East Asians in the United Kingdom

	People's Republic of China
	Population
	400,000

	Myanmar
	Population
	10,000

East Asians in the United Kingdom
(British Orientals)
	;
	Top row:; Matt Tong, Kazuo Ishiguro,; Bottom row:Vanessa-Mae, Herman Li, Gok Wan;
Total population
	Over. 1,000,000; 1.6% of the UK population; Chinese - 400,000; Filipino - 200,000; Vietnamese - 55,000; Malaysian - 50,000; Japanese - 50,000; Singaporean - 40,000; Korean - 40,000; Thai - 36,000; Burmese - 10,000; Other East Asians - Unknown; All figures except the Chinese, Filipino and Thai communities are from the 2001 UK Census, with that country as a reported birthplace (i.e. doesn't include British born people of East Asian origin);
Regions with significant populations
	London, Liverpool, Manchester, Oxford, Cambridge, Glasgow, Edinburgh
Languages
	British English, Chinese, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Malay, Tagalog, Thai, Vietnamese, and many others
Religion
	Buddhism, Christianity, East Asian religions, Islam, Non-religious, others
Related ethnic groups
	Asians

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

(Redirected from British Oriental)

Jump to: navigation, search

"British Oriental" and "Oriental British" redirects here. This article is about East Asians living in the United Kingdom. For other groups belonging to the "Asian people", see South Asians in the United Kingdom, for the other ethnic groups from the continent of Asia, British Arabs and British Iranians.

East Asians in the United Kingdom or British East Asians are British citizens who descended from East or Southeast Asia. They have been present in the country since the 17th century and primarily originate from countries and territories such as Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, the People's Republic of China, the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam. In British English, they are often called "British Oriental", "Oriental British", or simply "Oriental", since the term "Asian" is usually used for South Asians. In the 2001 British census, the term Chinese or Other is used.

[edit] Subgroups

[edit] Burmese

Main article: Burmese British

[edit] Chinese

Main article: British Chinese

The first settlement of Chinese people in the United Kingdom dates from the early 19th century. In particular were port cities such as Liverpool and London; particularly the Limehouse area in East London, where the first Chinatown was established in the UK and Europe.^{[citation needed]}

Today, most of the British Chinese are people or are descended from people who were themselves overseas Chinese when they entered the United Kingdom. The majority are from former British colonies, such as Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, and also other countries such as Vietnam. People from mainland China and Taiwan and their descendants constitute a relatively small proportion of the British Chinese community.

[edit] Hongkongers

Main article: Hong Kong British

Hong Kong
Population
145,000

[edit] Filipino

Main article: Filipino British

Philippines
Population
200,000

The United Kingdom only had a small population of Filipinos until the late 20th century. The number started to grow in the 1970’s when immigration restrictions on Commonwealth citizens meant that employers had to find workers from other countries. The National Health Service (NHS), hotel and catering industry and clothing manufacturers started to recruit Filipinos. According to the UK Department of Employment, 20,226 work permits were issued to Filipinos between 1968 and 1980. Some 47% of the work permits were issued for those who came to work in hospitals and welfare homes as hospital auxiliaries, catering workers and to nurse-trainees. The second biggest category of work permits were for chambermaids, followed by catering and waitering staff. The NHS started to recruit more Filipino nurses in the 1990s to make up a shortfall in local recruitment. A large number of Filipinos have also arrived as caregivers and work in public & private nursing homes.

[edit] Japanese

Main article: Japanese British

Japan
Population
50,000

The first Japanese settled in the 1960s, mainly for business and economic purposes. In recent decades this number has been growing; including immigrants, students, and businessmen. Parts of the United Kingdom, in particular London, have significant Japanese populations; such as Golders Green and East Finchley North London. There are approximately 100,000 British Japanese, mostly settled in London and the surrounding South East, forming the largest Japanese community in Europe.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Korean

Main article: Koreans in the United Kingdom

South Korea
Population
40,000^[10]

Since immigration restrictions were relaxed in 1989, the British Korean population has grown rapidly to over 50,000, and most of them - some say as many as 20,000 - live in New Malden.^{[citation needed]} Kingston and Merton are the two London boroughs with the largest Korean communities. There are also many Korean students living temporarily in the UK.^{[citation needed]} In terms of culture, the Korean Festival is the one of the biggest festivals celebrating Korean Culture in Europe. The free annual event normally takes place on August and is organised by the Korean Residents Society. It takes place in Fairfield Recreation Ground in Kingston-upon-Thames (in south-west London).