Total population | |
---|---|
Romanian-born residents 545,452 (2021) (England, Wales, Northern Ireland) 2,387 (2011) (Scotland) | |
Regions with significant populations | |
London, Birmingham, Northampton | |
Languages | |
British English and Romanian | |
Religion | |
Romanian Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Greek Catholic, Protestant, Judaism | |
Related ethnic groups | |
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Romanians in the United Kingdom refers to Romanian immigrants in the United Kingdom, both citizens and non-citizens, along with British citizens of Romanian ancestry. The number of Romanian-born people resident in the UK has risen from 83,168 at the time of the 2011 United Kingdom census to 538,840 in England and Wales alone in 2021.
Romanians constitute the fourth largest group of immigrants in England and Wales as of 2021, only behind those from Pakistan, Poland, and India. The decadal growth of 576% was the highest of any immigrant group and was driven by the relaxation of work restrictions. [1] Furthermore, as of late 2022, given the big rise of Romanian immigrants to the United Kingdom, the Romanian language became the third most spoken foreign language in the UK after English and Polish. [2]
The small number of Romanians that first arrived in Britain were primarily Jews fleeing persecution during the Second World War. [3] The activities of the Romanian exiles started in 1941, through the effort of individuals such as Ambassador Viorel Tilea, Major George Emil Iliescu, and legal counselor Ecaterina Iliescu. They founded the Anglo-Romanian Refugee Committee (ARRC) in 1948. The Free Romanian Orthodox Church was active in parallel to the ARRC between 1950 and 1955, under the leadership of Father Gildau, with a Parish Committee chaired by Mihai Carciog. This later transformed into the 'Romanian Orthodox Women's Association in the UK', which, in turn, became in 1956 the British-Romanian Association - also known under its Romanian name of ACARDA ("Asociația Culturală a Românilor din Anglia") - through the initiative of a representative group of individuals from the small Romanian community, including Ion Rațiu, Horia Georgescu, George Ross, and Leonard Kirschen, Marie-Jeanne Livezeanu, Gladys Wilson, Sanda Cârciog, and Mihai Cârciog. [4] [5]
Ion Rațiu was the President of the British-Romanian Association between 1965 and 1985, [6] followed by Iolanda Costide between 1985 and 1996. [7] Rațiu became honorary president of the organisation in 1985. [6]
At the time of the 2001 Census, 7,631 Romanian-born people were residing in the UK. [8] In the 2011 Census, the Romanian-born population grew to 83,168 people throughout the UK, with 79,687 in England and Wales, [9] 2,387 in Scotland, [10] and 1,094 in Northern Ireland. [11] The Office for National Statistics (ONS) estimated that, in 2012, 101,000 Romanian-born people were resident in the UK. [12] By 2019, this estimate had risen to 427,000. [13] This estimate fell to 345,000 in 2020. [14]
The 2021 census recorded 530,320 Romanian-born people resident in England, 8,520 in Wales, [15] and 6,612 in Northern Ireland. [16]
As of 2021 [update] , approximately 1,350,640 Romanians had applied to the UK government's post-Brexit European Union Settlement Scheme, with 670,560 receiving pre-settled status and 435,720 receiving settled status. [17] [18] However, the ONS notes that not all applicants to the EUSS will be resident in the UK. [19]
A particularly concentrated community exists in the Edgware-London suburb of Burnt Oak which has gained the nickname "Little Romania". [20] . Large communities also exist in the London Boroughs of Brent and Newham.
Year | Pop. | ±% |
---|---|---|
2001 | 7,631 | — |
2004 | 14,000 | +83.5% |
2005 | 17,000 | +21.4% |
2006 | 17,000 | +0.0% |
2007 | 24,000 | +41.2% |
2008 | 42,000 | +75.0% |
2009 | 59,000 | +40.5% |
2010 | 82,000 | +39.0% |
2011 | 83,168 | +1.4% |
2012 | 106,000 | +27.5% |
2013 | 136,000 | +28.3% |
2014 | 170,000 | +25.0% |
2015 | 220,000 | +29.4% |
2016 | 310,000 | +40.9% |
2017 | 390,000 | +25.8% |
2018 | 392,000 | +0.5% |
2019 | 427,000 | +8.9% |
2020 | 345,000 | −19.2% |
Note: Besides for 2001, 2011, and 2021 when a census of the population took place, figures are ONS estimates of the number of Romanian-born residents. Figure given is the central estimate. See the source for 95% confidence intervals. Source: [21] |
Most Romanians belong to the Romanian Orthodox Church religion and there are several Romanian Orthodox churches throughout the UK, such as those in Aberdeen, Ballymena, Birmingham, Boston, Bristol, Cambridge, Cardiff, Caterham, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, London, Luton, Northampton, Norwich, Nottingham, Oxford, or Poole. [23]
Around 75 per cent of women trafficked to the UK are from Romania, with the majority being victims of sexual exploitation. [24] In October 2020, an online summit was held to discuss the problem. Ahead of the event, the chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on commercial sexual exploitation, Dame Diana Johnson, argued that "The industrial-scale sexual exploitation of Romanian women by UK men is a national scandal". [25]
Romanians in the UK have faced discrimination and xenophobic abuse, and were targets of some hate crimes following the Brexit referendum. [26] In the autumn of 2019, the Romanian government launched an advertising campaign to attract emigrants back to Romania, suggesting that a million jobs awaited them. [27] In October 2019, Minister of Labour and Social Justice (Romanian : Ministrul Muncii și Justiției Sociale) [28] at the time Marius-Constantin Budăi told the ITV that he wished for all overseas Romanians to come home as soon as possible. [27]
The population of the United Kingdom was estimated at almost 67.6 million people in 2022. It is the 21st most populated country in the world and has a population density of 279 people per square kilometre, with England having significantly greater density than Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. Almost a third of the population lives in south east England, which is predominantly urban and suburban, with about 9 million in the capital city, London, whose population density is just over 5,200 per square kilometre.
Demographics of Wales include the numbers in population, place of birth, age, ethnicity, religion, and number of marriages in Wales.
The demography of England has since 1801 been measured by the decennial national census, and is marked by centuries of population growth and urbanization. Due to the lack of authoritative contemporary sources, estimates of the population of England for dates prior to the first census in 1801 vary considerably. The population of England at the 2021 census was about 56,489,800.
The foreign-born population of the United Kingdom includes immigrants from a wide range of countries who are resident in the United Kingdom. In the period January to December 2016, there were groups from 22 foreign countries that were estimated to consist of at least 100,000 individuals residing in the UK.
The demography of Scotland includes all aspects of population, past and present, in the area that is now Scotland. Scotland had a population of 5,463,300 in 2019. The population growth rate in 2011 was estimated as 0.6% per annum according to the 2011 GROS Annual Review.
Ion Rațiu was a Romanian lawyer, diplomat, journalist, businessman, writer, and politician. In addition, he was the official presidential candidate of the Christian Democratic National Peasants' Party (PNȚCD) in the 1990 Romanian presidential election in which he subsequently finished third, behind the neo-communist Ion Iliescu of the National Salvation Front (FSN) and Radu Câmpeanu of the National Liberal Party (PNL), with only 617,007 votes.
White British is an ethnicity classification used for the native white population identifying as English, Scottish, Welsh, Cornish, Northern Irish, or British in the United Kingdom Census. In the 2011 census, the White British population was 49,997,686, 81.5% of Great Britain's total population. For the United Kingdom entirely, due to different reporting measures within Northern Ireland which includes all those who identified as British with those who identified as Irish, an amalgamated total of 52,320,080 including those who identified as White Irish in Great Britain is given making up 82.8% of the population.
Australians in the United Kingdom, or Australian Britons, include Australians who have become residents or citizens of the United Kingdom. The largest segment of Australia's diaspora of 1 million resides in the United Kingdom.
French migration to the United Kingdom is a phenomenon that has occurred at various points in history. The Norman Conquest of England by William the Conqueror in 1066 resulted in the arrival of Normans, while in the 16th and 17th centuries Protestant Huguenots fled religious persecution to East London. Other waves are associated with monasticism, particularly post-conquest Benedictines and Cistercians, aristocracy fleeing the French Revolution, expulsion of religious orders by Third Republic France, and current expats.
Mixed is an ethnic group category that was first introduced by the United Kingdom's Office for National Statistics for the 2001 Census. Colloquially, it refers to British citizens or residents whose parents are of two or more races or ethnic backgrounds. The Mixed or Multiple ethnic group in England and Wales numbered 1.7 million in the 2021 census, 2.9% of the population.
Spaniards in the United Kingdom are people of Spanish descent resident in Britain. They may be British citizens or non-citizen immigrants.
Ukrainians in the United Kingdom consist mainly of British citizens of Ukrainian descent.
The term Other White, or White Other, is a classification of ethnicity in the United Kingdom, used in documents such as the 2021 United Kingdom Census, to describe people who identify as white persons who are not of the English, Welsh, Scottish, Roma, Irish or Irish Traveller ethnic groupings. In Scotland, the term Other White is also used to refer collectively to those not of Scottish or Other British ethnicity, in which case it also includes those of a Gypsy, Roma, Irish or Irish Traveller background.
British Afghans are British citizens and non-citizen residents born in or with ancestors from, Afghanistan, part of worldwide Afghan diaspora. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) estimates that there were 79,000 people born in Afghanistan living in the UK in 2019.
According to ONS estimates in 2019 there were 76,000 Nepalese-born people in the United Kingdom.
A census of the population of the United Kingdom is taken every ten years. The 2011 census was held in all counties of the UK on 27 March 2011. It was the first UK census which could be completed online via the Internet. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) is responsible for the census in England and Wales, the General Register Office for Scotland (GROS) is responsible for the census in Scotland, and the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) is responsible for the census in Northern Ireland.
Congolese in the United Kingdom consist of immigrants from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) living in the United Kingdom as well as their British-born descendants. The demonym Congolese can also refer to people from the Republic of Congo, of whom there are fewer living in the UK.
Eritreans in the United Kingdom or Eritrean Britons are an ethnic group that consist of Eritrean immigrants to the United Kingdom as well as their descendants.
Albanians in the United Kingdom include immigrants from Albania and ethnic Albanians from Kosovo. According to estimates from the Office for National Statistics, there were 47,000 Albanian-born residents of the United Kingdom in 2019.
The Wrexham Built-up area is an area of land defined by the United Kingdom Office for National Statistics (ONS) for population monitoring purposes. It is an urban conurbation fully within Wrexham County Borough and consists of the urban area centred on the city of Wrexham. Until the 2021 census, it also included the historically industrial settlements to the west including Gwersyllt, Rhostyllen, Brymbo, Bradley and New Broughton.