Baltic people in the United Kingdom
| Total population | |
|---|---|
|
Baltic-born residents 4,363 Lithuanian-born (2001 Census) 74,000 Lithuanian-born (2010 ONS estimate) 4,275 Latvian-born (2001 Census) 32,000 Latvian-born (2010 ONS estimate) 2,005 Estonian-born (2001 Census) |
|
| Regions with significant populations | |
| London, Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool and Glasgow | |
| Languages | |
| English, Estonian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Russian. | |
| Religion | |
| Christianity · Judaism • Protestantism | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Balts • Baltic Finns |
Baltic people in the United Kingdom are those born or raised in the UK, or residents, who are of Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian origin. Baltic nations are a part of the wider region of Northern Europe and cooperate with the Nordic countries.
Baltic countries together three countries on the south-eastern coast of the Baltic sea:
In the early 20th century, many Latvian and Lithuanian refugees began to settle in Glasgow and at its height in the 1950s, there were around 10,000 in the Glasgow area.
During the first period of Estonian independence in the inter-war years, Great Britain, and, especially, London, became a magnet for many young people from Estonia wishing to learn English. This was made easier by a bi-lateral agreement drawn up by the British (Agreement A), which allowed foreigners to live with English families and get board and lodging in return for housekeeping duties. After the initial influx, the number of Estonian immigrants gradually reduced as people were more able to find work and, as a result, they gravitated to a few towns and cities, in particular London, Leicester and Bradford, with smaller communities in and around Bolton, Manchester, Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Nottingham, Bournemouth and some north of the border in Scotland. In the early 1950s, many Estonians left to live in other countries, leaving less than 6000 in Britain.
Significant numbers of Baltic people moved to the UK in 1947 under a government backed scheme called 'Westward Ho'. The first group of Displaced Persons (DPs) from the British zone of occupation of Germany arrived in the UK in 1947, called the 'Balt Cygnets'.
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Wikipedia