There are about 59 million people in the UK. Five per cent come from the ethnic minority communities, and many were born in this country.

Immigration began many years ago from countries like India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, China, Africa and the Caribbean, and some families are now in their third generation of UK residence. Most are settled and make a rich contribution to the life of the nation. However, older members of these communities may still yearn to return to their country of origin, while younger members born in the UK may feel as if they are caught between two cultures, and not fully accepted in either. They have the same rights and freedoms as other UK citizens, but may suffer racial harassment and prejudice because of a different skin colour.

The number of Muslims in Britain is generally thought between one and a half and two million. Half come from Pakistan, with the Middle East and North Africa accounting for around a quarter. Both Bangladesh and India contribute significant numbers and many are coming as refugees from Afghanistan, Bosnia, Iran, Iraq, Somalia and North Africa.

The largest Muslim communities can be found in Greater London, the West Midlands, West Yorkshire, Lancashire and Central Scotland. 90% are from the Sunni tradition, and the rest are mainly from the Shi'ia tradition.

After the Partition of India in 1947, large numbers of Sikhs migrated to the industrial centres of London, Birmingham and West Yorkshire to work as factory labourers and technicians. Today Sikhs are mainly in Ealing, Southall and East Ham in Greater London. During the last ten years, many Sikhs from Africa - mostly Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania - have settled in Britain and often opened commercial ventures. The UK Sikh population is between a quarter and half a million.

The 500,000 Hindus in the UK come from the same areas as Muslims and Sikhs. Hindu temples, mosques and gurd-waras can be found in many town centres these days. There are also about fourteen Buddhist centres and many other houses and temples serving the devotees of the Buddhist faith.

But there are also a sizeable number of Christians within the ethnic minority communities, both those who were brought up in the Christian tradition and those who have converted to a living faith in Christ from another faith.
Although people of other faiths and cultures have been a part of our national life for many years, there can still be a lack of acceptance. This is especially true as British culture becomes increasingly secular: many from other faiths reject what they see of secular white culture, equating Western values with Christian ones, which a large proportion of the general population still hold.