British Indian : Ask Biography

Ethnic group

Group

Indians in the United Kingdom
(British Indians/ Indian Britons)

Population date

GB England 1,414,100 (2009)
WA Wales 20,100 (2009)
SCO Scotland 17,000 (2001)
Northern Ireland 1,600 (2001)

2.3% of the UK's population
(Not including those of partial heritage)

Significant populations

Throughout the United Kingdom
In particular London Birmingham Manchester Leicester Leeds Glasgow Preston Sheffield Liverpool Nottingham Southampton Bristol Newcastle upon Tyne Slough Edinburgh Cardiff Wolverhampton Sandwell Coventry

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The term British Indian (also Indian British or Indian Britons) refers to citizens of the United Kingdom whose ancestral roots lie in India. This includes people born in the UK who are of Indian descent, and Indian-born people who have migrated to the UK. Today, Indians number around one and a half million in the UK (not including those of mixed Indian and Other ancestry), making them the single largest visible ethnic minority population in the country. They make up the largest subgroup of British Asians, and are one of the largest Indian communities in the Indian diaspora, largely due to the Indian-British relations (including historical links such as India having once been occupied by British and being part of the British Empire and still being part of the Commonwealth of Nations). The British Indian community is the fifth largest in the Indian diaspora, behind the Indian communities in Nepal, the United States, Malaysia and Burma.

British Indians are a well established and middle class ethnic group. A study by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation in 2007 found British Indians have among the lowest poverty rates among different ethnic groups in Britain second only to White British.