Jamaican-British

This article does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (February 2008)

Jamaican-British

List of Jamaican-British: Diane Abbott, Darren Bent, Naomi Campbell, Ainsley Harriott, Naomie Harris, Keisha Buchanan, Deon Burton, Chris Eubank, Delroy Lindo
Total population
Estimated at around 500,000 0.9% of the UK's population (Not including those of partial heritage)
Regions with significant populations
London, Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester, Bristol, Sheffield, Leeds, Newcastle, Brighton, Leicester
Languages
English (British English, Jamaican English), Jamaican Patois
Religion
Christianity, Rastafarian
Related ethnic groups
Caribbean British, Chinese Jamaicans, Jamaicans of African ancestry, Jamaican Americans, Jamaican Canadians, Indo-Jamaicans, Jamaican Australians

Jamaican-British are British people who were born in Jamaica or who are of Jamaican descent. British Jamaicans form the largest subgroup of the larger British African-Caribbean community, one of the largest subgroups of the Black British community, the largest Pan-American group in the UK as well as one of the world's largest overseas Jamaican populations.

History

Although there are records to show of Black people mostly from Jamaica living in Britain during the 17th and 18th centuries, it was not until the arrival of the Empire Windrush on June 22, 1948 which saw significant numbers of Caribbeans, in particular Jamaicans, arrive in the UK. This has since become an important landmark in the history of modern multicultural Britain. During the post World War II era the presence of these immigrants was requested to help reconstruct the British economy. Industries such as British Rail, the NHS and London transport recruited almost exclusively from Jamaica.

Demographics

Jamaican nationals gaining British citizenship between 1991 and 2007 (excluding 1996 and 2005). Blue indicates through residence, red through marriage and green due to registration of a child, and purple is the total of all three. The graph shows that since 1991 approximatley 30,000 Jamaicans have gained British citizenship, although the reasons behind this vary year to year, although overall the total number has increased considerably since 1991. Despite this, the mid 20th Century was when the most Jamaicans came to the UK

Population

According to the 2001 UK Census 146,401 Jamaican born people were living in the UK, which made up the UK's seventh largest immigrant group that year (behind the Irish, Indians, Pakistanis, Germans, Americans (US) and Bangladeshis).^[1] Between 1955 and 1986, just under 200,000 Jamaicans left their homeland in search of a new life in the UK. In 2007 the number of Jamaican born people exclusively residing in the UK was estimated at around 340,000.^[1] Also worth of note is that between 1991 and 2007, 30,000 Jamaicans gave up their Jamaican passports to become British citizens. Despite a large number of population estimates, census data etc, it is unknown exactly how many British born people are of Jamaican descent, or how many Jamaican born people are residing in the UK illegally, although Jamaicans are by far the largest subgroup of the 750,000 plus Afro-Caribbeans in the UK, suggesting a total population as stated in the opening paragraph of this arctile of in excess of 500,000 (although again this figure does not account for persons of partial Jamaican heritage who would have most likely identified as mixed race in the Census).^[2]

Distribution

This section does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (October 2009)

See also: Lists of U.K. locations with large Jamaican populations

Jamaicans are fairly well dispersed across the entire United Kingdom, although the largest numbers are to be found in the British capital, London. Brixton, Harlesden, and Tottenham in particular have some of the largest Jamaican communities in the country. It is thought that Jamaicans make up the fifth single largest ethnic group in London, after the White English, Indians, Poles and the Irish - see here. Birmingham is a diverse city home to many cultures including a large Jamaican population estimated to be about 60,000 as reported on the CRE website. The Lozells and Handsworth parts of the city have especially large communities of Jamaican origin. Jamaican populations can be found throughout much of the East and West Midlands. Manchester also has a large black and in particular Jamaican population, the area of Moss Side is considered the home of Afro Caribbean Manchester.

Notable British Jamaicans

See also

• Black British
• Black British population
• British Mixed
• British Indo-Caribbean community
• British African-Caribbean community
• Classification of ethnicity in the United Kingdom
• Jamaicans of African ancestry

References

External links

• UK Caribbean Community site

v • d • e Migration to the United Kingdom from the Americas North American (United States) · Antiguan and Barbudan · Barbadian · Canadian · Cuban · Jamaican · Mexican · Montserratian · Trinidadian and Tobagan South Argentinian · Bolivian · Brazilian · Chilean · Colombian · Ecuadorian · Guyanese · Peruvian See also Latin Americans in the United Kingdom