Ethnic diversity: more mixed than a century ago

Compared with a hundred years ago, the UK today is much more varied, both in people's ethnic backgrounds and in their religions. Because of immigration after the Second World War, nearly 10% of people have at least one parent or grandparent who was born abroad. The UK is a multinational, multiracial society whose culture is rich and varied.

People in the UK have family roots all over the world, and the mix is changing fast, especially in big cities such as London. That makes exact figures hard to pin down. In surveys, the group that most people choose is white. It covers people whose families came from Europe, America, Australia, Canada or New Zealand. Other large groups are of Asian, black and mixed descent.

Much of this mix goes back to the years after the Second World War. In 1948 the ship Empire Windrush brought the first large group of migrants from the Caribbean, and many more people later came from India, Pakistan and other countries (see Britain Since 1945). That is the story behind the "nearly 10%" of people with a parent or grandparent born abroad.

Chapter contents: The UK Today