Changing face of our communities

Some parts of the region have seen rapid changes in the population

Almost a quarter of a million people living in the Yorkshire and Humber region were born outside the UK, the BBC's new Born Abroad website shows.

The decade between 1991 and 2001 saw a 30% increase in foreign-born residents, the largest grouping in Bradford and the smallest in Barnsley.

Parts of Sheffield have seen rapid changes, while in Grimsby just 1.88% of its population were born abroad.

Almost 5% of the region's residents were born outside the UK.

The national average is 7.5%.

Although the figures are measured in thousands, in the 10 years covered by the website, which drew its figures from the 1991 and 2001 census, the overall increase in the number of foreign-born residents as a percentage of the total population of 4.96m increased by just over 1%.

In 1991, just over 180,037 people were born outside the UK and in 2001 that figure had risen to 235,424, a rise of 1.2%.

Almost quarter of a million people born outside the UK live in the Yorkshire and Humber region

The greatest numbers of people born abroad and now living in the region have come from Pakistan and India.

A lot of people had also been born in Germany, although the majority of these would have been the children of families in the forces who had been based on the Rhine.

The largest cluster of foreign-born residents are found in Bradford's university district where 18,579 people, principally from Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and the Caribbean, make up over a third of the population.

Meanwhile, in Barnsley's eastern area just 361 people are living there who were born aboard, a drop of nearly 30% over the decade.

The figures reveal those choosing to live there were born in Germany, India, Poland and the former USSR.

In Leeds, the second largest metropolitan authority in the country, the decade saw a jump of just over 57% or 2,735 people from Asia and the Caribbean making their home in the City district.

Places of birth

While in the Chapel Allerton district the statistics reveal a drop of 7.28% in the number of people living there who were born abroad.

In South Yorkshire, large changes were recorded in Sheffield's east and west city districts.

The city's east region saw a 64% rise in the number of people born abroad, principally from Pakistan, the Caribbean, the Middle East and Somalia. In 1991 the figures stood at 3,028 and a decade later 4,973.

Those choosing to live in the city's western area rose by 79.41% from 4,487 to 8,050. Both sets of figures however show the total percentage of people born abroad but living in the city at between 12 and 15% of the whole population, a rise of just over 5%.

In nearby Rotherham, the town's western half which is closest to Sheffield saw a rise of just over 10% with Pakistan, India, Germany and Iran in the top five places of birth.

Meanwhile, across the town in the eastern area, a jump of 33.69% was recorded with figures rising from 1,674 in 1991 to 2,238 in 2001 with people coming from Pakistan, India, Germany and the former Yugoslavia.

US listening base

In North Yorkshire the ancient City of York has recorded figures of between 46% in the west and 63% increase in the east of the number of people residing in the area who were born abroad.

The figures show Germany and the United States as the top two places of origin cited along with India, Australia, South Africa and Canada. The city is home to many service personnel who are based at both Imphal Barracks and Strensall army camp.

And the area to the north of Selby shows an increase of 83.63% in the number of people residing there who were born abroad, although translated into hard figures this equates to 986 people across the decade.

The majority of them listing Germany, the United States and China as their birth place.

Meanwhile, 32 miles across the county in the spa town of Harrogate the figures reveal an increase of 42.69% over the decade with 2,265 people recorded as having been born abroad in 1991 and 3,232 in 2001.

The United States, Germany, Hong Kong and South Africa are listed within the top five places people were born. The town is less than 10 miles from the US listening base at Menwith Hill.

Across in Hull and East Yorkshire the research shows an increase in the number of people born abroad by 114.34% in rural East Yorkshire with figures rising from 551 to 1,181 across the 10-year span. Even so, these figures represent only 0.77% of the total population of the area. Again, Germany, South Africa, India and Canada feature in the places of birth.

While in the port of Hull the university district saw a 68.50% increase in the number of people born abroad from 1,959 in 1991 to 3,301 in 2001 with many coming from Germany, China, Greece, Iraq and India.

The figures detailing those born abroad in this area represent just 2.22% of the overall population.

And further down the coast at the North East Lincolnshire fishing port of Grimsby a foreign population of just 1.88% is recorded, and within that figure the town is home to people from Denmark and Norway - trawlermen who stayed on after their boats returned home.