British Iraqis are people whose heritage is originated from Iraq who were born in or who reside in the United Kingdom.
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History
The UK has had a significant Iraqi population since the late 1940s. Refugees including liberal and radical intellectuals dissatisfied with the monarchist regime moved to the UK at this time. Supporters of the monarchy subsequently fled to the UK after it was overthrown. According to an International Organization for Migration mapping exercise, many settled Iraqi migrants in the UK moved for educational purposes or to seek a better life in the 1950s and 1960s. Some members of religious minorities were also forced to leave Iraq in the 1950s. Other Iraqis migrated to the UK to seek political asylum during the dictatorship of Saddam Hussein, with large number of Kurds in particular migrating in the 1970s and 1980s, or as a result of the instability that followed the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
Population size
The 2001 UK Census recorded 32,236 Iraqi-born residents, and the Office for National Statistics estimates that, as of 2009, this figure had risen to around 65,000. According to estimates by the Iraqi embassy, the Iraqi population in the UK is around 350,000–450,000. At the time of the Iraqi parliamentary election in January 2005, the International Herald Tribune suggested that 250,000 Iraqi exiles were living in the UK, with an estimated 150,000 eligible to vote.
Population distribution
According to community leaders in March 2007, there are around 15,000 Iraqis in London, 35,000 in Birmingham, 18,000 in Manchester, 8,000 in Cardiff and 5,000 in Glasgow.
Ethnicity
According to the International Organization for Migration, ethnic Kurds are the most numerous ethnic group amongst Iraqis in the UK. There are also sizeable numbers of Arabs, Assyrians and Kurds, as well as Iraqi Turkmen, Armenians, Mandeans and other ethnic groups. In the UK, about 65-70% of people originating from Iraq are Kurdish (and 70% of those from Turkey and 15% of those from iran are Kurds).
Religion
Although the majority of Iraqis are Muslim, there are also minorities including Assyrian Christians, Jews, and followers of Mandeanism, Yazidism and Yarsan.
Notable individuals
Household Iraqi names in Britain include Mothercare founder Selim Zilkha, advertising agents Saatchi & Saatchi, architect Zaha Hadid, and broadcaster Alan Yentob.