Population Growth 

Until 1962 there were no restrictions on Commonwealth citizens taking up residence in the UK, but since then ever-tighter immigration controls have been imposed. Nevertheless, Britain's South Asian population has grown rapidly in size during the course of the past four decades.

THE GROWTH OF BRITAIN'S SOUTH ASIAN POPULATION: 1961 - 1991

Country of birth/ethnicity	1961	1971	1981	1991	2001
India	81,400	240,730	673,704	823,821	1,028,539
Pakistan	24,900	127,565	295,461	449,646	706,752
Bangladesh	-	-	64,572	157,881	275,250
East Africa	-	44,860	181,321	-	-
Total South Asian population	106,300	413,155	1,215,048	1,431,348	2,010,541
South Asians as a % of U.K. population	0.23%	0.85%	2.52%	3.04%	4.00%

There are many reasons for this rapid growth. Most of the initial settlers were young men. Once they had established themselves in Britain, they were joined by their wives and then had families. During the past decade their children have themselves reached adulthood, and a significant proportion - especially in the case of those of Pakistani and Bangladeshi descent - are still finding their spouses back home. Hence, for obvious demographic reasons, Britain's South Asian population will continue to increase for several decades to come.

The Asian population in Britain, however, is not representative of Asia itself. The subcontinent is a big place. Its current population is around 1.5 billion, or 20% of the world's population. Those who have settled in Britain originated from a small number of geographical regions, largely determined by the origins of the initial pioneers who came to Britain many decades ago.

We can now add a further religious dimension. A new question on religious beliefs, added to the 2001 Census, revealed that Britain's population now includes 552,421 Hindus and 329,358 Sikhs, virtually all of whom are Indian.

Process of elimination suggests that most of the remaining 146,760 British Indians are Muslim by faith. The overwhelming majority of Britain's Pakistanis and Bangladeshis are also Muslim. However, Britain has a 1,546,626 strong Muslim population, which suggests that around a third of them are not of South Asian origin.

However these various combinations of religion and nationality are not in themselves enough to help us understand the multiplicity of communities and sub-communities into which South Asian settlers have crystallised.

Creators: Dr. Roger Ballard
source: http://www.movinghere.org.uk