Ethnic groups of the United Kingdom

From Freepedia

There are a number of ethnic groups of the United Kingdom. It is debatable whether the traditional English, Welsh, Scottish and Northern Irish groups are in fact ethnicities in their own right, or whether they are simply sub-groups of British.

Many of the ethnic minorities of Britain arrived shortly after World War II when a labour shortage meant that there were job vacancies that could not be filled by British workers. Many people from parts of the then Empire arrived in Britain. The "Empire Windrush" was a famous ship that brought people from the Carribean.

Other minorities were already present in the United Kingdom. Irish Catholics of course are native to Northern Ireland, but others had migrated to Britain over the years, especially during the famine years. Major UK cities tend to have large Irish communities.

Many Polish people had come over to the UK during the Second World War, and did not return after the communist takeover of their homeland. Many Italians had also come over as prisoners of war, but decided to stay in the UK, rather than return to Italy.

The Jewish community, however, mostly left the UK to go and live in the new state of Israel or the United States at the end of the Second World War.