to England and stylising himself as the ''Prince of Sylhet''. The man was waited upon by the

British Prime Minister The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister advises the sovereign on the exercise of much of the royal prerogative, chairs the Cabinet and selects its ministers. As moder ...

William Pitt the Younger William Pitt the Younger (28 May 175923 January 1806) was a British statesman, the youngest and last prime minister of Great Britain (before the Acts of Union 1800) and then first prime minister of the United Kingdom (of Great Britain and Ire ...

, and then dined with the Duke of York before presenting himself in front of the King.

Lascars

When the Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama arrived in Calicut, India in 1498, he established the first

European-Asian sea route The European-Asian sea route, commonly known as the sea route to India or the Cape Route, is a shipping route from the European coast of the Atlantic Ocean to Asia's coast of the Indian Ocean passing by the Cape of Good Hope and Cape Agulhas ...

(commonly called the Cape Route), opening up direct maritime passage between South Asia and Europe. An extension of this route, devised by the Dutch explorer

Hendrik Brouwer Hendrik Brouwer (; 1581 – 7 August 1643) was a Dutch explorer and governor of the Dutch East Indies. East Indies Brouwer is thought to first have sailed to the Dutch East Indies for the Dutch East India Company (VOC) in 1606. In 1610, ...

in 1611 and known as the

Brouwer Route The Brouwer Route was a 17th-century route used by ships sailing from the Cape of Good Hope to the Dutch East Indies, as the eastern leg of the Cape Route. The route took ships south from the Cape (which is at 34° latitude south) into the Roar ...

, subsequently found a new waterway to Southeast Asia. In the following centuries, the

, and its predecessor states, utilised these sea routes to form the

. Capitilising on their growing naval dominance among the other European powers, the British colonised the coastal areas in the West, South, Southeast and East of the continent, creating dozens of British colonies and protectorates in Asia. The administrators of the British Empire termed Asian labourers working for them ''

coolies A coolie (also spelled koelie, kuli, khuli, khulie, cooli, cooly, or quli) is a term for a low-wage labourer, typically of South Asian or East Asian descent. The word ''coolie'' was first popularized in the 16th century by European traders acros ...

'', of which ''

lascars A lascar was a sailor or militiaman from the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia, the Arab world, British Somaliland, or other land east of the Cape of Good Hope, who was employed on European ships from the 16th century until the middle of the ...

'' were considered the maritime equivalent. Lascars were sailors or seamen from many different ethnic backgrounds. The term was sometimes used to specifically refer to a sailor of any Asian ancestry, however there were also African lascars recorded in Britain. Of the Asian lascars, Austronesian

Malay people Malays ( ms, Orang Melayu, Jawi: أورڠ ملايو) are an Austronesian ethnic group native to eastern Sumatra, the Malay Peninsula and coastal Borneo, as well as the smaller islands that lie between these locations — areas that are ...

, from Southeast Asia, formed a significant part of the lascar population settling in, and sailing to and from Britain. From East Asia,

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

and Chinese seamen were often operating as lascars for British ships and trading companies. From South Asia, Indians made up a huge proportion of these sea crews, particularly in the

's earliest decades of operation. Parsees (who originate from

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

, West Asia) and

Luso-Asians Luso-Asians (Portuguese: ''luso-asiáticos'') are people whose ethnicity is partially or wholly Portuguese and ancestrally are based in or hail primarily from Portugal, South Asia, Southeast Asia, and East Asia. They historically came under the ...

of mixed Portuguese and Indian heritage, also came from South Asia to work as lascars. From West Asia,

Armenians Armenians ( hy, հայեր, '' hayer'' ) are an ethnic group native to the Armenian highlands of Western Asia. Armenians constitute the main population of Armenia and the ''de facto'' independent Artsakh. There is a wide-ranging diasp ...

formed part of diverse lascar crews, and

increasingly served as lascar sailors and militiamen after the completion of the Suez Canal in 1869, going on to open businesses, like boarding houses, in port cities such as Cardiff and South Shields. There were also the Ceylonese (Sri Lankans) and the Bengalis who also took part in sailing.

Post–World War II migration

Following the Second World War and the breakup of the

, South Asian migration to the UK increased through the 1950s and 1960s from Pakistan (including present-day Bangladesh), India and Sri Lanka (who are all members of the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth). Additionally immigrants from former Caribbean colonies (including Indo-Caribbeans) were also moving to Britain. Although this immigration was continuous, several distinct phases can be identified: *Manual workers, mainly from Pakistan, were recruited to fulfill the labour shortage that resulted from World War II. These included Anglo-Indians who were recruited to work on the railways as they had done in India. *Workers mainly from the Punjab region of India and Pakistan arrived in the late 1950s and 1960s. Many worked in the foundries of the English Midlands and a large number worked at Heathrow Airport in west London. This created an environment to where the next generation of families did not lose their identity as easily. An example would be

which is populated by many Sikhs. *During the same time, medical staff from the

were recruited for the newly formed

. These people were targeted as the British had established medical schools in the Indian subcontinent which conformed to the British standards of medical training. Bengalis, Bengali social reformer and founder of the All-India Seamen's Federation, Aftab Ali's work is recognised to have helped thousands of Asian

s to migrate, settle and find employment in United Kingdom, Britain. He organised rallies and meetings with the likes of the Trades Union Congress. He encouraged lascars and seamen to remain and settle in the United Kingdom. In the 1950s, he founded the Overseas Seamen's Welfare Association which campaigned distressed seamen and their families to be granted British passports. Ali also played an instrumental role in the opening of a passport office in his own home in Sylhet.

Asian migration from East Africa

Beginning around 1964 Africanization policies in East Africa prompted the arrival of Asians with British passports from Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. At first these were the people employed in government and administrative roles, but this was expanded to include those Asians engaged in commerce. The movement was called the "Exodus". In 1972, all South Asians were Expulsion of Asians from Uganda, expelled from Uganda by the controversial figure Idi Amin, then president of Uganda. Those holding British passports came to Britain. Many such displaced people who were predominantly of

i origins had left behind successful businesses and vast commercial empires in Uganda, but built up their lives all over again in Britain, starting from scratch. Some of these "twice-over" migrants became retailers, while others found suitable employment in white-collar professions. The Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1962 and Immigration Act 1971 largely restricted any further primary immigration, although family members of already-settled migrants were still allowed. In addition, much of the subsequent growth in the South Asian community has come from the births of second and third-generation South Asian Britons.

Notable contributions

Arts and entertainment

Several Asian Britons have broken into the UK film industry, as well as Hollywood, and the U.S. film industry at large; starring in high-grossing box office films, including major film series, and receiving subsequent international recognition and media attention. In television, prominent roles in American sitcoms, series, and long-running British soap operas, such as ''Coronation Street'', ''EastEnders'', ''Emmerdale'' and ''Hollyoaks'', have all had a number of Asian characters portrayed by British actors of Asian heritage. Tsai Chin (actress), Tsai Chin, the first Asian British actress to play a Bond girl, appeared in 1967's ''You Only Live Twice (film), You Only Live Twice'' and the 2006 re-make of ''Casino Royale (2006 film), Casino Royale''. Burt Kwouk, who appeared in over fifty films, including three of the Production of the James Bond films, James Bond film series, received an Order of the British Empire, OBE for services to drama in 2010. Art Malik had notable roles in ''The Jewel in the Crown (TV series), The Jewel in the Crown'' and ''The Living Daylights'', and Sir Ben Kingsley (born Krishna Pandit Bhanji) is one of Britain's most acclaimed and well-known performers. Kingsley is one of few actors to have won all four major motion picture acting awards, receiving Academy Awards, Oscar, British Academy Film Awards, BAFTA, Golden Globe Awards, Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Awards, Screen Actors Guild awards throughout his career, including the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in ''Gandhi (film), Gandhi'' (1982). The actor Dev Patel, who played the role of Anwar Kharral in the teen drama series ''Skins (British TV series), Skins'', portrayed the leading role in Danny Boyle's ''Slumdog Millionaire'', for which he received several awards and was nominated for the 62nd British Academy Film Awards, 2009 BAFTA Award for BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role, Best Leading Actor. Parminder Nagra, who played a prominent role in the US TV series ''ER (TV series), ER'', starred in successful British film ''Bend It Like Beckham'' (2002). The actor Naveen Andrews plays the role of Sayid Jarrah in the popular US TV series ''Lost (TV series), Lost'', and also had a prominent role in the award-winning film ''The English Patient (film), The English Patient'' (1996). Kunal Nayyar plays the character of Raj Koothrappali in the popular US sitcom, ''The Big Bang Theory''. Gemma Chan and Benedict Wong have featured in the Marvel Cinematic Universe franchise. Chan has had two starring roles in both 2019's ''Captain Marvel (film), Captain Marvel'' and ''Eternals (film), Eternals'' (2021), making her the first actress to portray separate characters within the cinematic universe. Wong, who has also appeared in two Ridley Scott films (''Prometheus (2012 film), Prometheus'' and ''The Martian (film), The Martian''), first appeared for a Marvel production in 2016's ''Doctor Strange (2016 film), Doctor Strange'', twice reprising the role for ''Avengers: Infinity War'' (2018) and ''Avengers: Endgame, Endgame'' (2019), the latter of which is the highest grossing release in film history. Riz Ahmed has starred in both the ''Bourne (film series), Bourne'' film series and ''Star Wars'' saga, appearing in anthology film ''Rogue One''. ''Star Wars'', Marvel's ''The Avengers (film series), The Avengers'', the Bourne and Production of the James Bond films, James Bond film series are some of the highest-grossing film franchises of all time.

Art and design

Anish Kapoor is an Indian-born British sculptor. Born in Mumbai, Kapoor has lived and worked in London since the early 1970s when he moved to study art, first at the Hornsey College of Art and later at the Chelsea College of Art and Design. Kapoor received the Turner Prize in 1991. Poulomi Desai, born in Hackney, London is a photographer and List of sound artists, sound artist working with noise and electricity since the 1980s. She is an Oram Awards winner and curator of Usurp Art. Born in London and of Asian origin, Shezad Dawood became known for this work in various media in the early 2000s. Also born in London and of Pakistani origin, Haroon Mirza emerged as an artist in the late 2000s. Best known for his sculptural installations that generate sound, Mirza was awarded the Silver Lion for the Most Promising Artist at the 54th Venice Biennale in 2011. Shahidul Alam is a Bangladeshi photojournalist, teacher and social activist. He has been a photographer for more than forty years and "his photographs have been published in almost every major western media outlet". Saiman Miah is an architectural designer and graphic designer who designed one of the two £5 commemorative coins for the 2012 Summer Olympics marketing#Coins, 2012 London Summer Olympics. Theatre company RIFCO Arts has been producing and touring productions based on the British Asian experience since 1999.

Literature

Well-known South Asian writers include Muhammad Mojlum Khan, Abdur Rouf Choudhury, Aminul Hoque (writer), Aminul Hoque, Shahida Rahman, H.S. Bhabra,

, Ghulam Murshid, Tahir Shah, Gurinder Chadha, Nazrin Choudhury, Rekha Waheed, Hanif Kureishi, Monica Ali, Meera Syal, Gautam Malkani, Bali Rai and Raman Mundair.

Music

Since the 1970s, South Asian performers and writers have achieved significant mainstream cultural success. The first South Asian musician to gain wide popularity in the UK and worldwide fame was Queen (band), Queen lead singer Freddie Mercury, born Farrokh Bulsara in Zanzibar, East Africa, to parents of Parsis, Parsi descent from Mumbai, Bombay (now Mumbai). In 2006, ''Time (magazine), Time Asia'' magazine voted him as one of the most influential South Asian people, Asians in the past 60 years. At around the same time, music producer, composer and songwriter Biddu gained worldwide fame for a number of hit songs, including "Kung Fu Fighting" by Carl Douglas and "I Love to Love (But My Baby Loves to Dance)" for Tina Charles (singer), Tina Charles. In the 1990s the South Asian artists who gained mainstream success included Apache Indian, whose 1993 single "Boom Shack-A-Lak" was used in many Hollywood (film industry), Hollywood movies, and Jas Mann, who headed Babylon Zoo and whose 1996 single "Spaceman (Babylon Zoo song), Spaceman" set a UK chart record when it sold 418,000 copies in its first week of release. The most successful South Asian musician in 2008 was the British Tamil artist M.I.A. (rapper), M.I.A., who was nominated for two Grammy Awards for her single "Paper Planes (M.I.A. song), Paper Planes", and has been nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Score for "O... Saya", from the Slumdog Millionaire: Music from the Motion Picture, ''Slumdog Millionaire'' soundtrack. In 2009, R&B and hip-hop artist, Mumzy Stranger, became the first British Bangladeshi to release a music single; titled "One More Dance". In October 2009, Jay Sean's single "Down (Jay Sean song), Down" reached the #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and sold four million copies in the United States, making him the first South Asian-origin solo artist and "the first UK Urban contemporary, Urban act to top ''Billboard''s Hot 100," "the most successful male UK urban artist in US chart history," and the most successful List of Billboard Hot 100 number-ones by British artists, British male artist in the US charts since Elton John in 1997. A new generation of British Asian musicians have followed such as Raxstar, Bilal and Nish. In the early 2010s, Asian boy band members, Siva Kaneswaran of the Wanted and Zayn Malik of One Direction, have gained considerable mainstream popularity worldwide; the Wanted reached No. 3 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 with "Glad You Came" while One Direction topped the Billboard 200, ''Billboard'' 200 with ''Up All Night (One Direction album), Up All Night''. British Bangladeshi YouTuber-turned-rapper Koomz is best known for his breakthrough single "Mariah" which has hit over 10 million streams and views across many platforms and also Number 1 in the Official Asian Music Chart of 2018.

Charity and interfaith

There is a growing number of young British Asians who are making a mark in the charity and interfaith sectors. A recent example is Onkardeep Singh who became the youngest person of South Asian heritage in 2018 to be awarded an Order of the British Empire, MBE for his interfaith and voluntary works. Saif Uddin Ahmad is a humanitarian and chief executive officer of Al-Khair Foundation. He was formerly the chief executive officer of the UK charities Muslim Aid and Islamic Help, and he also founded the charities Faith Regen foundation, MADE in Europe and Global One 2015. Socially responsible investing, Responsible investment consultant and writer, Niaz Alam was a trustee of the charity War on Want from 2000 to 2007.

Sports

Mohammed Salim (Indian footballer) having feet bandaged at Celtic FC, 1936 photograph

Mohammed Salim (footballer), Mohammed Salim of Bengal became the first South Asian to play for a European football club in 1936.Breck, A. ''Alan Breck's Book of Scottish Football''. Scottish Daily Express, 1937, cited in See also, In his two appearances for Celtic F.C., he played the entire matches barefoot and scored several goals. Anwar Uddin began his career at West Ham United, where he joined the winning team of the FA Youth Cup Finals of the 1990s#1998–99: West Ham United v. Coventry (3–0 and 6–0, 9–0 Aggregate), 1999 FA Youth Cup Finals. In May 2015, he was appointed manager of Sporting Bengal United F.C., Sporting Bengal United. Aston Villa F.C., Aston Villa defender, Neil Taylor (footballer), Neil Taylor and Leicester City F.C., Leicester City midfielder Hamza Choudhury are the first players of Bengali descent to play in the Premier League. Choudhury has also made appearances for the England national under-21 football team, England under-21 team. Michael Chopra played for the England national under-21 football team and became the first Association football, footballer of Indian descent to play and score in the Premier League. In 2006 he scored one of the fastest goals in Premier League history, as Chopra had only been on the pitch for fifteen seconds after coming on as a substitute. Jawaid Khaliq, the first world champion boxer of

i origin, was born in Nottingham. Amir Khan (boxer), Amir Khan, born in Bolton, won a silver medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens and went on to become a world light-welterweight boxing champion. Bulbul Hussain of Whitechapel is a wheelchair rugby player of Bengali origin, and he has been a part of the Great Britain at the Paralympics, Great Paralympic Team since 2008. Just as in South Asia, the most popular sport among the British Asian community is cricket; as much as third of the players of the sport at recreational level are of South Asian descent. This has not translated into equal levels of success professionally however, with only 4.2% of cricketers being of British South Asian descent in first-class cricket across the UK. Regardless, many British South Asians have gone on to represent England cricket team, England in cricket internationally. Nasser Hussain, who was the captain of the England cricket team, was born in Madras, India. Other success stories of the past have included Mark Ramprakash, of Indo-Caribbeans, Indo-Caribbean descent, Isa Guha, of Bengalis, Bengali descent, and Monty Panesar, of Indian Sikh descent. Currently, Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid are the only players in the England men's squad, both of Pakistani (Mipuri) descent. Other British Asian sport personalities: * Akaash Bhatia * Haroon Khan * Vikram Solanki * Qasim Nisar * Imran Khan (kickboxer), Imran Khan * Tanveer Ahmed (boxer), Tanveer Ahmed * Sajid Mahmood * Saqlain Mushtaq * Adam Khan * Dimitri Mascarenhas * Ravi Bopara * Kabir Ali * Owais Shah * Kadeer Ali * Hamza Riazuddin * Min Patel * Samit Patel * Riaz Amin * Adil Rashid * Zesh Rehman * Bilal Shafayat * Harpal Singh * Anwar Uddin * Usman Afzaal * Adnan Ahmed * Hammad Miah * Nayan Doshi * Majid Haq * Ronnie Irani * Omer Hussain * Tosh Masson * Kash Gill * Netan Sansara * Mandip Sehmi * Rikki Bains * Rajiv Ouseph * Ali Jacko * Bulbul Hussain * Ruqsana Begum * Zubair Hoque

Celebrities in popular culture

The comedians Sanjeev Bhaskar, Meera Syal, Papa CJ and Shazia Mirza are all well-recognised figures in British popular culture. The presenter and match maker of the BBC marriage arranging show ''Arrange Me a Marriage'' is a South Asian-Scot Aneela Rahman. Hardeep Singh Kohli is a presenter, reporter and comedian on British television and radio. British Bangladeshi, Pakistani and Indian contestants have appeared on ''The Apprentice (British TV series), The Apprentice'' including Syed Ahmed (businessman), Syed Ahmed, Tre Azam, Lohit Kalburgi, Ghazal Asif, Shazia Wahab, Sara Dhada, and most notably Saira Khan, who is now a British TV presenter. The broadcasters Daljit Dhaliwal, Krishnan Guru-Murthy and Samira Ahmed are known for working on ''Channel 4 News''. Save The World Awards 2009 show24 - Suleman Mirza and Madhu Singh

Save The World Awards 2009 show24 - Suleman Mirza and Madhu Singh

In 2008, in the Britain's Got Talent (series 2), second series of reality television ''Britain's Got Talent'', one of the country's most successful reality television shows, the South Asian dance duo Signature (dance group), Signature, consisting of Suleman Mirza (a British Pakistani) and Madhu Singh (a British Indian) performing a fusion of Michael Jackson and Bhangra (music), Bhangra music and dance styles, came second on the show. Humza Arshad and Ali Shahalom are well known British Asian comedians for their YouTube careers which normally consists of stereotyping Pakistani, Bangladeshi and Muslim culture. In 2011, one of Humza Arshad's video was the seventh most viewed on YouTube in

. British Bangladeshi comedian Ali Shahalom, along with British Pakistani comedian Aatif Nawaz, starred on BBC's first ever British Muslim sketch show, Muzlamic.

Cultural influence

Asian business leader showcasing his awards at the Asian Professional Awards

Economic

In 2001, the Centre for Social Markets estimated that British Asian businesses contributed more than £5 billion to GDP. Many British Asians are regarded as affluent middle-class people. As business owners and entrepreneurs, Asian Britons are celebrated for revolutionising the corner shop, expanding the take-away food trade, including the revitalisation of the UK's fish and chips industry by

, and energising the British economy to a degree which changed Britain's antiquated retail laws forever. In 2004, it was reported that Sikhs had the highest percentage of home ownership in the country, at 82%, out of all UK religious communities. Hindus ranked third highest at 74%, Buddhists were 54%, and Muslims households were listed at 52%. Many Asian British people have made important contributions to the country's economy by leading and innovating in major UK and international industries. Due to their commercial success, there are a number of British citizens or UK-resident billionaires of Asian ancestry in the United Kingdom. From a Baniya family, Lakshmi Mittal is one of Britain's richest men. In 2017, ''Forbes'' ranked him as the 56th-richest person in the world with a net worth of US$20.4 billion. He is also the "57th-most powerful person" of the 72 individuals named in ''Forbes "Most Powerful People" list for 2015. The ''Sunday Times Rich List'' has included Mittal in its listings since the mid-2000s. For several years, the publication has had an ''Asian Rich List'' section, featuring the wealthiest Asian Britons and UK-residents of Asian descent. In 2019, eight of the top ten, including Mittal, were of a South Asian ethnic background, including Indian-born Briton S. P. Hinduja, of Sindhi people, Sindhi heritage, who topped the rankings via the Hinduja Group, with an estimated fortune of £22 billion. Exceptions included British nationals David and Simon Reuben, who were both born in India, and were listed in joint-second place. The Reuben brothers, of West Asian Baghdadi Jewish heritage, are worth over £18 billion. Part of the top ten since 2018, property magnate, and London-resident, Samuel Tak Lee is of East Asian descent and born in British Hong Kong. Other 2019 ''Asian Rich List'' UK billionaires included British-Iraqi Nadhmi Auchi and British-Iranian Farhad Moshiri.

Food

The biggest influence of South Asians on popular British culture has probably been the spread of Indian cuisine, though of the 9,000 Indian restaurants in the UK, most are run by Sylhetis; their Sylhet Division, ancestral home was part of British India until Partition of India, partition in 1947. An early record of a Sylheti migrant, by the name of Saeed Ullah, can be found in colonial officer Robert Lindsay (Sylhet), Robert Lindsay's autobiography. Saeed Ullah was said to have migrated not only for work but also to attack Lindsay and avenge his Sylheti elders for the Muharram Rebellion of 1782. They eventually made peace with each other and Saeed was invited to Lindsay's home as a chef. Saeed Ullah's curry is often considered as the first Indian curry cooked in Britain. Shah Abdul Majid Qureshi is said to be the first Sylhetis, Sylheti to open a restaurant in the country. It was called ''Dilkush Delight'' and located in Soho. Another one of his restaurants, known as ''India Centre'', alongside early Sylheti migrant Ayub Ali Master's Shah Jalal cafe, became hub for the British Asian community and was sites where the India League would hold meetings attracting influential figures such as Subhas Chandra Bose, V. K. Krishna Menon, Krishna Menon and Mulk Raj Anand. Ali was an influential figure who supported working-class lascars, providing them food and shelter. In 1943, Qureshi and Ali founded the ''Indian Seamen's Welfare League'' which ensured social welfare for British Asians. Ayub Ali was also the president of the All-India Muslim League, United Kingdom Muslim League having links with Liaquat Ali Khan and Muhammad Ali Jinnah. The Indian International Chef of the Year Competition founded in 1991 by celebrity chef and restaurateur Tommy Miah, Mohammad Ajman "Tommy" Miah MBE. The British Curry Awards was founded by restaurateur Enam Ali Member of the British Empire, MBE in 2005.

Performing arts

Like India, Bhangra music has become popular among many in Britain not only from the works of List of British Asian people#Music, British South Asian musicians such as Panjabi MC, Swami (band), Swami and Rishi Rich but also incorporated into the works of a number of non-South Asian musicians not only British but including North American artists such as Canadian Shania Twain, who created a whole alternate version of her multi-platinum album ''Up! (album), Up!'' with full Indian instrumentation, produced by South Asian producers Simon & Diamond. Diamond, better known as DJ Swami has also collaborated with rapper Pras, of the Fugees, and his band Swami (band), Swami have become one of the most renowned acts in South Asian music history, having had songs in major Hollywood movies and best-selling video games. One of the first artists of South Asian Indian origin to achieve mainstream success was Apache Indian who infused reggae and hip hop with Indian popular music to create a sound that transcended genre and found a multicultural audience. He is the only Indian artist to have achieved 7 top forty hits in the National UK charts. A subsequent wave of "Asian Underground" artists went on to blend elements of western underground dance music and the traditional music of their home countries, such as Nitin Sawhney, Talvin Singh, Asian Dub Foundation, Panjabi MC, Raghav, and the Rishi Rich Project (featuring Rishi Rich, Jay Sean and Juggy D). British Asian musicians combining Eastern and Western musical traditions

British Asian musicians combining Eastern and Western musical traditions

The influence of South Asian music has not only been from South Asians living in the UK, but also from some UK artists that were starting using South Asian instruments creating a new sound that was a mixture of sitars and tablas with more rock-based western instruments like drums and guitar.

Media

The films ''East Is East (1999 film), East Is East'', ''Chicken Tikka Masala'' and ''Bend It Like Beckham'' and the TV shows ''Goodness Gracious Me (TV series), Goodness Gracious Me'' and ''The Kumars at No. 42'' have managed to attract large, multi-ethnic audiences. The success and popularity of British Pakistani boxer Amir Khan (boxer), Amir Khan influenced the revival of boxing on ITV Sport. The Asian web series ''Corner Shop Show'' was launched by actor and director Islah Abdur-Rahman aired from 2014 to 2019. In 2020, BBC Four released an episode of ''A Very British History'' focusing on the History of Bangladeshis in the United Kingdom, history of British Bangladeshis and emigration from Bangladesh from the 1960s onwards, hosted by Dr Aminul Hoque (writer), Aminul Hoque. Although there are roughly double the number of South Asians in the UK today compared to people of African descent, South Asians are less represented in global and British media than any other major group; in the UK there is less than half the amount of South Asians represented in the media than those of African and Caribbean descent.

Awards and achievements

Organisers and Hosts of the Asian Professional Awards

With the increasing number of high achievers and trail blazers within the Asian community across a variety of professions, the British Asian community has over the years set up a variety of high-profile Award ceremonies to recognise Asian achievements across the full spectrum of professions and industries. These organisations and ceremonies include: * Asian Achievers Awards organised by ''Asian Voice'' since 2000 with women dominating the nominee list for the first time in 2017 * Asian Women of Achievement Awards organised by Pinky Lilani CBE DL since 1999 * Asian Legal Awards organised by the Society for Asian Lawyers since 1994 making it one of the oldest Asian awards ceremonies * Asian Curry Awards celebrating the best of Asian cuisine, Asian restaurants since 2010 * The Asian Awards organised by the Lemon Group since 2010 and usually attended by a host of leading celebrities *The Asian Professional Awards organised by Jasvir Singh (barrister), Jasvir Singh OBE and Param Singh (entrepreneur), Param Singh since 2014 aimed at celebrating success within the City professions * The British Curry Awards founded by restaurateur Enam Ali Member of the British Empire, MBE in 2005. * Indian International Chef of the Year Competition founded in 1991 by celebrity chef and restaurateur Tommy Miah, Mohammad Ajman "Tommy" Miah Member of the Order of the British Empire, MBE.

Social and political issues

Discrimination and racism

British Asians from a wide range of backgrounds have faced discrimination and racism since the second half of the twentieth century. There have been examples of abuse faced by British Asians and their communities, dating from the 1960s up until the 2020s. Following

's Rivers of Blood speech, and the establishment of the National Front (UK), National Front in the late 1960s, the South Asian community in particular faced racial discrimination. This included overt racism in the form of Paki bashing, predominantly from white power skinheads, the National Front, and the National Party (UK, 1976), National Party, throughout the 1970s and 1980s. British Asians have been historically subjected to forms of discrimination and racism since significant immigration into the UK during the 20th century. Drawing inspiration from the civil rights movement, the Black Power movement, and the Internal resistance to apartheid, South African anti-Apartheid Movement, young British Asian activists began a number of Anti-racism, anti-racist Asian youth movements in the 1970s and 1980s, including the Bradford Youth Movement in 1977, the Battle of Brick Lane following the murder of Altab Ali in 1978, and the Newham Monitoring Project, Newham Youth Movement following the murder of Akhtar Ali Baig in 1980. According to the UK's Hate crime in the United Kingdom, hate crime statistics, during the Covid-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom, coronavirus pandemic hate crimes directed at both South and East Asian communities increased between two and three-fold. A 2020 YouGov survey found that 61 percent of Asians (under the label "Other Asian") had experienced being called a List of racial slurs, racial slur, with

in particular, self-reporting being racially abused at 76 percent.

LGBT communities

There have been reports and examples of cultural difficulties with tolerance for LGBT people within some Asian British communities. ITV News has reported: "For many in the Asian Community the fear of stigma or rejection from family leads them to hide their true self and in extreme cases turn to alcoholism, drugs and even suicide". In 1987, pioneers, Shivanandan Khan and Poulomi Desai co-founded Shakt, Timeline of South Asian and diasporic LGBT history, the first South Asian LGBTQ campaigning group in Europe. In 2014, Nazim Mahmood, a British Asian medical doctor working in Harley Street, committed suicide after being advised to "seek a cure" for his sexuality by his parents. As a result of Mahmood's suicide, the Naz and Matt Foundation was created, as a charity to challenge homophobia caused by religious and cultural beliefs. In 2017, it was reported how gay Asian Britons were "forced into heterosexual marriages" by cultural and religious pressure. As a result, some were actively finding other gay members of the opposite sex for, what the BBC described as, "marriages of convenience". In 2018, the BBC reported how British comedy-drama series ''Ackley Bridge'' had challenged "the taboo and divisive subject of homosexuality" in British Asian society. The broadcaster also reported how a ComRes survey showed that Asian British people, of all ages, appeared to hold "more socially conservative views on gay relationships". According to a survey by the charity Stonewall (charity), Stonewall, more than 50 percent of Asian Britons who identified as LGBT had faced discrimination. In 2019, the BBC documented the struggle for gay men to find acceptance in the UK's British Punjabis, Punjabi Sikh community. ITV News has reported on similar difficulties for gay Sikhs living in Rochdale. In 2020, British actress Jameela Jamil, describing herself as "queer", stated that "it's not easy within the south Asian community to be accepted".

References

External links

BBC Radio Player
discussion on the dissatisfaction over the term Asian
hWeb – An outline of the immigration pattern of the Pakistani community in BritainBBC News Many Asians 'do not feel British'
30 July 2007 based on ICM Research poll conducted 4–12 July 2007
Reassessing what we collect website – The Asian Community in London
History of Asian London with objects and images {{DEFAULTSORT:South Asians in the United Kingdom Asian diaspora in the United Kingdom, British people of South Asian descent, British people of East Asian descent, British people of Asian descent