Kenyan migration to the United Kingdom has been occurring for many decades. As a result, many people in the UK were born in

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

, or have Kenyan ancestry. Many Kenyan people who migrated to the UK are of South Asian extraction.

Background

Most Kenyans in the UK are ethnically

South Asia South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The region consists of the countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.;;;;;;;; ...

n Kenyans who, like those in Uganda, were expelled during the late 1960s and early 1970s. This community has a substantial cluster in Leicester and London. The most recent growth may now be coming from ethnically African Kenyans, mirroring wider trends across the continent of economic migration to the richer industrialised nations. There are also a small number of Kenyan-born people who are the children of British civil servants based there before the end of the Empire.

Demographics

The

2001 UK Census A nationwide census, known as Census 2001, was conducted in the United Kingdom on Sunday, 29 April 2001. This was the 20th UK census and recorded a resident population of 58,789,194. The 2001 UK census was organised by the Office for National ...

recorded 129,633 Kenyan-born British residents. The 2011 census recorded 135,966 Kenyan-born people resident in England, 1,526 in Wales, 2,743 in Scotland and 301 in

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

, making a UK total of 140,536. The equivalent UK figure in 2019 has been estimated at 121,000 by 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 th ...

. The largest proportion of Kenyan-born British residents are found in the capital,

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, where around half of the Kenyan-born population in Britain resides. There are also significant populations in the

South East The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...

and the

East Midlands The East Midlands is one of nine official regions of England at the first level of ITL for statistical purposes. It comprises the eastern half of the area traditionally known as the Midlands. It consists of Leicestershire, Derbyshire, Li ...

Famous Britons born in Kenya

Academia, medicine and science

Richard Dawkins Richard Dawkins (born 26 March 1941) is a British evolutionary biologist and author. He is an emeritus fellow of New College, Oxford and was Professor for Public Understanding of Science in the University of Oxford from 1995 to 2008. An ath ...

, ethologist, biologist, writer *

Azim Nanji Professor Azim Nanji is a Kenyan-born professor of Islamic studies. From 1998 until 2008, he served as Director of The Institute of Ismaili Studies in London, England. At present, he is the Senior Associate Director of the Abbasi Program in Islam ...

, academic *

Alan Rayner Alan Rayner (born 1950) is a British biologist and educator. Biography Rayner was born in Nairobi, Kenya, as the youngest of two children. His mother was the Deputy Mayor of Nairobi and his father was a Plant Pathologist, working on coffee rust ...

, biologist * Sir Nilesh Samani, physician * Sir Tejinder Virdee, physicist *

Chris Froome Christopher Clive Froome ɹɪs fɹuːm (born 20 May 1985) is a Kenyan/British Road bicycle racing, road racing cyclist who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam . He has won seven Grand Tour (cycling), Grand Tours: four editions of the Tour de ...

, Professional cyclist

Business, law and politics

* Michael Bear, former

Lord Mayor of London The Lord Mayor of London is the mayor of the City of London and the leader of the City of London Corporation. Within the City, the Lord Mayor is accorded precedence over all individuals except the sovereign and retains various traditional powe ...

* Peter Hain, former

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

MP, cabinet minister and currently member of the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...

Baroness Prashar Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often Hereditary title, hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher th ...

, businesswoman * Lord Sheikh, businessman, Conservative politician

Music and the arts

* Khadambi Asalache, poet *

Kamara Bacchus Kamara Nadine Bacchus (born 11 January 1986) is a British actress and radio personality. Biography Her debut acting role was in the ITV police drama ''The Bill'' she then went on to play roles in the CBBC sitcom ''Kerching!'' followed by roles in ...

, actress *

Kuljit Bhamra Kuljit Bhamra MBE Hon DMus (born 1959) is a British composer, record producer and musician whose main instrument is the tabla. He is best known as one of the record producers who pioneered the British Bhangra sound and for his many collaborati ...

, musician * Gurinder Chadha, film director *

Nitin Ganatra Nitin Chandra Ganatra (born 30 June 1967) is a Kenyan-born British actor. He is known for portraying Masood Ahmed in the BBC soap opera, ''EastEnders''. Early and personal life Ganatra was born on 30 June 1967 in Kenya. Both sides of Ganatra's ...

, actor * Kulvinder Ghir, comedian * Tania Harcourt-Cooze, model and actress * Elspeth Huxley, author, journalist, broadcaster *

Viram Jasani Viram Jasani (born 1945) is a Kenyan-born Indian sitar and tabla composer and musician. He is best known for playing tabla drums on the song "Black Mountain Side" from Led Zeppelin's 1969 debut album. He was awarded an honorary degree from the ...

, musician *

Michael Kuhn Michael Ashton Kuhn (born 1949) is a Kenyan-born British film producer based primarily in the United Kingdom. Career Kuhn was born in 1949 in Nairobi, Kenya. At age 13, he traveled to the UK to study at Dover College and then read law at Clar ...

, film producer *

Charles Mnene Charles Mnene (born 11 December 1985) is a British film, television and stage actor. Mnene's television appearances include guest roles in ''The Bill'', '' Holby City'', '' Doctors'' and the drama '' Ahead of the Class'', with Julie Walters, p ...

, actor *

Deep Roy Gurdeep Roy (born Mohinder Purba; 1 December 1957), known professionally as Deep Roy, is a Kenyan-British actor, puppeteer, and stuntman. At tall, he has often been cast as diminutive characters, such as Teeny Weeny in ''The NeverEnding Story' ...

, actor, stuntman * Roger Whittaker, musician *

Imran Yusuf Imran Yusuf (born 26 November 1979) is a Kenyan-born British stand-up comedian of Indian Konkani Muslim descent, who has appeared on various British radio and TV comedy shows. Early life and career Yusuf was born in Mombasa, Kenya to ethnic India ...

, comedian *

Adrian Zagoritis Adrian Dimitri Andrew ZagoritisAdrian Zag
online biography., Discogs.com (born 27 Sept ...

, music producer and songwriter

Sport

* Roger Chapman, golfer *

Jamie Dalrymple James William Murray Dalrymple (born 21 January 1981) is a Kenyan-born former English cricketer, who played ODIs and T20Is for England. He is a right-handed batsman and off-spin bowler. He is perhaps best known for taking a spectacular diving ...

, cricketer *

, racing cyclist *

Rajesh Maru Rajesh Jamandass Maru (born 28 October 1962 in Nairobi, Kenya) is a Kenyan-born English cricket coach and former cricketer. Maru was a right-handed batsman who bowled slow left-arm orthodox spin. Maru was born at Nairobi in October 1962. He mo ...

, cricketer *

Derek Pringle Derek Raymond Pringle (born 18 September 1958) is an English former Test and One Day International cricketer for England, and is now a cricket journalist. Life and career Pringle was born in Nairobi, Kenya. His father Donald Pringle, who had ...

, cricketer * Peter Thackeray, cricketer *

Curtis Osano Curtis Osano (born 8 March 1987) is a Kenyan footballer who plays as a defender, most recently for Farnborough. Career Early years Born in Nakuru, Kenya, Osano moved to England aged nine when his father joined the British Army. However, he did ...

, footballer *

Victor Wanyama Victor Mugubi Wanyama (; born 25 June 1991) is a Kenyan professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for Major League Soccer club CF Montréal and the Kenyan national team. Wanyama became the first ever Kenyan player to scor ...

, footballer * Simon Shaw, rugby union player *

Anne Wafula Strike Anne Wafula Strike MBE (born 8 May 1969) is a Harlow-based British Paralympic wheelchair racer. Wafula Strike was born in Mihuu in Bungoma, Kenya, and contracted polio at the age of two, resulting in a later Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital ...

, wheelchair racing

References

External links

*Kenyan Immigration to the United Kingdom by country of origin {{ethno-group-stub