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Iraq

Overview

The history of people born in Iraq living in Britain is one largely of escape from Saddam Hussein.

The communities are not homogenous. Some are ethnically Kurdish from the north of the country. Some belong to other communities, such as Shia Muslims from the south.

The figures in the 2001 Census need to be treated with caution as the number of Iraqis living in Britain has changed rapidly because of asylum movements into western Europe.

At the time of the Census there were about 32,000 Iraq-born people in Britain. We do not know how that figure has changed over time as Iraq-born people were not separately recorded before 2001.

Concentrations of people born in Iraq

Map on right shows country as if areas with roughly equal populations were the same size. So, densely populated London takes up much more space than sparsely populated Scottish Highlands.

At-a-glance
32,251 people born in Iraq were recorded by the Census in 2001. 10 cities outside London show significant arrivals of Iraq-born people, reflecting the asylum dispersal programme. 6 of the top 10 clusters are in western areas of London. 19 of the top 20 local areas for Iraq-born people are in London. The other area is Ladywood in Birmingham.

Click column titles to sort table by that column.

Distribution of people born in Iraq

	TOTAL NUMBERS			AS % OF ALL PEOPLE
Sort by: Nation/region	1991	2001	+/- %	1991	2001	+/- %
Whole of Britain	n/a	32,251	n/a	n/a	0.06	n/a

East Midlands	n/a	608	n/a	n/a	0.01	n/a
East of England	n/a	1,313	n/a	n/a	0.02	n/a
London	n/a	17,286	n/a	n/a	0.24	n/a
North East	n/a	789	n/a	n/a	0.03	n/a
North West	n/a	2,419	n/a	n/a	0.04	n/a
Scotland	n/a	1,374	n/a	n/a	0.03	n/a
South East	n/a	2,654	n/a	n/a	0.03	n/a
South West	n/a	808	n/a	n/a	0.02	n/a
Wales	n/a	874	n/a	n/a	0.03	n/a
West Midlands	n/a	2,158	n/a	n/a	0.04	n/a
Yorks & Humber	n/a	1,968	n/a	n/a	0.04	n/a

Most popular areas

		TOTAL NUMBERS			AS % OF ALL PEOPLE
Area	Regions	1991	2001	+/- %	1991	2001	+/- %
Regent's Park	London	n/a	1,076	n/a	n/a	1.48	n/a
Acton	London	n/a	815	n/a	n/a	1.20	n/a
Hyde Park	London	n/a	740	n/a	n/a	1.11	n/a
Greenford	London	n/a	736	n/a	n/a	1.13	n/a
Ealing Broadway	London	n/a	718	n/a	n/a	1.35	n/a
Southall W	London	n/a	440	n/a	n/a	0.68	n/a
Queensbury	London	n/a	436	n/a	n/a	1.14	n/a
Kensington	London	n/a	426	n/a	n/a	0.68	n/a
Hammersmith	London	n/a	413	n/a	n/a	0.62	n/a
Cricklewood	London	n/a	382	n/a	n/a	0.75	n/a

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