British Arabs () are

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

citizens of

Arab Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years ...

descent. They share a common Arab ethnicity,

culture Culture ( ) is a concept that encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and Social norm, norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, Social norm, customs, capabilities, Attitude (psychology), attitudes ...

language Language is a structured system of communication that consists of grammar and vocabulary. It is the primary means by which humans convey meaning, both in spoken and signed language, signed forms, and may also be conveyed through writing syste ...

and identity from different Arab countries. Arabs also come from non-Arab countries as ethnic minorities (e.g. Khuzestani Arabs and Israeli Arabs). The

2021 United Kingdom census 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, Numeral (linguistics), numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest Positive number, positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in o ...

recorded a population of 355,977 or 0.5% of the population in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, with about 40% of the whole population residing in

Greater London Greater London is an administrative area in England, coterminous with the London region, containing most of the continuous urban area of London. It contains 33 local government districts: the 32 London boroughs, which form a Ceremonial count ...

. In 2005, the BBC found that the majority of Arab residents in London hailed from

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...

Yemen Yemen, officially the Republic of Yemen, is a country in West Asia. Located in South Arabia, southern Arabia, it borders Saudi Arabia to Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, the north, Oman to Oman–Yemen border, the northeast, the south-eastern part ...

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

, the Gulf States, and

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

. The 2011 census recorded a population of 249,911 in

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

, with no specific figure recorded for Northern Ireland as the Arab category was introduced later in Northern Ireland.

Overview

Census designation

"British Arabs" is used as an ethnic designation by the National Association of British Arabs. It is also employed by academics, and in the media. Unlike

Black British Black British people or Black Britons"Black Briton, N." ''Oxford English Dictionary''. Oxford UP. December 2024. https://doi.org/10.1093/OED/1136579918. are a multi-ethnic group of British people of List of ethnic groups of Africa, Sub-Saharan ...

or Asian British, the term "British Arab" was not one of those employed in government ethnicity categorisations used in the 2001 UK Census and for national statistics. As a result, community members are believed to have been under-counted in previous population estimates according to the National Association of British Arabs (NABA). This absence of a separate "Arab" category in the UK census obliged many to select other ethnicity categories. In the late 2000s, the British government announced that an "Arab" ethnicity category would be added to the

2011 UK Census A census of the population of the United Kingdom is taken every ten years. The 2011 census was held in all countries of the UK on 27 March 2011. It was the first UK census which could be completed online via the Internet. The Office for National ...

for the first time. The decision came following lobbying by the National Association of British Arabs and other Arab organizations, who argued for the inclusion of a separate "Arab" entry to accommodate under-reported groups from the

Arab world The Arab world ( '), formally the Arab homeland ( '), also known as the Arab nation ( '), the Arabsphere, or the Arab states, comprises a large group of countries, mainly located in West Asia and North Africa. While the majority of people in ...

History

19th century

and the

have engaged in commercial activities with one another since the

medieval times In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and t ...

Yemenis Yemenis or Yemenites () are the Citizenship, citizen population of Yemen. Genetic studies Yemen, located in the southwestern corner of the Arabian Peninsula, serves as a crossroads between Africa and Eurasia. The genomes of present-day Yem ...

began to migrate to Britain since the 1860s via

Aden Aden () is a port city located in Yemen in the southern part of the Arabian peninsula, on the north coast of the Gulf of Aden, positioned near the eastern approach to the Red Sea. It is situated approximately 170 km (110 mi) east of ...

, the main refuelling stop in the area, and settled around the docks in the port cities of

Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

South Shields South Shields () is a coastal town in South Tyneside, Tyne and Wear, England; it is on the south bank of the mouth of the River Tyne. The town was once known in Roman Britain, Roman times as ''Arbeia'' and as ''Caer Urfa'' by the Early Middle Ag ...

, Hull, and

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. At the end of the 19th century, Yemenis working as stokers on

steamship A steamship, often referred to as a steamer, is a type of steam-powered vessel, typically ocean-faring and seaworthy, that is propelled by one or more steam engines that typically move (turn) propellers or paddlewheels. The first steamships ...

s began moving ashore and set up

boarding school A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. They have existed for many centuries, and now extend acr ...

s in the dock area. There are now an estimated 70,000 to 80,000 Yemenis in Britain.

Early 20th century

Iraqis Iraqis ( ; ) are the citizens and nationals of the Republic of Iraq. The majority of Iraqis are Arabs, with Kurds accounting for the largest ethnic minority, followed by Turkmen. Other ethnic groups from the country include Yazidis, As ...

began settling in London in the 1930s, and the UK has had a significant Iraqi population since the 1940s. Liberal and radical dissidents in the

Kingdom of Iraq The Hashemite Kingdom of Iraq was the Iraqi state located in the Middle East from 1932 to 1958. It was founded on 23 August 1921 as the Kingdom of Iraq, following the defeat of the Ottoman Empire in the Mesopotamian campaign of the First World W ...

sought refuge to the UK at the time. Supporters of the monarchy later sought refuge in the UK after it was overthrown in 1958. Arab migration to the United Kingdom significantly began in the 1940s and 1960s when

Egyptians Egyptians (, ; , ; ) are an ethnic group native to the Nile, Nile Valley in Egypt. Egyptian identity is closely tied to Geography of Egypt, geography. The population is concentrated in the Nile Valley, a small strip of cultivable land stretchi ...

and

Moroccans Moroccans () are the Moroccan nationality law, citizens and nationals of the Morocco, Kingdom of Morocco. The country's population is predominantly composed of Arabs and Berbers (Amazigh). The term also applies more broadly to any people who ...

came in search of employment, and this generally increased as the Arab world wrestled for independence from European colonialism.

Late 20th and 21st centuries

The Palestinian exoduses of 1948 and 1967 saw an influx and through the 70s and 80s. More Arabs arrived from the

Gulf A gulf is a large inlet from an ocean or their seas into a landmass, larger and typically (though not always) with a narrower opening than a bay (geography), bay. The term was used traditionally for large, highly indented navigable bodies of s ...

in the 1970s during the oil-boom era to set up businesses. Arab refugees also arrived as a result of conflicts in parts of the Arab world, such as the

Lebanese civil war The Lebanese Civil War ( ) was a multifaceted armed conflict that took place from 1975 to 1990. It resulted in an estimated 150,000 fatalities and led to the exodus of almost one million people from Lebanon. The religious diversity of the ...

from 1975 to 1990 or the instability which followed the invasion of Iraq in 2003. The United Kingdom settled approximately 20,000 Syrian refugees amid the Syrian civil war.

Demographics

Population

The

recorded a population of 355,977 or 0.5% of the population in the United Kingdom. When broken down by country, England recorded 320,215 (0.6%), Wales recorded 11,641 (0.4%) and Northern Ireland recorded 1,817 (0.1%). The equivalent census was recorded a year later in Scotland with a population of 11,641, or 0.4% of the population. The ten local authorities with the largest proportion of British Arabs were largely concentrated in Greater London:

Westminster Westminster is the main settlement of the City of Westminster in Central London, Central London, England. It extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street and has many famous landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Buckingham Palace, ...

(7.56%), Brent (5.27%), Kensington and Chelsea (4.45%),

Ealing Ealing () is a district in west London (sub-region), west London, England, west of Charing Cross in the London Borough of Ealing. It is the administrative centre of the borough and is identified as a major metropolitan centre in the London Pl ...

(4.39%), Hammersmith and Fulham (3.02%),

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

(2.72%), Harrow (2.39%),

Kingston upon Thames Kingston upon Thames, colloquially known as Kingston, is a town in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, south-west London, England. It is situated on the River Thames, south-west of Charing Cross. It is an ancient market town, notable as ...

(2.13%), Camden (2.10%) and Barnet (1.90%). In Wales, the highest proportion was in

at 1.83%; in Scotland, the highest concentration was in

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 ...

at 1.40%; and in Northern Ireland, the highest concentration was in

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

at 0.29%. Including both write-in and tick-box responses, 230,556 Arabs were recorded in the 2011 Census in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, 9,989 in

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

, and 9,366 in Scotland. In NABA's own report on the 2011 Census, it adds up answers from the write-in responses that it classifies as Arab, namely "Arab", "African Arab", "White and Arab", "Moroccan", "Algerian", “Egyptian”, "North African", "Other Middle East", or "White and North African", arguing that this gives a total of 366,769 Arabs in England and Wales but noting that there may be double-counting of individuals in this total, since it is uncertain how many of these individual write-in responses are also included in the general "Arab" category. Most British Arabs live in the

area, and many are either businesspeople, recent

immigrants Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not usual residents or where they do not possess nationality in order to settle as permanent residents. Commuters, tourists, and other short- ...

or students. There are also sizable and long-established Yemeni Arab communities living in both

and the

area near

Newcastle-upon-Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne, or simply Newcastle ( , Received Pronunciation, RP: ), is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is England's northernmost metropolitan borough, located o ...

Religion

Community

A diverse community, British Arabs are represented in the business and media fields, among other areas. Miladi's 2006 survey of 146 community members during the summer of 2001 reported Al-Jazeera as being the respondents' preferred news outlet. Reasons supplied for the selection included the quality of the station's programs and transmission, its discussion of current issues in the Arab world, and the possibility of giving voice to the community's concerns and positions on various matters. Additionally, 2010 was a breakthrough year in terms of political participation. Several British Arabs ran for and/or were appointed to office as community representatives.

Notable British Arabs

* Dennis W. Sciama (1926–1999), British physicist of Syrian-descent who played a role in developing British physics after the Second World War. * Jim Al-Khalili (British Iraqi) Professor of Theoretical Physics, author, broadcaster and presenter of science programmes on BBC radio and television. * Zaha Hadid (British-Iraqi) architect who received the architectural award, the Stirling Prize, in 2010 and 2011 and the first woman to receive the

Pritzker Architecture Prize The Pritzker Architecture Prize is an international award presented annually "to honor a living architect or architects whose built work demonstrates a combination of those qualities of talent, vision and commitment which has produced consisten ...

(in 2004). * Ayman Asfari, Syrian-British billionaire, former CEO of Petrofac * Ronald Mourad: Chairman of The Portland Trust and

Bridges Ventures Bridges Fund Management Ltd. (or Bridges) (Previously Bridges Ventures) is a fund manager that specialises in sustainable and impact investing. It invests in business, properties and social sector organisations, with a focus on four impact them ...

; his parents were originally from Aleppo, Syria. *

Lowkey Kareem Dennis (born 23 May 1986), better known by his stage name Lowkey, is a British rapper and activist from London. He first became known through a series of mixtapes he released before he was 18, before taking a hiatus from the music busi ...

, (British-Iraqi), musician * Kefah Mokbel, (British-Syrian), breast surgeon and founder of the UK charity Breast Cancer Hope. * Mustafa Suleyman, (British-Syrian), entrepreneur and co-founder of

DeepMind DeepMind Technologies Limited, trading as Google DeepMind or simply DeepMind, is a British–American artificial intelligence research laboratory which serves as a subsidiary of Alphabet Inc. Founded in the UK in 2010, it was acquired by Go ...

* Alexander Siddig, (British-Sudanese), actor * Ghassan Abu-Sittah (British-Palestinian), surgeon * Potter Payper, (Algerian-British), singer and rapper. * Rachid Harkouk, (Algerian-British), Footballer * Zeinab Badawi, (British-Sudanese), journalist at BBC world (previously ITV and Channel 4 News). *

Shadia Mansour Shadia Mansour (; born 1985), also known as "the first lady of Arabic hip hop" See also is a British-Palestinian rapper who performs in Arabic and English. Much of her music revolves around Middle Eastern politics. Biography Early life ...

, (British-Palestinian), musician * Nadia Sawalha, (British-Jordanian), television presenter, cook and actress known for her role as Annie Palmer in ''

EastEnders ''EastEnders'' is a British television soap opera created by Julia Smith (producer), Julia Smith and Tony Holland which has been broadcast on BBC One since February 1985. Set in the fictional borough of Walford in the East End of London, the ...

''. * Kamal El-Hajji, (British-Moroccan), Serjeant-at-Arms of the House of Commons (in 2015). * Moe Sbihi (British-Moroccan), rower and twice Olympic medal winner. * Saleem Haddad, writer *

Naseem Hamed Naseem Hamed (Arabic: نسيم حميد; born 12 February 1974), nicknamed Prince Naseem and Naz, is a British former professional boxer who competed from 1992 to 2002.Davies, Gareth A (8 June 2015)"Prince Naseem Hamed: 'I always thought they w ...

, (British-Yemeni), professional boxer who held multiple

featherweight Featherweight is a weight class in the combat sports of boxing, kickboxing, mixed martial arts, and Greco-Roman wrestling. Boxing Professional boxing History A featherweight boxer weighs in at a limit of . In the early days of the division, ...

world championships. * Kaid Mohamed: (British-Yemeni) professional footballer. * Norman Hassan: musician, member of

UB40 UB40 are an English reggae band, formed in December 1978 in Birmingham, England. The band has had more than 50 singles in the UK Singles Chart and has also achieved considerable international success. They have been nominated for the Grammy ...

* Isabella Hammad (British-Palestinian), writer * Bilal Hasna (British-Palestinian), actor. * Elyes Gabel, (British-Algerian), actor in Seasons 1 and 2 of the ''

Game of Thrones ''Game of Thrones'' is an American Fantasy television, fantasy Drama (film and television), drama television series created by David Benioff and for HBO. It is an adaptation of ''A Song of Ice and Fire'', a series of high fantasy novels by ...

''. * Faysal Bettache, (British-Algerian), professional footballer. * Tarik O'Regan, (British-Algerian), composer and recipient of two British Composer Awards. *

Mika (singer) Michael Holbrook Penniman Jr. (born 18 August 1983), known professionally as Mika ( , stylised in all caps), is a singer-songwriter born in Beirut, Lebanon, and raised in Paris and London. After recording his first extended play, ''Dodgy Ho ...

, (British-Lebanese), singer and songwriter. *

Amal Clooney Amal Clooney (; born ) is a British International human rights law, international human rights lawyer. She has represented several high-profile clients, including former Maldivian president Mohamed Nasheed, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, form ...

, (British-Lebanese) barrister specialising in international law and human rights and special envoy on media freedom by the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office. * Peter Medawar - (British-Lebanese Father), 1960 Nobel Prize winner in Medicine. * Layla Michelle Moran, (British-Palestinian), member of Parliament, Liberal Democrat MP for Oxford West and Abingdon. * Eugene Cotran, (British-Palestinian), Circuit judge in England. *

Jade Thirlwall Jade Amelia Thirlwall (born 26 December 1992) is an English singer. Her music career began at the age of 15, when she auditioned for ''The X Factor (British TV series), The X Factor UK'' on three occasions before rising to prominence as a member ...

, (Egyptian/Yemeni), musician, part of

Little Mix Little Mix are an English girl group that formed on the eighth series of ''The X Factor (British TV series), The X Factor.'' They are the first group and the only girl group to win the original UK series. The lineup consisted of Leigh-Anne Pin ...

. * Adam El-Abd, (British-Egyptian), semi-professional footballer and played Egypt national team. * Joe El-Abd, (British-Egyptian), rugby union player. * Khalid Abdalla, (British-Egyptian), actor and activist from

Maida Vale Maida Vale ( ) is an affluent residential district in North West London, England, north of Paddington, southwest of St John's Wood and south of Kilburn, on Edgware Road. It is part of the City of Westminster and is northwest of Charing C ...

. * Mike Bishay, (British-Egyptian), rugby league footballer of Greek and Sri Lankan descent. * Ben Bland, (British-Egyptian), presenter and journalist for the BBC News of Lithuanian-Jewish and Russian-Jewish descent. * Fady Elsayed, (British-Egyptian), actor. * Abdel-Majed Abdel Bary, (British-Egyptian), former rapper * Sara Ishaq: (British-Yemeni) filmmaker. Her short documentary ''Karama Has No Walls'' was nominated for an Academy Award (in 2014) and BAFTA New Talent (in 2013). * Ella Al-Shamahi: (British-Yemeni) biologist and comedian. * Shatha Altowai: (British-Yemeni) visual artist * Saber Bamatraf, (British-Yemeni) pianist, composer and cultural activist. *

Abtisam Mohamed Abtisam Mohamed (born May 1980) is a British Labour Party politician who has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Sheffield Central since 2024. She is the first Yemeni woman to be elected as a British MP. Early life Mohamed was born in Yemen. ...

: (British-Yemeni) MP for Sheffield Central, first UK MP with Yemeni heritage. * Amir El-Masry, (British-Egyptian), actor known for '' The Night Manager'' and '' Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan'' * Magdi Yacoub (British-Egyptian) Cardiothoracic surgeon, carried out UK's first heart and lung transplant in the 1980s. * Layla Kaylif, (British-Emirati), singer * Nemir Kirdar, Iraqi businessman

Notes

References

External links

National Association of British ArabsArab British Centre British Arabs Resource Centre
Broken link
Arab British Chamber of Commerce (ABCC)BBC Arab LondonReassessing what we collect website – Arab London
History of Arab London with objects and images - Broken link {{UK census ethnic groups Muslim communities in Europe