MulticulturalismIn The United Kingdom

Definition of multiculturalism

"Multiculturalism" is the co-existence of diverse cultures, where culture includes racial, religious, or cultural groups and is

manifested in customary behaviours, cultural assumptions and values, patterns

of thinking, and communicative styles.

People of the UK

Immigrants

Population of the UK

Country of birthPopulation

(2001 census)Population

(2011 OSN Estimate)

United Kingdom 53,923,642 54,233,000

India 467,634 729,000

Poland 60,711 643,000

Republic of Ireland 533,901 457,000

Pakistan 321,167 457,000

Germany 266,136 297,000

David Cameron declared that the doctrine of multiculturalism has “failed”

In February 2011, David Cameron held a speech on multiculturalism at the Munich Security

Conference. In his speech he criticised "state multiculturalism" claiming it had failed and

arguing that the UK needed a stronger national identity to prevent people from turning to all kinds of extremism. The speech created a row

and angered some Muslim groups, while others questioned its timing amid an English Defence

League rally in the UK.

Do you think England is a multicultural country?

• 'In the cities and large towns – yes, because larger populations mean greater cultural diversity. Rural populations can still be very insular and unwelcoming though.'

• 'Yes – there are people from all over the world living in England.'

• 'I do – Manchester, for example, has large Chinese, Afro Caribbean and Indian/South Asian communities within it – plus the vibrant gay village in the city centre. Many cities in England have good mixes of cultures and lifestyles.'

• 'Yes, definitely. Our music, films, TV, radio, literature. The strong religious and cultural communities in cities. The number of 2nd and 3rd generation immigrants that no longer consider themselves immigrants.'

Pros & Cons of Multicultural UK

Pros• Pluralism contributes to the

cultural and economic vitality of GB

• Linguistic variety makes GB a preferred location

• Multicultural character of British food

• multinational companies

Cons• Members of ethnic minorities

experience a great number of social disadvantages

• Their children are more likely to need special help in education

• Unemployment is higher

• Racial discrimination

• Massive influx of asylum seekers, refugees and illegal immigrants

• Terrorist threat

Religion in the UKDespite falling numbers Christianity remains the largest religion

in England and Wales in 2011. Muslims are the next biggest religious group and have grown in the last decade. Meanwhile the proportion of the population who reported they have no

religion has now reached a quarter of the population. • In the 2011 Census, Christianity was the largest religion, with 33.2

million people (59.3 per cent). The second largest religious group were Muslims with 2.7 million people (4.8 per cent).

• 14.1 million people, around a quarter of the population in England and Wales, reported they have no religion in 2011.

• In 2011, London was the most diverse region with the highest proportion of people identifying themselves as Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu and Jewish. The North East and North West had the highest proportion of Christians and Wales had the highest proportion of people reporting no religion.

Religious affiliation, England and Wales, 2011

Census - Office for National Statistics

British HinduThe British Hindu population includes those who came directly from the Indian sub-continent, descendants of those Hindus who had originally migrated to other countries and those born and raised in the UK. It is not unusual to find third or fourth generation Hindus in the UK.

There have been three waves of migration of Hindus in the UK:

1. The first wave was before India's independence in 1947. In the early 1960s the Conservative Health Minister the recruited a large number of doctors from the Indian sub-continent

2. The second wave occurred in the 1970s mainly from East Africa. The later communities included those from Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, Mauritius and Fiji.

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

Islam and Muslims• Islam is the second largest religion in the country with results from

the United Kingdom Census 2011 suggesting that by 2011 the total Muslim population had reached 2.7 million, 4.8% of the total population. The vast majority of Muslims in the United Kingdom live in England and Wales

40% of England's Muslims live in London, where they make up more than 12.4% of the population.

East London Mosque & London Muslim Centre

Polish migrants

The 2001 UK Census recorded 60,711 Polish-born people resident in the UK. 60,680 of these were resident in Great Britain (the UK minus Northern Ireland), compared to 73,951 in 1991. With the

migration that has followed Poland's accession to the EU, the Polish-born population in the whole

of the UK is estimated to have risen to 515,000 in the year to March 2010. Unofficial estimates have put the number of Poles living in the UK higher, at

up to one million.

Polish-born people in employment in The UK

At the expansion of the EU including Poland on 1 May 2004, the UK granted free movement to workers from the new member states.

St/ John the evangelist R.C. Polish Church

St. Andrew Bobola Polish R.C. Church in London

The Polish University Abroad in London

Polish language and Cultureschool in Manchester