Our Multi-National, Multi-Cultural Country

~ beetleypete

I watched a report on the BBC about statistics for England and Wales regarding the numbers of people born outside those countries, but resident in them as of late 2021.
(Scotland was not included as it had not participated in the survey.)

I looked up some of the details available.

People born in India top the list, with a total of 920,000 born in India, but living in England or Wales.

760,000 people who were born in Poland also have a British passport, along with 539,000 people born in Romania.

EU nationals account for 36.4% of those born abroad, but living in England or Wales.

Between 2011 and 2021, the population of England and Wales rose by over 3,000,000 as a result of foreign-born migrants, according to the Office of National Statistics.

Other nationalities in the top five include Pakistan, and Ireland. Total numbers of foreign-born residents now exceed 10,000,000, almost 14% of the population.

Over 35% of all foreign-born nationals living in England and Wales live in Greater London

I find all of this fascinating. As a former Londoner, I can confirm the last figures. London is incredibly diverse, and the different cultures have added to the overall enjoyment of living in that city.

However, where I live now, in Beetley in rural Norfolk, I could count foreign-born nationals on both hands and have fingers to spare.

57 thoughts on “Our Multi-National, Multi-Cultural Country”

    1. There is a lot of animosity to immigrants in some part of Britain, Michael. But we have had a very long time to get used to the new arrivals, and to appreciate their culture and food.
      Best wishes, Pete.

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  5. (1) A polydactyl person could lose one or two fingers and still have ten to spare!
    (2) Narendra Modi is Heap Big Indian Chief.
    (3) Alien civilizations include many races of different color. Colors like evergreen, lime, mint, emerald, jade, celadon, honeydew, thumb, and envy.

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  6. People who are different always fascinated me. I am actually far more comfortable in the presence of someone “foreign”. These days I think often of the refugees who fight so many obstacles just to get to the States and I worry about them. What will happen to them when the civil war starts? I am convinced there is no stopping it now.

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      1. I can’t picture it. People here have never experienced war and all its ramifications. It is very unsettling. Even if I could leave, I would never go without the cats. Canadian border is near….

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  8. I’ll tell ya what about immigrant communities – they sure do f8ck up the holidays. I never know if it’s Christmas or Ramadan or whose Holy, unholy, pagan, Christian, Muslim, South American, African, Afrikaner, Orthodox or unorthodox celebration is clogging the streets on a Wednesday, or when celebrations of veterans who kept our countries free are attacked by anti-colonialists and open hatred when, hey bozos, the roads are paved, the politicos and cartels haven’t kidnapped, conscripted or shot your relatives, the food is fresh because nobody blew up the grocery store this morning and your kids are getting a free education and health care. If Romania and Mexico and India et al are so beautiful and important go home and fix them or shut the f88k up and pitch in here. Why the hell are we flying flags and marching for countries whose policies are religious and racial persecution? If you want it fixed, fix it, but don’t make me late for work ’cause you ran away to where it’s safe or your politicians haven’t figured out how to get 600 million of your countrymen to use a toilet instead of the street.
    Diversity, yes. Exclusionism, no. Participate or go home.

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            1. I am not a racist, nor a homophobe and I’m really tired of the labels. I have an opinion. That does not make me a racist. I am an inclusionist. I am not in favor of open disdain from those who fly flags “for freedom” from countries whose main goals seem to be racial and religious genocide and have their escapees tell us all how we ought to run a country when they have failed miserably to run their own. I have a Russian friend who is afraid to admit she’s Russian. Not to me, but from the various Slavic immigrant racists. I have Iranians behind me, Egyptians next door, generic “middle easterners”, Chinese, Vietnamese, Hispanic and black neighbors. Talking to people on the dog walk is a lot of smiles and good mornings and the rest is a tower of babble, but we share a commonality. We are neighbors. I don’t care why anyone is neighbor, so long as they’re all neighborly. And the last thing I need is some Lawrence of Arabia wannabe calling someone they don’t know a racist. Great way to start an open conversation.

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  10. as a foreigner in London (born in Surrey for God’s sake) I am with you on the joys of the diversity. It challenges and intrigues equally. It also stops me making assumptions about people. And Bermondsey is still an intriguing mix still. Once again I’ll be helping at Crisis for Christmas at the Harris Academy in Bermondsey (Burgess Park end) and sadly we all expect the numbers to have increased from before lockdown. There’s one example of integration: homelessness can impact everyone. PS we moved to the New Forest when Dad’s job changed and lived in a Beetley style of village with the foreigners being the likes of us until in 1972 a group of displaced Ugandan Asians arrived curtesy of Idi Amin. 50 years on and its back to its old ways. Thanks for the tour.

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  11. I am the foreigner here…smile…but when I was back in the UK I was shocked at how many foreigners there were and the different languages spoken as growing up there were very, very few. A country needs immigration but controlled but not flooding x

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    1. When I lived in Camden, the notices on the wall of my GP Surgery were in 17 different languages. But I actually enjoyed living among all the different cultures then. I don’t miss it since moving away, though local people in Norfolk are very suspicious of foreigners, and many are openly racist, which I find uncomfortable and offensive. x
      Best wishes, Pete.

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    1. In the local town of Dereham, there is a large Portuguese community that has been here since the 1950s. More recently, a disused shop there became a Ukrainian Community Centre, and that suggests that numbers of Ukrainian refugees have settled in the town. Opposite our house live the Thai couple who own the local Thai restaurant. But they are the only foreign-born people I know in Beetley. As a Londoner, many of the local people consider me to be a ‘foreigner’. 🙂
      Best wishes, Pete.

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      1. Yes, it takes years to integrate into these Suffolk/Norfolk communities. We’ve been here nearly 32 years and I still haven’t managed it. However, we must be gaining ground, as we now don’t stop the conversation if we’re ever brave enough to venture into the local pub.

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  17. I live on the Mediterranean coast of Spain. My community alone has people from Sweden, Norway, Belgium, Holland, Germany, Ireland, England, Scotland, Russia, Poland and Denmark (and us from Canada) as well as some Spanish people. I love living in such a diverse neighbourhood.

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  19. It would be most interesting to compare those results to similar figures over the preceding centuries. The world is energised by immigration, what populations do once they have immigrated is another matter. Some immigration could be called invasion!

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  20. Its double that here in NZ Pete. 28%.
    Currently our population is just under Scotland, at 5,124,100.

    I have been unable to get accurate figures, but as a JP, the bulk of my clients are immigrants & I state mostly India, followed by Philippines & the Pacific islands.
    Trends have changed. For eg. after the war we took in many Dalmatians & Polish. In the 60s we had a massive input from the UK. More recently the Middle East.
    But there are many Aussies, Chinese, other Asians, Africans & many Americas & Russians here too.

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  21. My area is a diverse one as well….Vietnamese, Thai, Korean….basically because of the fishing industry…..we have more South Asian and sub-continent residents these days as well…..it makes the region stronger in my opinion. chuq

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