Black Europeans

Last updated

Black Europeans
Total population
~8,000,000–9,000,000
(2019 est.; 1.07–1.21% of the total population of Europe) [lower-alpha 1]
Religion
Christianity, Islam [2]
Related ethnic groups
African diaspora

Black Europeans of African ancestry, or Afro-Europeans, refers to people in Europe who trace full or partial ancestry to Sub-Saharan Africa.

Contents

European Union

Summer Carnival in Rotterdam Flickr - FaceMePLS - Zomercarnaval Rotterdam 2010 (20).jpg
Summer Carnival in Rotterdam

In the European Union (EU) as of 2019, there is a record of approximately 9.6 million people of Sub-Saharan African or Afro-Caribbean descent, comprising around 2% of the total population, with over 50% located in France. The countries with the largest African population in the EU are:

CountryPopulation % of country's population [lower-alpha 2] YearComments / source
Flag of Austria.svg Austria 40,000 [4] 0.5%2020Estimate making use of current Sub-Saharan born population (68,843), Caribbean born (21,730) for total foreign born black population (90,573) and approximate progeny born and their descendants based on historical migration and birth statistics. A multiple of 1.4x is used as migration has shorter time background. See here for access to country of birth data. This is a precise estimate.
Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Belgium 410,000 [5] 3.6%2019Estimate making use of current sub-Saharan born population (240,069) and approximate progeny born and their descendants based on historical migration and birth statistics. Most have roots in the former Belgian colonies of the Congo, Rwanda, and Burundi as well as other French-speaking African countries. This is an estimate, likely a slight overestimate (error: ± 25,000).
Flag of Denmark.svg Denmark 52,795 [6] 0.9%2019Sub-Saharan Africans and their descendants, alongside any by racial or mixed race of African heritage are counted. Irregular migrants are counted in this due to the use of the Schengen Information System markers - as overstays are counted as "present" in one given country - and thus the European estimate evens out). This is a precise census number.
Flag of Finland.svg Finland At least 53,296 [7] 1.0%2022I.e., according to Statistics Finland, people in Finland:
 • whose both parents are Sub-Saharan African-born (SSA; i.e., all other African countries but Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Sudan and Tunisia),
 • or whose only known parent was born in SSA,
 • or who were born in SSA and whose parents' countries of birth are unknown.
Thus, for example, people with one Finnish parent and one SSA parent or people with more distant SSA ancestry are not included in this country-based non-ethnic figure. Because the figure is country-based, it may include some Sub-Saharan white Africans. Also, SSA-born adoptees' backgrounds are determined by their adoptive parents, not by their biological parents. [8] They are mainly from Somalia, Nigeria, DR Congo, Ethiopia, and Ghana. This is a census number.
Flag of France.svg France 3,000,000–5,000,000 [9] [10] 4.7–7.8%2009
Flag of Germany.svg Germany 529,000 [11] 0.8%2020The German census does not use race as a category. [12] The number of persons "having an extended migrant background" (mit Migrationshintergrund im weiteren Sinn, meaning having at least one grandparent born outside Germany), is given as 529,000. The Initiative Schwarzer Deutscher ("Black German Initiative") estimates the total of Black Germans to be about 1,000,000 persons. [13]
Flag of Ireland.svg Ireland 64,639 [14] 1.4%2016Sub-Saharan Africans and their descendants, alongside any by racial or mixed race of African heritage are counted. 2016 Census is used. This is a precise census number.
Flag of Italy.svg Italy 463,425 [15] 0.8%2020
Flag of Luxembourg.svg Luxembourg 30,000 [4] 4.9%2019Estimate making use of current Sub-Saharan born population (18,253) and approximate progeny born and their descendants based on historical migration and birth statistics.
Flag of the Netherlands.svg Netherlands 731,444 [16] 4.2%2021First or second generation migration background from Africa. No classification according to skin colour given.
Flag of Portugal.svg Portugal ~230,000 [17] 2.2%2023Extrapolated using statistics on ethnicity of Portuguese people aged 18–74 for the entire population of 10.3 million.
Flag of Sweden.svg Sweden ~200,490 [18] 1.9%2020Sub-Saharan Africans and their descendants, alongside any by racial or mixed race of African heritage are counted. Consists mostly of recent immigrants, refugees, and asylum seekers. Most of them are from Somalia, Eritrea and countries around. Some French and British nationals of African descent can be found in Malmö and Stockholm, as well as many African-Americans in the country playing diverse sports like Basketball that stand in the country for all life. This is a precise census number.

The remaining (excluding Spain that is not listed above) 14 states of the European Union have fewer than 100,000 individuals of Sub-Saharan African descent all together. [19] As countries such as Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic, Romania and Greece have received little to no immigration from Sub-Saharan Africa or interaction that would have caused the formation of black or mixed race communities. Black populations, inclusive of descendants, mixed race people, and temporary students, number fewer than 10,000 in each of these states. [19]

Other European countries

The United Kingdom has approximately 2.5 million black people, inclusive of mixed race, according to the 2011 Census. Black people from the EU who have settled in the UK are also included such as the Black Anglo-Deutsch. Switzerland and Norway have 114,000 [19] and 115,000 people of Sub-Saharan African descent, respectively; primarily composed of refugees and their descendants, but this is only the numbers for first generation migrants and second generation migrants with two parents from a different country. There are no official numbers in Norway regarding Afro-Norwegians, as Norway does not have census regarding race or ethnicity. However, Norway collects data on migrants up to the second generation, which can be used to accurately estimate the effective Black population. [20]

According to state-owned Anadolu Agency, government data suggests that there are 1.5 million Africans living all across Turkey as of 2017, with 25% of them in Istanbul. [4] [21] Other studies state the majority of Africans in Turkey lives in Istanbul and report Tarlabaşı, Dolapdere, Kumkapı, Yenikapı and Kurtuluş as having a strong African presence. [4] Estimates of the number of Africans living in Istanbul varies between 50,000 and 200,000. [22] Ankara also has a sizeable Somali community. [23] In addition to this African migrant population, there are 20,000 Afro-Turks.

More than 1,000,000 sub-Saharan Africans had settled in Europe between 2010 and 2017. [24]

Racism and social status

Discrimination and stigmatisation of Black Europeans based on physical characteristics or visibility, regardless of nationality or immigration status, is a common experience. [25]

Discrimination in the workplace is widespread, and barriers are constructed at every stage to prevent black individuals from obtaining jobs that match their talents and expertise. Black individuals are also more vulnerable to police violence, racial profiling, and racist violence and abuse from other members of the community. Racism against black students in schools includes racist bullying as well as biased instructional materials and practices. This has important ramifications for Black people's educational attainment and life opportunities. Other forms of discrimination include the withholding of health care to Black Europeans and prejudice displayed by health care workers; considerable discrimination in the private renting market; and stereotypical representations in the media. [25]

There is currently no EU or national policy aimed specifically at combating racism and prejudice against Black Europeans. Despite EU and state legislation offering legal remedies for discrimination, anti-Black racism in the EU persists. [25]

In 2020, President von der Leyen launched a new EU anti-racism Action Plan, outlining a number of initiatives for 2020-2025. The Commission will ensure that Member States fully implement relevant EU law and, where necessary, strengthen the legal framework. This could happen, particularly in areas not yet covered by anti-discrimination legislation, such as law enforcement. The Action Plan brings together players at all levels to better effectively combat racism in Europe, including the implementation of national anti-racism policies. [26] EU member states were called upon to adopt national action plans against racism (NAPARs) by the end of 2022. As of March 2023, in Germany, Spain and Sweden, a comprehensive publicly-available National Action Plan Against Racism (NAPAR) has been adopted by the government and parliament. [27]

According to a survey conducted by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, which asked over 16.000 immigrants, including over 6.700 people born in sub-Saharan Africa, the highest rate of reported discrimination in the last years, was in German-Speaking Europe, particularly Germany with 54% reporting having experienced racist harassment, well above the EU average of 30%. [28]

List of subgroups

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Europe's total population was 746,189,645 in 2019. [1]
  2. ↑ Countries' total populations:
    Austria: 8.9 million in 2020 according to UN DESA.
    Belgium: 11.4 million in 2019 according to the World Bank.
    Denmark: 5.8 million in 2019.
    Finland: 5,563,970 in 2022. [3]
    France: 64.4 million in 2009 according to the World Bank.
    Germany: 83 million in 2020 according to UN DESA.
    Ireland: 4.76 million people according to the April 2016 census.
    Italy: 60.3 million in 2020 according to UN DESA.
    Luxembourg: 613,894 in 2019.
    Netherlands: 17.5 million in 2021 according to the World Bank.
    Portugal: 10,247,605 in 2023 according to Worldometer.
    Spain: 47.3 million in 2020 according to UN DESA.
    Sweden: 10.4 million in 2020 according to UN DESA.

Related Research Articles

Black is a racialized classification of people, usually a political and skin color-based category for specific populations with a mid- to dark brown complexion. Not all people considered "black" have dark skin; in certain countries, often in socially based systems of racial classification in the Western world, the term "black" is used to describe persons who are perceived as dark-skinned compared to other populations. It is most commonly used for people of sub-Saharan African ancestry, Indigenous Australians and Melanesians, though it has been applied in many contexts to other groups, and is no indicator of any close ancestral relationship whatsoever. Indigenous African societies do not use the term black as a racial identity outside of influences brought by Western cultures.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Xenophobia</span> Dislike of that which is perceived to be foreign or strange

Xenophobia is the fear or dislike of anything which is perceived as being foreign or strange. It is an expression which is based on the perception that a conflict exists between an in-group and an out-group and it may manifest itself in suspicion of one group's activities by members of the other group, a desire to eliminate the presence of the group which is the target of suspicion, and fear of losing a national, ethnic, or racial identity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Demographics of Norway</span>

Demographic features of the population of Norway, including Jan Mayen, and Svalbard, where the hospital is not equipped for births, include population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Demographics of France</span>

The demography of France is monitored by the Institut national d'études démographiques (INED) and the Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques (INSEE). As of 1 January 2021, 66,142,961 people lived in Metropolitan France, while 2,230,472 lived in overseas France, for a total of 68,373,433 inhabitants in the French Republic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Afro-Cubans</span> Ethnic minority in Cuba

Afro-Cubans or Black Cubans are Cubans of full or partial sub-Saharan African ancestry. The term Afro-Cuban can also refer to historical or cultural elements in Cuba associated with this community, and the combining of native African and other cultural elements found in Cuban society, such as race, religion, music, language, the arts and class culture.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Immigration to France</span>

According to the French National Institute of Statistics INSEE, the 2021 census counted nearly 7 million immigrants in France, representing 10.3% of the total population. This is a decrease from INSEE statistics in 2018 in which there were 9 million immigrants in France, which at the time represented 14% of the country's total population.

African immigrants in Europe are individuals residing in Europe who were born in Africa. This includes both individuals born in North Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anti-Black racism</span> Fear, hatred or extreme aversion to Black people and Black culture

Anti-Black racism, also called anti-Black sentiment, anti-Blackness, colourphobia or Negrophobia, is characterised by prejudice, collective hatred, and discrimination or extreme aversion towards people who are racialised as Black people, especially those people from sub-Saharan Africa and its diasporas, as well as a loathing of Black culture worldwide. Such sentiment includes, but is not limited to: the attribution of negative characteristics to Black people; the fear, strong dislike or dehumanization of Black men; and the objectification of Black women.

Afro-Portuguese(Afro portugueses or Lusoafricanos), African-Portuguese(Portugueses com ascendência africana), or Black Portuguese are Portuguese people with total or partial ancestry from any of the Sub-Saharan ethnic groups of Africa.

Black Hispanic and Latino Americans, also called Afro-Hispanics, Afro-Latinos, Black Hispanics, or Black Latinos, are classified by the United States Census Bureau, Office of Management and Budget, and other U.S. government agencies as Black people living in the United States with ancestry in Latin America, Spain or Portugal and/or who speak Spanish, and/or Portuguese as either their first language or second language.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Immigration to Europe</span>

Immigration to Europe has a long history, but increased substantially after World War II. Western European countries, especially, saw high growth in immigration post 1945, and many European nations today have sizeable immigrant populations, both of European and non-European origin. In contemporary globalization, migrations to Europe have accelerated in speed and scale. Over the last decades, there has been an increase in negative attitudes towards immigration, and many studies have emphasized marked differences in the strength of anti-immigrant attitudes among European countries.

Racism has been a recurring part of the history of Europe.

As of 1 January 2024, Norway's immigrant population consisted of 931,081 people, making up 16.8% of the country's total population, with an additional 221,459 people, or 4.0% of the population born in Norway to two foreign-born parents. The most common countries of birth of immigrants living in Norway were Poland (109,654), Ukraine (65,566), Lithuania (42,733), Syria (38,708), Sweden (36,612), Somalia (27,665), Germany (26,860), Eritrea (25,137), the Philippines (24,718) and Iraq (23,603).

The largest immigrant groups in Switzerland are those from Germany, Italy, France, the former Yugoslavia, Albania, Portugal and Turkey, including Turks and Kurds. Between them, these six groups account for about 1.5 million people, 60% of the Swiss population with immigrant background, or close to 20% of total Swiss population.

Racism in German history is inextricably linked to the Herero and Namaqua genocide in colonial times. Racism reached its peak during the Nazi regime which eventually led to a program of systematic state-sponsored murder known as The Holocaust. According to reports by the European Commission, milder forms of racism are still present in parts of German society. Currently the racism has been mainly directed towards Asian and African countries by both the state and through the citizens which includes being impolite and trying to interfere in internal matters of African countries by the diplomats.

In the Arab world, racism targets non-Arabs and the expat majority of the Arab states of the Persian Gulf coming from South Asian groups as well as Black, European, and Asian groups that are Muslim; non-Arab ethnic minorities such as Armenians, Africans, the Saqaliba, Southeast Asians, Jews, Kurds, and Coptic Christians, Assyrians, Persians, Turks, and other Turkic peoples, and South Asians living in Arab countries of the Middle East.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Emigration from Africa</span> Overview of emigration from Africa

During the period of 1965 – 2021, an estimated 440,000 people per year emigrated from Africa; a total number of 17 million migrants within Africa was estimated for 2005. The figure of 0.44 million African emigrants per year pales in comparison to the annual population growth of about 2.6%, indicating that only about 2% of Africa's population growth is compensated for by emigration.

Libya is a predominantly Arab country that has traditionally held no racist views towards black-skinned, sub-Saharan Africans. The New York Times argues that Libya has a "long history of racist violence being reported."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Africans in Turkey</span>

Africans in Turkey are people of Sub-Saharan African descent who are citizens or residents of Turkey. They are immigrant and refugee communities mostly from western, central and eastern Africa. African immigrants are distinct to Afro-Turks, which number around 20,000. As of 2017, there are 1.5 million Africans living across Turkey, with one in four residing in Istanbul.

Anti-African sentiment, Afroscepticism, or Afrophobia is prejudice, hostility, discrimination, or racism towards people and cultures of Africa and of the African diaspora.

References

  1. ↑ "World Population Prospects – Population Division – United Nations". Population Division – United Nations. Retrieved 30 January 2024.
  2. ↑ Small, Stephen (15 June 2018). "The African Diaspora in Europe Today". AAIHS. Retrieved 22 September 2020. For example, in Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Italy, the majority of Black people arrived only since the 1990s, they did not speak the national language, they arrived as refugees, and are primarily Muslims. In the UK, France, Netherlands, as well as in Belgium and Portugal, large numbers of Black people arrived in the 1950s–1970s, speaking the national language, as citizens and mainly Christians.
  3. ↑ "11rb -- Population and change in population size by sex, 1750-2022". Statistics Finland . Retrieved 25 January 2024.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "Eurostat".
  5. ↑ "Bevolking naar woonplaats, nationaliteit, burgerlijke staat, leeftijd en geslacht | Statbel". statbel.fgov.be. Retrieved 2020-06-20.
  6. ↑ "StatBank Denmark". www.statbank.dk. Retrieved 2020-06-20.
  7. ↑ "11rv -- Origin and background country by sex, by municipality, 1990-2022". Statistics Finland . Retrieved 25 January 2024.
  8. ↑ "Origin and background country". Statistics Finland . Retrieved 25 January 2024. Origin and background country ... All such persons who have at least one parent who was born in Finland are also considered to be persons with Finnish background. ... Persons whose both parents or the only known parent have been born abroad are considered to be persons with foreign background. ... If either parent's country of birth is unknown, the background country for persons born abroad is their own country of birth. ... For children adopted from abroad, the adoptive parents are regarded as the biological parents.
  9. ↑ Crumley, Bruce (24 March 2009), "Should France Count Its Minority Population?", Time, retrieved 11 October 2014
  10. ↑ "The African diaspora in France". France Diplomacy - Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs. February 2019. Retrieved 2021-04-27.
  11. ↑ "Bevölkerung in Privathaushalten 2019 nach Migrationshintergrund".
  12. ↑ Mazon, Patricia (2005). Not So Plain as Black and White: Afro-German Culture and History, 1890–2000. Rochester: University of Rochester Press. p. 3. ISBN   1-58046-183-2.
  13. ↑ "Zu Besuch in Neger und Mohrenkirch: Können Ortsnamen rassistisch sein?". 2020-12-30. Rund eine Million schwarzer Menschen leben laut ISD hierzulande.
  14. ↑ "Population by Race and Ethnicity Ireland" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2017-04-14.
  15. ↑ "Tuttitalia".
  16. ↑ "CBS Statline". opendata.cbs.nl (in Dutch). Retrieved 2020-06-20.
  17. ↑ "Inquérito às Condições Origens e Trajetórias da População Residente em Portugal". Instituto Nacional de Estatística (in Portuguese). 22 December 2023.
  18. ↑ "PxWeb - välj tabell". www.statistikdatabasen.scb.se. Retrieved 2020-06-20.
  19. 1 2 3 "Migration and migrant population statistics". Archived from the original on 2018-04-11.
  20. ↑ "2020-03-09". ssb.no. Retrieved 2020-06-20.
  21. ↑ "Africans in Turkey leave lasting impression on locals". 11 December 2017.
  22. ↑ Külsoy, Ahmet (11 June 2019). "Stuck in Istanbul, African migrants suffer mistreatment". Ahval. Retrieved 2021-08-22.
  23. ↑ "Başkentteki Somalililerin kültürel izlerini taşıyan dükkanları şehre hareketlilik katıyor". www.aa.com.tr. Retrieved 2021-08-22.
  24. ↑ "At Least a Million Sub-Saharan Africans Moved to Europe Since 2010". Pew Research Center . 22 March 2018. Archived from the original on 1 March 2019. Retrieved 10 June 2018.
  25. 1 2 3 "Afrophobia". European Network Against Racism. Retrieved 2024-03-27.
  26. ↑ "State of the Union: A new Action Plan to turn the tide in the fight against racism". European Commission - European Commission. 18 September 2020. Retrieved 2024-03-27. Creative Commons by small.svg  This article incorporates textfrom this source, which is available under the CC BY 4.0 license.
  27. ↑ Avsec, Klara (2024-02-06). "Anti-Racism Map: Mapping National Anti-Racism Plans Across the EU". European Network Against Racism. Retrieved 2024-03-27.
  28. ↑ "Anti-Black racism is rising in EU countries, led by Germany, study finds". 2023-10-25. Retrieved 2024-05-16.

Sources

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