Population of London

The population of metropolitan London in mid-1996 was about 7 million, which represents about 12 percent of Britain’s total population of 58.8 million.

The population has declined since 1951, when more than 8 million people lived in London.

Since 1985, however, the city has been growing at the rate of about 10,000 people per year.

London’s population is heavily concentrated by British and North American standards, with a population density of about 4480 persons per sq km (about 11,400 per sq mi).

London has always attracted immigrants from Britain’s towns and villages.

In the mid-19th century, half of the people of London had been born outside the city.

During the Irish Famine of the 1840s, there was an influx of people from Ireland.

At the turn of the century, Eastern European Jews settled in the East End.

Chinese immigrants settled near the docks in the East End during the late 19th century, creating a Chinatown at Limehouse.

More recently, Chinese immigrants, mostly from Hong Kong, have formed the highly visible Chinatown in the Soho area of the West End.

Since World War II, two groups of immigrants have transformed London into one of the most multiethnic capitals in Europe. One of these groups is usually referred to simply as “Asian,” and refers to those who originally came from the Indian subcontinent.

The 525,000 people in this diverse group speak many languages—Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Punjabi, and Urdu—and belong to several religions, such as Hinduism, Islam, or Sikh. Some of these subgroups are associated with particular districts or professions.

Southall, near Heathrow Airport, is primarily Punjabi, with Sikhs forming the largest religious group. They have established the largest Asian shopping district in London, centering on The Broadway and South Road.

The Bangladeshis have congregated in Spitalfields in the East End where they specialize in the garment industry and the catering trades.

Many Asians have started their own businesses, purchased and renovated older terrace housing (row houses), and entered professions in law, medicine, and finance.

A second influential group is the black population, which represents about 425,000 people, mostly from the Caribbean, but recently also from African countries such as Somalia and Ethiopia.

During the late 1940s Jamaicans were the first and largest group to emigrate from the Caribbean. They tended to settle in south London, notably in Brixton, which still has a large black community.

Jamaicans are also noted for their distinctive Rastafarian culture, made popular by reggae artists such as Bob Marley.

Immigrants from Trinidad, Dominica, and Saint Lucia reside in Notting Hill, once one of the West End’s most run-down areas, but now one of London’s trendiest multicultural neighborhoods.

Other areas with significant black populations are Hackney and Harringay in northeast London.