Matt Tong, Myleene Klass, Kazuo Ishiguro,
Bottom row:Vanessa-Mae, Herman Li, Gok Wan
est. 1,400,000 (2.33% of the UK population)
| East Asians in the United Kingdom |
|---|
|
| Top row: Matt Tong, Myleene Klass, Kazuo Ishiguro, Bottom row:Vanessa-Mae, Herman Li, Gok Wan |
| Total population |
|
est. 1,400,000 (2.33% of the UK population) |
| Regions with significant populations |
| London, Liverpool, Manchester, Oxford, Cambridge, Glasgow, Edinburgh |
| Languages |
| British English, Chinese, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Malay, Tagalog, Thai, Vietnamese, and many others |
| Religion |
| Buddhism, Christianity, East Asian religions, Islam, Non-religious, others |
| Related ethnic groups |
| Asians |
Since the 17th century, there have been East Asian people in the United Kingdom. Today, such people are described as Chinese or other in the British census, and primarily originate from countries such as Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, the People's Republic of China, the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam. Although they originate from Asia, these people are not classed as British Asians because in United Kingdom common and official usage, Asian almost exclusively refers to people from South Asia, such as those from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka.
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The first settlement of Chinese people in the United Kingdom dates from the early 19th century. In particular were port cities such as Liverpool and London; particularly the Limehouse area in East London, where the first Chinatown was established in the UK and Europe.[citation needed]
Today, most of the British Chinese are people or are descended from people who were themselves overseas Chinese when they entered the United Kingdom. The majority are from former British colonies, such as Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, and also other countries such as Vietnam. People from mainland China and Taiwan and their descendants constitute a relatively small proportion of the British Chinese community.
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| Population | |
| 500,000 | |
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| Population | |
| 145,000 | |
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| Population | |
| 200,000 | |
The United Kingdom only had a small population of Filipinos until the late 20th century. The number started to grow in the 1970’s when immigration restrictions on Commonwealth citizens meant that employers had to find workers from other countries. The National Health Service (NHS), hotel and catering industry and clothing manufacturers started to recruit Filipinos. According to the UK Department of Employment, 20,226 work permits were issued to Filipinos between 1968 and 1980. Some 47% of the work permits were issued for those who came to work in hospitals and welfare homes as hospital auxiliaries, catering workers and to nurse-trainees. The second biggest category of work permits were for chambermaids, followed by catering and waitering staff. The NHS started to recruit more Filipino nurses in the 1990s to make up a shortfall in local recruitment. A large number of Filipinos have also arrived as caregivers and work in public & private nursing homes.
 |
|
| Population | |
| 100,000 | |
The first Japanese settled in the 1960s, mainly for business and economic purposes. In recent decades this number has been growing; including immigrants, students, and businessmen. Parts of the United Kingdom, in particular London, have significant Japanese populations; such as Golders Green and East Finchley North London. There are approximately 100,000 British Japanese, mostly settled in London and the surrounding South East, forming the largest Japanese community in Europe.[citation needed]
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|
| Population | |
| 50,000[1] | |
Since immigration restrictions were relaxed in 1989, the British Korean population has grown rapidly to over 50,000, and most of them - some say as many as 20,000 - live in New Malden.[citation needed] Kingston and Merton are the two London boroughs with the largest Korean communities. There are also many Korean students living temporarily in the UK.[citation needed] In terms of culture, the Korean Festival is the one of the biggest festivals celebrating Korean Culture in Europe. The free annual event normally takes place on August and is organised by the Korean Residents Society. It takes place in Fairfield Recreation Ground in Kingston-upon-Thames (in south-west London).
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| Population | |
| 40,000 | |
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| Population | |
| 50,000 | |
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|
| Population | |
| 36,000 | |
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|
| Population | |
| 70,000 | |
Chinese
Filipinos
Japanese
Malaysians
Thais
Hongkongers
Singaporean
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