How Multicultural is London

Written by Nicole Farid – LIC Board Member

Around 8.8 million people live in London, which had overall growth since 2011 of 6.7%. This growth was strongest in East London which saw an increase of 10%. North, South and West London also had sizeable population increases of 5.6%, 6.5% and 7.5% respectively, but Central London only increased by 0.3%.

Central London has the highest level of population density with 10,936 people per km2, which is almost twice the level of London overall. Still, London overall is 15 times more dense than the rest of England, with 5,596 and 371 people per km2 respectively.

Interestingly to start with how diverse London is did you know over 41% of Londoners are not actually born in the UK? 

This puts into perspective already just how diverse London is. 

A Culinary Kaleidoscope

Growing up in this wonderful city it was always known that there were pockets of culture scattered around London. Let’s take food as an example it’s thought there are over 18,000 restaurants in London and a significant portion of these are of international cuisine. For example if you would like Turkish food you can find Istanbul like grill houses in north London, polish pirogi in Ealing, the finest Indian curries in Southall, delicious dim sum in China town, a juicy jollof rice in south London and the finest grilled middle eastern cuisine in the west. 

Just doing a quick search on google maps of your local high street will display the array of culinary diversity available locally regardless of where in the city you live. London’s areas with the highest population of originally English British people reside in the following three areas; Richmond upon Thames, Kingston upon Thames and Bromley and yet even these areas show you mostly international cuisine. Of course fish and chips, cottage pie and the Sunday roast are also highly appreciated and highly associated with the fine British Culture! 

Cultural Festivals and Diversity

Moving on to other aspects of culture such as art, cultural festivals, multicultural education, language diversity and museums to name a few.

Festivals such as Notting Hill Carnival, Diwali on the Square, Chinese New Year celebrations and Africa on the Square ensure a rich tapestry of multicultural diversity every year in the city. The Notting Hill Carnival alone attracts hundreds of thousands of global attendees annually and is thought to be one of the world’s largest festivals.

Multicultural Education

Let’s have a look at Education, something very personal to parents and many are keen to find ways to pass their cultural traditions to their kids outside of the home too which need not be a challenge when in London.  London’s multiple foreign curriculum and traditional schools can help support this. Some examples of available education are Wen Lin Chinese school London, Lycée Français Charles de Gaulle de Londres, The Japanese School London and the American School London just to name a few. Not to mention out of the UKs 150 universities over 40 of them reside in the capital with thousands of international students attending bringing their culture with them as many universities offer clubs and societies for students to celebrate their cultures. 

Museums: Windows to World Cultures

If you still need persuasion that London is a truly multicultural city you only need a visit to a few of the multiple museums that contain incredible artifacts from around the world such as the Rosetta Stone or Samurai armor and a recent addition of “Luxury and Power: Persia to Greece”. Through the display of 160 objects displayed at the British Museum. without getting too deep into history it’s so easy to learn so much about ancient cultures with just a day out to the museum in London!

Last but not least there is the aspect of language with over 300 languages spoken on a daily basis in one city leaves you to realize just how multicultural London really is! Surely this article by now should give you just a minuscule idea of the richness of culture available to us here in London, if your reading this from abroad then yes take it as yet another tourist guide on why a trip to London is totally worth and highly encouraged!