Fact
File 
The
racial and religious diversity that is defining a nation
The
UK Newspaper "The Independent" reported on Friday
6th October 2006 that the most detailed map of ethnic and
religious diversity in Britain has been published, showing
where different groups live - and how Muslim minorities
in particular are at a disadvantage.
Analysis
by the Office for National Statistics - ONS (www.statistics.gov.uk)
of the 2001 census figures shows that the north-west London
borough of Brent is the most ethnically diverse area in
England and Wales. Ethnographers devised a "diversity index"
- based on the probability that any two people chosen at
random from a particular area would be from different ethnic
groups, even if neither of them were white.
In
Brent, the chance of doing so was 85 per cent. Just 29 per
cent of residents are white British, with Indians, black
Caribbeans and black Africans all heavily represented. That
compares to Easington in Co Durham, where there is a 2 per
cent chance, making it the least diverse place in the country.
On average, two people bumping into each other in the street
stand a 23 per cent chance of having different ethnic backgrounds.
In some areas, more than 70 per cent of residents are from
an ethnic minority.
The
2001 census was the first in the history of the UK census
whereby the 2001 survey asked people to state their religion
as part of an effort to get a more detailed demographic
picture of the world peoplelive in.
Using
the same diversity index calculations, the Office for National
Statistics - ONS found that the London borough of Harrow
was the most religiously diverse, with a more than 60 per
cent chance that someone standing next to you will not share
the same faith. Mapping also showed that people from the
same religions and ethnic groups moved to the same areas.
Indian Hindus tended to live in different regions from Indian
Sikhs. In some areas, such as Leicester, Birmingham, Bradford
and Manchester, three-quarters of the population are non-white
and non-Christian, despite the fact that this ethno-religious
group accounts for 70 per cent of England and Wales as a
whole.
England
and Wales ethnicity:
Detailed
analysis of ethnic minorities also shows how many are now
second, third or fourth generation immigrants. More than
half (57 per cent) of black Caribbeans were born in the
UK, alongside 55 per cent of Pakistanis, 46 per cent of
Bangladeshis and 45 per cent of Indians. The report also
shows how, outside major cities, many areas remain predominantly
white British.
Seven
per cent of local authority areas are classed as being "highly
ethnically diverse" - based on the idea that there is a
more than 50 per cent chance that two random people will
be from different backgrounds. Fewer - 3 per cent - are
classed as being highly religiously diverse, on the same
calculation.
Black
African Muslim men suffer most from the deprivation gap,
with rates of unemployment three times higher than white
British men. The new data shows that black African Muslims
are also twice as likely as Indian Muslims to be unemployed.
In turn, Indian Muslims are far more likely to be jobless
than Sikhs or Hindus, suggesting that it is religion, rather
than race, that is key.
