Islam in the United Kingdom
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 2,706,066 (4.5% of the UK population, 2011) |
|
| Regions with significant populations | |
| London, West Midlands, North West England | |
| Languages | |
| English, Urdu, Sylheti, Bengali, Arabic, Punjabi, Somali, Turkish, Persian, Kurdish, Gujarati, Pashto | |
| Religion | |
| Majority Sunni, minority Shi'a and Ahmadiyyah |
Islam is the second largest religion in the United Kingdom, with results from the United Kingdom Census 2011 giving the UK Muslim population in 2011 as ~2,706,066, ~4.5% of the total population. The vast majority of Muslims in the United Kingdom live in England: 2,660,116 (5.02% of the population). 76,737 Muslims live in Scotland (1.45%), 45,950 in Wales (1.50%), and 3,832 in Northern Ireland (0.21%).
In 2011 it was reported that the United Kingdom could have as many as 100,000 converts to Islam, of which 66% were women. Islam is the fastest growing religious confession in the UK and its adherents have the lowest average age out of all the major religious groups. Between 2001 and 2009 the Muslim population increased almost 10 times faster than the non-Muslim population. The majority of Muslims in United Kingdom belong to the Sunni denomination, while smaller numbers are Shia and Ahmadi. In terms of national heritage, the largest groups of British Muslims are Pakistanis and Bangladeshis. Smaller groups are Indians, Arabs, Kurds, and Africans.
In the 16th century, Muslims from North Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia were present in London, working in a range of roles including as diplomats, translators, merchants, servants, prostitutes and musicians. The first group of Muslims to migrate to the UK in significant numbers, in the 18th century, were lascars (sailors) recruited from the Indian subcontinent (largely from the Bengal region) to work for the British East India Company. Due to the majority being lascars, the earliest Muslim communities were found in port towns. Naval cooks also came, many of them from the Sylhet Division of British India (now in Bangladesh). In 1932, the Indian National Congress survery of 'all Indians outside India' (which included modern Pakistani and Bangladeshi territories) estimated that there were 7,128 Indians living in the United Kingdom One of the most famous early Asian Muslim immigrants to England was the Bengali Sake Dean Mahomet, a captain of the British East India Company who in 1810 founded London's first Indian restaurant, the Hindoostanee Coffee House. He is also reputed for introducing shampoo and therapeutic massage to the United Kingdom.
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