UK Heads For
Black Majority Rule
Ethnic population growing - census

13^th February 2003

LONDON - Black people and Asians outnumber whites in two areas of the country for the first time as ethnic minorities grow, official data has shown.

The 2001 census showed that in the London boroughs of Newham and Brent, whites account for less than 50 percent of the population.

Nine percent of England and Wales' 52-million-strong population are from ethnic minorities, up from six percent in the 1991 census, while more than 80 percent describe themselves as white British.

Much of the growth in the ethnic minority population was in African, Bangladeshi and Pakistani communities.

The census -- the first to ask about religion -- also found that England and Wales has a Muslim population of 1.5 million, or 2.7 percent, the largest faith after Christianity.

The census showed major shifts in the social makeup.

There are more lone parents and nearly a third of the population lives in single households.

Just under one in 10 households are lone parent families and more than nine out of 10 of these are headed by a woman.

The percentage of married couples is declining, with just under 51 percent of the adult population, compared with 55 percent in 1991 having tied the knot.

Reuters