Muslims in Britain
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 3,114,992 (2014 estimate, excluding Northern Ireland) |
|
| 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 2,786,635, 4.4% 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%). London has the greatest population of Muslims in the country.
In 2014 the total population of Muslims in Great Britain was estimated to have increased to 3,114,992, of which about half (1,554,022) were born overseas. Across England and Wales the Muslim population numbered 3,047,000 (97.8% of all UK Muslims) or 5.4% of the total population.
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, Turks and Africans.
The earliest evidence of Islamic influence in England dates to the 8th century, when Offa, the Anglo-Saxon king of Mercia, minted a coin with an Islamic inscription, largely a copy of coins issued by a contemporary Muslim ruler, Caliph Al-Mansur. In the 16th century, Muslims from North Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia were present in London, working in a range of roles, from diplomats and translators to merchants and musicians. See Islam in England for more information on Muslims in England prior to the United Kingdom's founding in 1707.
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