Scottish Asian (Asian-Scottish or Asian-Scots) is a term defined within the 2011 Scottish census as including people of

Bangladeshi Bangladeshis ( ) are the citizens and nationals of Bangladesh, a South Asian country centred on the transnational historical region of Bengal along the Bay of Bengal, eponymous bay. Bangladeshi nationality law, Bangladeshi citizenship was fo ...

, Chinese, Indian,

Pakistani Pakistanis (, ) are the citizens and nationals of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Pakistan is the fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the second-largest Muslim population as of 2023. As much as ...

or other Asian ancestry resident in Scotland. Their parents or grandparents are normally Asian immigrants. It can also refer to people who are of dual Scottish and Asian ancestry. It combines Asian ethnic background with Scottish national identity. In traditional British usage, the term Asian did not normally include

East Asians East Asian people (also East Asians) are the people from East Asia, which consists of China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan. The total population of all countries within this region is estimated to be 1.677 billion and 21% ...

, who were referred by their respective national origins (e.g. Chinese, Japanese and others) or collectively as "

Oriental The Orient is a term referring to the East in relation to Europe, traditionally comprising anything belonging to the Eastern world. It is the antonym of the term ''Occident'', which refers to the Western world. In English, it is largely a meto ...

", which similar to Scotch can be viewed of as

pejorative A pejorative word, phrase, slur, or derogatory term is a word or grammatical form expressing a negative or disrespectful connotation, a low opinion, or a lack of respect toward someone or something. It is also used to express criticism, hosti ...

when applied to people. By contrast, in traditional North American usage the term Asian did not normally include

South Asians Ethnic groups in South Asia are ethnolinguistic groupings within the diverse populations of South Asia, including the countries of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. Afghanistan is variously considered to be a p ...

but focused on East and Southeast Asians, particularly Chinese, Japanese and Vietnamese. These frames of reference reflect different migration patterns.

Demographics

The

1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

and 2022 censuses recorded the following ethnic groups:

2011 census

In addition to ethnicity, the 2011 census asked about national identity. This article contains quotations from this source, which is available under th
Open Government Licence v3.0
. © Crown copyright. * 34 per cent of all minority ethnic groups felt they had some Scottish identity either on its own or in combination with another identity. This ranged from 60 per cent for people from a mixed background and 50 per cent for those from a Pakistani ethnic group, to 21 per cent for those from an African ethnic group. This compared to 83 per cent for all people in Scotland. * 62 per cent of the total population stated ‘Scottish identity only’ as their national identity, of which 98 per cent stated their ethnicity as ‘White: Scottish’. * 18 per cent of the total population stated ‘Scottish and British identity only’ as their national identity, of which 97 per cent stated their ethnicity as ‘White: Scottish’. * 8 per cent of the total population stated their national identity as ‘British identity only’. Of these, 49 per cent stated their ethnicity as ‘White: Scottish’, 38 per cent were ‘White: Other British’, and 8 per cent were ‘Asian’. * 4 per cent of the total population stated their national identity as ‘Other identity only’ (i.e. no UK identity), 32 per cent of those were ‘White: Other White’, 22 per cent were ‘Asian’ and 21 per cent were ‘White: Polish’.

South Asian communities

Scotland's South Asian population of more than 80,000 is mostly from Indian and

background. The majority are adherents of the

Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

Sikh Sikhs (singular Sikh: or ; , ) are an ethnoreligious group who adhere to Sikhism, a religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Guru Nanak. The term ''Si ...

and

Islamic Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

faiths and are concentrated around urban areas, such as

Greater Glasgow Greater Glasgow is an urban settlement in Scotland consisting of all localities which are physically attached to the city of Glasgow, forming with it a single contiguous urban area (or conurbation). It does not relate to municipal government ...

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

and

Dundee Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...

. However, there are Asian communities in places as small as

Stornoway Stornoway (; ) is the main town, and by far the largest, of the Outer Hebrides (or Western Isles), and the capital of Lewis and Harris in Scotland. The town's population is around 6,953, making it the third-largest island town in Scotlan ...

and as far north as

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

. *

- 4,000 Asians (especially the Hilltown and Stobswell) *

- 26,264 Asians *

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

(and surrounding Greater Glasgow area) - 65,000 Asians (especially Pollokshields,

Pollokshaws Pollokshaws () is an area on the South side of the city of Glasgow, Scotland. It is bordered by the residential neighbourhoods of Auldhouse, Glasgow, Auldhouse to the east, Eastwood, Glasgow, Eastwood and Hillpark, Glasgow, Hillpark to the south ...

, Govanhill,

Newton Mearns Newton Mearns ( ) is a suburban town and the largest settlement in East Renfrewshire, Scotland. It lies southwest of Glasgow City Centre on the A77 road, main road to Ayrshire, above sea level. It has a population of approximately 26,993, stre ...

Bearsden Bearsden ( ) is a town in East Dunbartonshire, Scotland, on the northwestern fringe of Greater Glasgow, approximately from the Glasgow city centre, city centre. The Roman Empire, Roman Antonine Wall runs through the town, and the remains of ...

East Kilbride East Kilbride (; ), sometimes referred to as EK, is the largest town in South Lanarkshire in Scotland, and the country's sixth-largest locality by population. Historically a small village, it was designated Scotland's first "new town" on 6 Ma ...

and Woodlands)

Notable Scottish Asians

Arts and entertainment

* Ali Abbasi, media presenter and writer * Shehzad Afzal, writer director producer and game designer * Danny Bhoy, comedian * Shabana Bakhsh, actress * Serena Dalrymple * Hassan Ghani, journalist and broadcaster * Mahtab Hussain, photographer * Sara Ishaq, film maker * Sanjeev Kohli, actor, TV presenter and property owner *

Hardeep Singh Kohli Hardeep Singh Kohli (born 21 January 1969) is a British presenter, comedian, writer and director who has appeared on various radio and television programmes. Having moved to Scotland at a young age, he has had a long association with the arts i ...

, media presenter *

Katie Leung Katie Leung (born 8 August 1987; ) is a Scottish actress. She first gained fame for playing Cho Chang, Harry Potter's first love interest in the ''Harry Potter'' film series, and subsequently for her roles as Caitlyn Kiramman in the Netflix ...

, actress * MC-VA, rapper *

Aasmah Mir Aasmah Saira Mir ( ; born 7 October 1971) is a Scottish television and radio broadcaster and journalist who used to co-present the Monday-Thursday breakfast programme on Times Radio. Early life Mir was born in Glasgow to first-generation Pakis ...

, television and radio presenter * Shereen Nanjiani, television and radio presenter * Suhayl Saadi, writer * Kiran Sonia Sawar, actress * Marli Siu, actress *

KT Tunstall Kate Victoria "KT" Tunstall (born 23 June 1975) is a Scottish singer-songwriter and musician. She first gained attention with a 2004 live solo performance of her song "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree" on ''Later... with Jools Holland'', and h ...

, musician * Atta Yaqub, actor and model

Business

* Poonam Gupta, businesswoman * Angela Malik, chef and entrepreneur * Tony Singh, chef and entrepreneur

Politics

* Bashir Ahmad - first MSP to be elected from an Asian background. Member of the SNP * Mushtaq Ahmad - Lord Provost of South Lanarkshire * Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh - former SNP MP for Ochil and South Perthshire * Foysol Choudhury - Labour MSP for Lothian region. First MSP of Bangladeshi descent *

Pam Gosal Dr Pam (Permjit) Gosal (born 25 April 1972) is a Scottish Conservatives, Scottish Conservative politician who has been a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for West Scotland (Scottish Parliament electoral region), West Scotland since 2021 ...

- Conservative MSP for West Scotland region. First female MSP of Indian descent * Ayesha Hazarika - Labour political advisor * Bashir Maan - former Labour councillor * Hanzala Malik - former Labour MSP for the Glasgow region; the first Scottish Asian MSP from the

Scottish Labour Scottish Labour (), is the part of the UK Labour Party (UK), Labour Party active in Scotland. Ideologically social democratic and Unionism in the United Kingdom, unionist, it holds 23 of 129 seats in the Scottish Parliament and 37 of 57 Sco ...

party * Nosheena Mobarik - (

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

member of the House of Lords; former MEP for Scotland) * Claude Moraes - former Labour MEP for London * Anum Qaisar-Javed - SNP MP for Airdrie and Shotts * Jainti Dass Saggar - first non-white local authority councillor in Scotland *

Anas Sarwar Anas Sarwar (born 14 March 1983) is a Scottish Labour and Co-operative Party, Co-operative politician who has served as Leader of the Scottish Labour Party since 2021 Scottish Labour leadership election, 2021. He has been a Member of the Scottis ...

- Leader of the Scottish Labour party, first ethnic minority to be leader of a Scottish political party. MSP for Glasgow region (2016–present); former Labour MP for Glasgow Central (2010-2015) * Mohammed Sarwar - former Labour MP for Glasgow Central (1997-2010), father of Anas Sarwar * Kaukab Stewart - SNP MSP for Glasgow Kelvin. First MSP female of colour elected *

Humza Yousaf Humza Haroon Yousaf (; born 7 April 1985) is a Scottish politician who served as First Minister of Scotland and Leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) from March 2023 to May 2024. He served under his predecessor Nicola Sturgeon as Scottish ...

- Former First Minister of Scotland and SNP MSP for Glasgow Pollok

Sport

* Aqeel Ahmed, boxer * Tanveer Ahmed, boxer * Jamie Bhatti, rugby union player * Asim Butt, cricketer * David Changleng, rugby union player and referee * Malcolm Changleng, rugby union player and referee * Ukashir Farooq, boxer * Majid Haq, cricketer * Omer Hussain, cricketer * Moneeb Iqbal, cricketer * Jazz Juttla, former footballer * Vishal Marwaha, hockey player * Rashid Sarwar, former footballer * Safyaan Sharif, cricketer * Qasim Sheikh, cricketer

Other

* Mohammed Atif Siddique, convicted of terrorism offences * Mamta Singhal, winner of the ''Women Engineering Society'' Prize - Young Women Engineer of the Year 2007; finalist for Global MBA student of the Year 2008

Popular culture

* '' Ae Fond Kiss...'' (film on New Scots) * '' Bo Kata'' * Bombay Talkie * '' Nina's Heavenly Delights''

References

{{reflist Asian diaspora in the United Kingdom Ethnic groups in Scotland Immigration to Scotland Scottish people of South Asian descent