I remember not long ago the BBC initiated an event of choosing the most culturally diverse English-speaking city with candidate cities like London, New York, Sydney and Toronto, etc. Here I wonder what the antimooners think of this issue. Of course you can talk about other non-Englsih-speaking cities which you think are worth discussing and comparing, if you like.
Which English-speaking city is most culturally diverse?
Take it from me - it's London. It just has to be London - this forum is all about Languages, and this particular section is about the English Language.
Officially, London is an English city, the capital of an English speaking country, but very often you wouldn't think so if you went there and wandered around all the city's 32 boroughs. You'd be really hard pressed to hear much English being spoken all around you - in fact, native born Brits are very much in the minority in some areas of the London, where there are officially over 300 different Languages being spoken in the entire metropolitan area.
Even in the West End you only have to take the short walk along Coventry Street from Leicester Square to Piccadilly Circus and I guarantee that you will hear very little English being spoken. Go a wee bit further north west and walk up the Edgware Road from Marble Arch towards Paddington Green and you will think you've been transported to somewhere in the Middle East - the whole area is a kind of a miniature Lebanon.....great restaurants though!
Go a lot further west to Southall or Ealing and a white face is a rarity, as are native English speakers, and minarets grace the West London skyline. Much of London could be the Caribbean, with it's own brand of English - a kind of ghetto-speak - but without the sunshine and palm trees, and whole areas of East London ring to the sound of East European Languages (that could be said of many other parts of the UK, really).
All this makes for a very rich diversity of cultures and, of course, Languages, but it is now beginning to cause some resentment among the native born Brits. Not so much in London, perhaps, which has always been a very culturally diverse city, and one which, over the centuries, has always welcomed people who have sought refuge there for one reason or another as a result of persecution in their own native lands, from the French Huguenots to the Continental Jews escaping Nazi tyranny, and nowadays others fleeing persecution or poverty in other parts of the world, as well as people from other EU countries who now have the right of entry as a matter of course. That in itself is now very much a hot issue and turning into a simmering pot, even though they are fellow Europeans.
Because of the resentment from native Brits which I mentioned, there are now Government initiatives being put into place (or so we're being told but who knows with this load of ******* muppets running the country!) to force all immigrants to London and the rest of the UK to learn to speak (and use) the English Language, and to accept British standards, or else it's a case of bye bye and don't come back. This is a tight little island and we just can't accommodate an ever flowing incoming tide of immigrants.
It's not unusual to hear frustrated comments like "Just whose country is this anyway?" being muttered in the streets of the UK, not just London.
Yes - it's London, in my opinion. People in some other British cities may think otherwise.....
Officially, London is an English city, the capital of an English speaking country, but very often you wouldn't think so if you went there and wandered around all the city's 32 boroughs. You'd be really hard pressed to hear much English being spoken all around you - in fact, native born Brits are very much in the minority in some areas of the London, where there are officially over 300 different Languages being spoken in the entire metropolitan area.
Even in the West End you only have to take the short walk along Coventry Street from Leicester Square to Piccadilly Circus and I guarantee that you will hear very little English being spoken. Go a wee bit further north west and walk up the Edgware Road from Marble Arch towards Paddington Green and you will think you've been transported to somewhere in the Middle East - the whole area is a kind of a miniature Lebanon.....great restaurants though!
Go a lot further west to Southall or Ealing and a white face is a rarity, as are native English speakers, and minarets grace the West London skyline. Much of London could be the Caribbean, with it's own brand of English - a kind of ghetto-speak - but without the sunshine and palm trees, and whole areas of East London ring to the sound of East European Languages (that could be said of many other parts of the UK, really).
All this makes for a very rich diversity of cultures and, of course, Languages, but it is now beginning to cause some resentment among the native born Brits. Not so much in London, perhaps, which has always been a very culturally diverse city, and one which, over the centuries, has always welcomed people who have sought refuge there for one reason or another as a result of persecution in their own native lands, from the French Huguenots to the Continental Jews escaping Nazi tyranny, and nowadays others fleeing persecution or poverty in other parts of the world, as well as people from other EU countries who now have the right of entry as a matter of course. That in itself is now very much a hot issue and turning into a simmering pot, even though they are fellow Europeans.
Because of the resentment from native Brits which I mentioned, there are now Government initiatives being put into place (or so we're being told but who knows with this load of ******* muppets running the country!) to force all immigrants to London and the rest of the UK to learn to speak (and use) the English Language, and to accept British standards, or else it's a case of bye bye and don't come back. This is a tight little island and we just can't accommodate an ever flowing incoming tide of immigrants.
It's not unusual to hear frustrated comments like "Just whose country is this anyway?" being muttered in the streets of the UK, not just London.
Yes - it's London, in my opinion. People in some other British cities may think otherwise.....
Adding my vote to London. New York is coming up there, but London has been around longer.
London is culturally diverse mostly since the end of the WWII when many Pakistans, Indians and peoples of other former British colonies migrated to the capital of their metropolis, but NY early at the begining of the XX century received many migrants from Germany, Italy , Sweden and many other parts. So I don't think that London began dealing with multiculturalism before than NY. This is a younger city but with a lot of experience about cultural diversity. NY has the biggest Chinatown in the world. Almost every culture in the world is represented in NY, so I don't think how other cities could be more cultural diversity.
London vs. New York seem to be contending for the title. Neither city I have ever been to, but I hope one day I can.
Toronto (Ontario), Vancouver (BC), San Francisco (Cali), L.A. (Cali) and NYC (NY).
A comparison:
LONDON
Population: 7,517,700
Foreign born: 24.8%
White: 71.2%
South Asian (Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, etc): 12.1%
Black: 10.9%
Multiracial: 3.2%
Chinese: 1.12%
Other (mostly Filipino, Japanese and Vietnamese): 1.6%
Christian: 58.2%
Non-affiliated: 15.8%
Muslim: 7.2%
Hindu: 4.1%
Jewish: 2.1%
Sikh: 1.5%
Other: 11.1%
Language other than English spoken at home: 20.1%
LOS ANGELES
Population: 4,018,080
Foreign born: 40.9%
White (including Hispanic): 46.9%
Hispanic (of any race): 46.5%
White (non-Hispanic): 29.8%
Asian (Chinese, Filipino, Japanese, Korean, etc): 12.3%
Black: 9.7%
Multiracial: 5.2%
Native American: 0.8%
South Asian: 0.7%
Pacific Islander: 0.2%
Other: 25.7%
Christian: ??
Non-affiliated: ??
Jewish: 13.3%
Muslim: 1.0%
Other: ??
Language other than English spoken at home: 57.8%
NEW YORK
Population: 8,085,742
Foreign born: 35.9%
White (including Hispanic): 44.7%
White (non-Hispanic): 37.0%
Hispanic (of any race): 27.0%
Black: 26.6%
Asian: 9.8%
Multiracial: 4.9%
South Asian: 3.5%
Native American: 0.5%
Pacific Islander: 0.1%
Other: 13.4%
Christian: 66%
Non-affiliated: 14.5%
Jewish: 12.0%
Muslim: 7.5%
Language other than English spoken at home: 47.6%
SYDNEY
Population: 3,455,110
Foreign born: 31.2%
White : ??
Asian: 14.5%
Middle Eastern: 5.3%
Indigenous Australian: 1.0%
Other: ??
Christian: 64.0%
Non-affiliated: 14.1%
Muslim: 3.9%
Hindu: 1.7%
Jewish: 0.9%
Buddhist: 3.7%
Other: 11.7%
Language other than English spoken at home: 36.0%
TORONTO
Population: 2,503,281
Foreign born: 43.7%
White (non-Hispanic): 57.2%
Asian: 16.0%
South Asian: 10.3%
Hispanic (of any race): 2.2%
Black: 8.3%
Other: 6.0%
Christian: 61.4%
Non-affiliated: 16.6%
Muslim: 6.7%
Hindu: 4.8%
Jewish: 4.2%
Buddhist: 2.7%
Sikh: 0.9%
Other: 4.0%
Language other than English spoken at home: 48.1%
LONDON
Population: 7,517,700
Foreign born: 24.8%
White: 71.2%
South Asian (Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, etc): 12.1%
Black: 10.9%
Multiracial: 3.2%
Chinese: 1.12%
Other (mostly Filipino, Japanese and Vietnamese): 1.6%
Christian: 58.2%
Non-affiliated: 15.8%
Muslim: 7.2%
Hindu: 4.1%
Jewish: 2.1%
Sikh: 1.5%
Other: 11.1%
Language other than English spoken at home: 20.1%
LOS ANGELES
Population: 4,018,080
Foreign born: 40.9%
White (including Hispanic): 46.9%
Hispanic (of any race): 46.5%
White (non-Hispanic): 29.8%
Asian (Chinese, Filipino, Japanese, Korean, etc): 12.3%
Black: 9.7%
Multiracial: 5.2%
Native American: 0.8%
South Asian: 0.7%
Pacific Islander: 0.2%
Other: 25.7%
Christian: ??
Non-affiliated: ??
Jewish: 13.3%
Muslim: 1.0%
Other: ??
Language other than English spoken at home: 57.8%
NEW YORK
Population: 8,085,742
Foreign born: 35.9%
White (including Hispanic): 44.7%
White (non-Hispanic): 37.0%
Hispanic (of any race): 27.0%
Black: 26.6%
Asian: 9.8%
Multiracial: 4.9%
South Asian: 3.5%
Native American: 0.5%
Pacific Islander: 0.1%
Other: 13.4%
Christian: 66%
Non-affiliated: 14.5%
Jewish: 12.0%
Muslim: 7.5%
Language other than English spoken at home: 47.6%
SYDNEY
Population: 3,455,110
Foreign born: 31.2%
White : ??
Asian: 14.5%
Middle Eastern: 5.3%
Indigenous Australian: 1.0%
Other: ??
Christian: 64.0%
Non-affiliated: 14.1%
Muslim: 3.9%
Hindu: 1.7%
Jewish: 0.9%
Buddhist: 3.7%
Other: 11.7%
Language other than English spoken at home: 36.0%
TORONTO
Population: 2,503,281
Foreign born: 43.7%
White (non-Hispanic): 57.2%
Asian: 16.0%
South Asian: 10.3%
Hispanic (of any race): 2.2%
Black: 8.3%
Other: 6.0%
Christian: 61.4%
Non-affiliated: 16.6%
Muslim: 6.7%
Hindu: 4.8%
Jewish: 4.2%
Buddhist: 2.7%
Sikh: 0.9%
Other: 4.0%
Language other than English spoken at home: 48.1%
Dude Who Knows
Wow, I apprecite what you have presented above!
Oh the statistics, if they stand to be reliable, speak louder than words and claims.
Of all the indicators listed above to evaluate diversity, I think the percentage of foreign-born people and its size, is the most important factor. So the ranking based on such a percentage of these 5 cities should be:
Toronto ( 43.7%) ＞ LOS ANGELES ＞( 40.9% ) ＞
NEW YORK (35.9% ) ＞ SYDNEY ( 31.2%) ＞London ( 24.8% )
Wow, I apprecite what you have presented above!
Oh the statistics, if they stand to be reliable, speak louder than words and claims.
Of all the indicators listed above to evaluate diversity, I think the percentage of foreign-born people and its size, is the most important factor. So the ranking based on such a percentage of these 5 cities should be:
Toronto ( 43.7%) ＞ LOS ANGELES ＞( 40.9% ) ＞
NEW YORK (35.9% ) ＞ SYDNEY ( 31.2%) ＞London ( 24.8% )