British diaspora

The British diaspora consists of people of British ancestry and their descendants who emigrated from the United Kingdom. The largest concentrations of people of self-identified British descent in the world outside of the United Kingdom and its Overseas Territories are found in New Zealand (59%),[8] Australia (46%),[9] Canada (31%),[10] the United States (11%)[6] and parts of the Caribbean. Additionally, countries with over 100,000 British expatriates include Spain, the Republic of Ireland, South Africa, France, Germany, and the United Arab Emirates.[11][12]

Countries with significant British ancestry

Total population
Over 120 million[1]
Regions with significant populations
United Kingdom	51,736,290 (81.9% of population)[2]
New Zealand	2,425,278 (59.0% of population)[3]
Australia	10,764,870 (46.0% of population)[4]
Canada	10,753,945 (30.6% of population)[5]
United States	34,275,567 (10.7% of population)[6]
Languages
Predominantly English Also: Welsh, Scottish Gaelic, Irish, Scots, Ulster Scots, Cornish, Manx, British Sign Language
Religion
Predominantly Christianity (Anglican, Presbyterian, Methodist, Roman Catholic etc.)[7];Other

History of British diaspora

Up to the 19th century

After the Age of Discovery, the various peoples of the British Isles, and especially the English, were among the earliest and by far the largest communities to emigrate out of Europe. Indeed, the British Empire's expansion during the first half of the 19th century saw an extraordinary dispersion of the British people, with particular concentrations in Australasia and North America.[13]

The British Empire was "built on waves of migration overseas by British people",[14] who left Great Britain, later the United Kingdom, and reached across the globe and permanently affected population structures in three continents.[13] As a result of the British colonisation of the Americas, what became the United States was "easily the greatest single destination of emigrant British", but in what would become the Commonwealth of Australia the British experienced a birth rate higher than anything seen before, which together with continuing British immigration resulted in a huge outnumbering of indigenous Australians.[13]

In colonies such as Southern Rhodesia, Hong Kong, Singapore, Jamaica, Barbados, British East Africa, and the Cape Colony, permanently resident British communities were established, and while never more than a numerical minority, these Britons exercised a dominant influence upon the culture and politics of those lands.[14] In Australia, Canada, and New Zealand, people of British origin came to constitute the majority of the population, contributing to these states becoming integral to the Anglosphere.[14]

The British emigrated not only to parts of the British Empire, but they went to settle in large numbers in parts of the Americas as well, particularly in the United States and with sizeable numbers to Mexico, Chile and Argentina.

The United Kingdom Census 1861 estimated the size of the overseas British to be around 2.5 million. However, it concluded that most of these were "not conventional settlers" but rather "travellers, merchants, professionals, and military personnel".[13] By 1890, there were over 1.5 million further British-born people living in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and South Africa.[13]

British diaspora today

According to The Foreign and Commonwealth Office, there were 13.1 million British nationals living abroad in 2004–05. These figures are taken from the consular annual returns from overseas posts. There is no requirement for UK citizens to register with British missions overseas, so these figures are therefore based on the most reliable information that can be obtained, e.g. from host government official statistics.[15]

A 2006 publication from the Institute for Public Policy Research estimated that 5.5 million British-born people lived outside the United Kingdom.[12]

In terms of outbound expatriation, in 2009 the United Kingdom had the most expatriates among developed OECD countries, with more than three million British living abroad, a figure followed by Germany and Italy.[16] On an annual basis, emigration from Britain has stood at about 400,000 per year for the past 10 years.[17]

Living abroad as an expatriate can affect certain rights. In particular:

• British expatriates can only vote in general elections if they have been on a British electoral register at some point in the past 15 years. Otherwise, they are not eligible to vote.[18]
• The British Mental Health Act 1983 rules that persons resident abroad do not qualify as "nearest relative" of a person who is ordinarily resident in the United Kingdom, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man.

British people by country

List of countries and territories by population of self-reported British ancestry

Country or Territory	British ancestry	% of population
Pitcairn Islands[19]	49	100%
United Kingdom[2]	51,736,290	82%
Falkland Islands[20]	2,474	80%
New Zealand[8]	2,425,278	59%
Norfolk Island[21]	857	49%
Australia[9]	10,764,870	46%
Canada[10]	10,753,945	31%
Cayman Islands[22]	9,600	30%
Gibraltar[23]	9,100	27%
Bermuda[24]	15,700	25%
Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha[25]	1,408	25%
United States[6]	34,275,567	11%
The Bahamas[26]	38,000	10%
Barbados[27][28]	20,000	7%
Ireland[28]	291,000	7%
Chile[29]	420,000	4%

Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) estimates

In 2006, the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR), a British think tank, published a report on the British diaspora, entitled Brits Abroad. The following table lists the estimated number of British people (defined as people who are British Subjects, such as British citizen, British National Overseas or British Overseas Citizen) living overseas in countries with more than 100 British people, according to the IPPR's report:[12][28]

Rank	Country	Number of British residents, 2006	Region(s)	Group(s)
1	Australia	1,300,000	Asia Pacific	Anglo-Celtic Australian, Cornish Australian, English Australian, Scottish Australian, Welsh Australian
2	Spain	761,000	Europe	Britons in Spain
3	United States	678,000	North America	British American, Cornish American, English American, Welsh American, Scottish American, Scotch-Irish American
4	Canada	603,000	North America	English Canadian, Scottish Canadian, Welsh Canadian, Cornish Canadian
5	Ireland	291,000	Europe	Anglo-Irish people
6	India	250,000	South Asia	Anglo-Indian
7	New Zealand	215,000	Asia Pacific	British New Zealander, Scottish New Zealander
8	South Africa	212,000	Africa	British diaspora in Africa
9	France	200,000	Europe	Britons in France
10	Germany	115,000	Europe	British migration to Germany
11	Portugal	60,000	Europe
12	Cyprus	59,000	Europe
13	UAE	55,000	Mid East	Britons in the United Arab Emirates
14	Pakistan	47,000	Asia	Britons in Pakistan
15	Singapore	45,000	Asia Pacific	Eurasians in Singapore
16	Switzerland	45,000	Europe
17	Israel	44,000	Mid East
18	Netherlands	44,000	Europe	English in the Netherlands
19	Thailand	41,000	Asia Pacific
20	China (including Hong Kong)	36,000^note	Asia Pacific	Britons in China, Britons in Hong Kong, Shanghailander
21	Turkey	34,000	Mid East	Britons in Turkey
22	Kenya	29,000	Africa	British diaspora in Africa
23	Belgium	28,000	Europe
24	Barbados	27,000	Caribbean
25	Saudi Arabia	26,000	Mid East
26	Italy	26,000	Europe
27	Jamaica	25,000	Caribbean	White Jamaicans
28	Japan	23,000	Asia Pacific	Britons in Japan
29	Sweden	18,000	Europe
30	Greece	18,000	Europe
31	Nigeria	16,000	Africa	British Nigerian, British diaspora in Africa
32	Norway	15,000	Europe
33	Egypt	14,000	Africa	Britons in Egypt
34	Philippines	14,000	Asia Pacific
35	Malaysia	13,000	Asia Pacific
36	Trinidad and Tobago	11,000	Caribbean
37	Brazil	11,000	South America	English Brazilian, Scottish Brazilian
38	Bahrain	11,000	Mid East
39	Gaza & West Bank	11,000	Mid East
40	Indonesia	11,000	Asia Pacific
41	Denmark	11,000	Europe
42	Bangladesh	9,200	Asia
43	Malta	9,000	Europe
44	Mexico	8,500	North America	British Mexican
45	Austria	8,500	Europe
46	Argentina	8,300	South America	English Argentine, Welsh Argentine, Scottish Argentine
47	Qatar	8,100	Mid East
48	Oman	7,800	Mid East
49	Malawi	7,400	Africa	British diaspora in Africa
50	Venezuela	7,200	South America
51	Jordan	7,200	Mid East
52	Kuwait	7,100	Mid East
53	Czech Republic	6,800	Europe
54	Brunei	6,400	Asia Pacific
55	Macao	6,300	Asia Pacific
56	Zimbabwe	6,100	Africa	British diaspora in Africa
57	Russia	6,100	Europe
58	Ghana	5,900	Africa	British diaspora in Africa
59	Zambia	5,800	Africa
60	Poland	5,600	Europe
61	Tanzania	5,500	Africa	British diaspora in Africa
62	Luxembourg	5,500	Europe
63	Chile	5,200	South America	British Chilean, English Chilean, Scottish Chilean, Welsh Chilean
64	Hungary	5,200	Europe
65	Botswana	5,000	Africa	British diaspora in Africa
66	Costa Rica	4,800	North America
67	Peru	4,600	South America	British Peruvian
68	Romania	4,500	Europe
69	Sri Lanka	4,400	Asia	Burgher people
70	Bahamas	4,100	Caribbean
71	Vietnam	3,800	Asia Pacific
72	Colombia	3,600	South America
73	Libya	3,600	Africa
74	Gibraltar	3,600	Europe	Gibraltarians
75	Yemen	3,400	Mid East
76	South Korea	3,400	Asia Pacific
77	Iran	2,900	Mid East
78	Antigua and Barbuda	2,800	Caribbean
79	Finland	2,800	Europe
80	Nepal	2,700	Asia
81	Grenada	2,500	Caribbean
82	Uganda	2,500	Africa	British diaspora in Africa
83	Ecuador	2,400	South America
84	Morocco	2,400	Africa
85	Azerbaijan	2,400	Europe
86	Swaziland	2,300	Africa
87	Guyana	2,200	South America
88	Lebanon	2,200	Mid East
89	Syria	2,200	Mid East
90	Belize	2,000	North America
91	Sierra Leone	2,000	Africa
92	Iraq	2,000	Mid East
93	Guatemala	1,900	North America
94	Dominica	1,800	Caribbean
95	Netherlands Antilles	1,800	Caribbean
96	Seychelles	1,800	Africa
97	Namibia	1,700	Africa
98	Mauritania	1,600	Africa
99	Serbia-Montenegro	1,600	Europe
100	St Lucia	1,500	Caribbean
101	Gambia	1,500	Africa	British diaspora in Africa
102	Mozambique	1,400	Africa
103	Tunisia	1,400	Africa
104	St Vincent/Grenadines	1,300	Caribbean
105	Ethiopia	1,300	Africa
106	Sudan	1,300	Africa
107	Ivory Coast	1,200	Africa
108	Dominican Republic	1,100	Caribbean
109	Panama	1,000	North America
110	British Virgin Islands	1,000	Caribbean
111	Cambodia	1,000	Asia Pacific
112	Honduras	950	North America
113	North Macedonia	950	Europe
114	Papua New Guinea	940	Asia Pacific
115	Iceland	940	Europe
116	Falkland Islands	930	South America	Falkland Islanders
117	Afghanistan	900	Asia
118	Ukraine	900	Europe
119	Croatia	890	Europe
120	St Kitts & Nevis	880	Caribbean
121	Bulgaria	800	Europe
122	Kazakhstan	770	Asia
123	Estonia	750	Europe
124	Mauritius	740	Africa
125	Slovakia	740	Europe
126	Uruguay	690	South America
127	Angola	650	Africa	British Angolans
128	Algeria	630	Africa
129	Bermuda	600	Caribbean	White Bermudian
130	Bosnia-Herzegovina	540	Europe
131	Fiji	500	Asia Pacific
132	Bolivia	470	South America
133	Myanmar (Burma)	460	Asia Pacific	Anglo-Burmese
134	Nicaragua	410	North America	English settlement in Nicaragua
135	El Salvador	390	North America
136	DR Congo	390	Africa
137	Latvia	370	Europe
138	Lesotho	350	Africa
139	Mongolia	340	Asia Pacific
140	Paraguay	330	South America
141	Slovenia	330	Europe
142	Monaco	320	Europe
143	Cameroon	300	Africa
144	Madagascar	300	Africa	Britons in Madagascar
145	Lithuania	290	Europe
146	Vanuatu	270	Asia Pacific
147	Anguilla	260	Caribbean
148	Senegal	220	Africa
149	Andorra	210	Europe
150	Tajikistan	200	Asia
151	Georgia	200	Europe
152	Tonga	190	Asia Pacific
153	Albania	190	Europe
154	Cuba	160	Caribbean
155	Montserrat	160	Caribbean
156	Uzbekistan	130	Asia
157	Cayman Islands	110	Caribbean
158	Djibouti	110	Africa
-	Greenland	<100	North America
-	Haiti	<100	Caribbean
-	Puerto Rico	<100	Caribbean
-	Turks & Caicos	<100	Caribbean
-	US Virgin Islands	<100	Caribbean
-	Surinam	<100	South America
-	Benin	<100	Africa
-	Burkina Faso	<100	Africa
-	Cape Verde	<100	Africa
-	Central African Republic	<100	Africa
-	Chad	<100	Africa
-	Congo	<100	Africa
-	Guinea	<100	Africa
-	Liberia	<100	Africa
-	Niger	<100	Africa
-	Rwanda	<100	Africa
-	Somalia	<100	Africa
-	St Helena	<100	Africa
-	Togo	<100	Africa
-	Bhutan	<100	Asia
-	Kyrgyzstan	<100	Asia
-	Maldives	<100	Asia
-	Turkmenistan	<100	Asia
-	Cook Islands	<100	Asia Pacific
-	French Polynesia	<100	Asia Pacific
-	Guam	<100	Asia Pacific
-	Kiribati	<100	Asia Pacific
-	New Caledonia	<100	Asia Pacific
-	Norfolk Island	<100	Asia Pacific
-	North Korea	<100	Asia Pacific
-	Samoa	<100	Asia Pacific
-	Solomon Islands	<100	Asia Pacific
-	Taiwan	<100	Asia Pacific
-	Tuvalu	<100	Asia Pacific
-	Armenia	<100	Europe
-	Belarus	<100	Europe
-	Faroe Islands	<100	Europe
-	Liechtenstein	<100	Europe
-	Moldova	<100	Europe
-	San Marino	<100	Europe

^ Note: A different estimate puts China (incl. Hong Kong) ahead with a population of 3,750,000 British citizens,[30][31] most of which are those in Hong Kong who have continued to possess British nationality, particularly the British nationals (overseas) status, which numbered 3.4 million, through their connection with the former crown colony (see British nationality and Hong Kong for further details).[32]

See also

• Anglosphere
• British Empire
• CANZUK

References

Notes

1. Richards, Eric (2004). Britannia's Children: Emigration from England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland Since 1600. A&C Black. p. 255. ISBN 9781852854416.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
2. British ethnicity
3. 2006 Census Data
4. "Cultural Diversity". Archived from the original on 9 July 2017. Retrieved 2 December 2018.
5. Canada Census
6. "Selected social characteristics in the United States: 2013-2017 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates". US Census Bureau. Archived from the original on 13 February 2020. Retrieved 26 August 2019.
7. 2011 Census: Ethnic group, local authorities in England and Wales, Accessed 13 June 2014
8. Statistics New Zealand (4 February 2009), QuickStats About Culture and Identity, stats.govt.nz, archived from the original on 19 February 2008, retrieved 18 May 2009
9. "CULTURAL DIVERSITY IN AUSTRALIA, 2016". Australian Bureau of Statistics. Archived from the original on 12 August 2017. Retrieved 2 December 2018.
10. "Census Profile, 2016 Census". Statistics Canada. Retrieved 2 December 2018.
11. "The other special relationship: the UAE and the UK - The National".
12. Sriskandarajah, Dhananjayan; Drew, Catherine (2006). Brits Abroad: Mapping the scale and nature of British emigration. London: Institute for Public Policy Research. ISBN 1-86030-307-2.
13. Ember 2004, p. 47.
14. Marshall 2001, p. 254.
15. Department of the Official Report (Hansard), House of Commons, Westminster. "House of Commons Hansard Written Answers for 22 Mar 2006 (pt 15)". Publications.parliament.uk. Retrieved 12 November 2013.
16. "Expatriates worldwide". JustLanded.com. 2009.
17. "Working Abroad". whichoffshore.com. 2010. Archived from the original on 22 March 2010. Retrieved 2 January 2010.
18. "British citizens living abroad - About my vote, produced by The Electoral Commission". Aboutmyvote.co.uk. Archived from the original on 17 January 2011. Retrieved 2 October 2013.
19. Government of the Pitcairn Islands, Repopulation, retrieved 2 December 2018
20. Falkland Islands Government, 2016 Census Report (PDF), stats.govt.nz, retrieved 2 December 2016
21. "2016 Census QuickStats - Norfolk Island". Australian Bureau of Statistics. Retrieved 2 December 2018.
22. "The World Factbook". CIA.
23. Edward G. Archer (2006). "Ethnic factors". Gibraltar, identity and empire. Routledge. p. 36. ISBN 978-0-415-34796-9.
24. "NORTH AMERICA :: BERMUDA". CIA.
25. "AFRICA :: SAINT HELENA, ASCENSION, AND TRISTAN DA CUNHA". CIA.
26. "Bahamas Population 2019". World Population Review.
27. "The World Factbook". CIA.
28. "Brits Abroad". BBC News – Special Reports. BBC. Retrieved 10 December 2014.
29. "Historia de Chile, Británicos y Anglosajones en Chile durante el siglo XIX". Retrieved 11 January 2010.
30. "The Foreign Affairs Committee of the House of Commons put the size of the British expatriate community in Hong Kong at over 3 million". Publications.parliament.uk. Retrieved 12 November 2013.
31. "The FCO had the figure for Hong Kong and China combined at 3,752,031 : Both figures cover all British nationals, including those who are not British citizens". Publications.parliament.uk. Retrieved 12 November 2013.
32. "Lords Hansard, 22 March 2007". UK Parliament.

Bibliography

• Ember, Carol R.; et al. (2004). Encyclopedia of Diasporas: Immigrant and Refugee Cultures Around the World. Springer. ISBN 978-0-306-48321-9.
• Marshall, Peter James (2001). The Cambridge Illustrated History of the British Empire. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-00254-7.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)