Immigration to the UK increased in the 1950s as the country sought cheap labor after World War II. Immigrants came primarily from Commonwealth countries like the West Indies and Indian subcontinent. By the 1970s, over 1.4 million immigrants lived in the UK, though prejudice and racial tensions rose. Subsequent decades saw stricter immigration controls balanced with growing protections for ethnic minorities and anti-discrimination laws, as the non-white population continued increasing to over 5 million by 2001.

1. UK: IMMIGRATION AND CULTURAL DIVERSITY

9. 2001 Census Ethnic group Number Percent of pop. Indian 1,053,411 1.8 Pakistani 747,285 1.3 Bangladeshi 283,063 0.5 Ohter Asian 247,644 0.4 Black Caribbean 565,876 1.0 Black African 485,277 0.8 Black (others) 97,585 0.2 Chinese 247,403 0.4 Mixed race 677,117 1.2