Multicultural Britain

Research and Discover

1. Find information about immigration in Norway.

The immigrant population make up 15.6 per cent of the population in Norway. This number includes children who was born in Norway with immigrant parents. The first immigrant flee started around 1950, when the Norwegian economy improved, and there was a need for more workers. Mostly Europeans came to seek for job, but from around 1970 the immigration from Asia, Africa and Latin-America increased as well. Today there are more than 200 different nations represented here! Most of the immigrants are Swedish, Somali, Lithuanian and Pakistani.

2. Compare Norwegian immigration to the British experience! Are the same groups represented? In which parts of the countries do we find immigrants how large are immigrant groups in the two countries? Which groups immigrate today?

The immigration in the two countries are very similar. Both countries have great economy so they need new workers all the time. That’s why most of the immigrants move to bigger (such Oslo, Trondheim, London, Cardiff etc.): To seek for a new job. The immigrants come from all around the world. In England, most of the migrants come from Asia and Africa, whereas in Norway most migrants have European background. Maybe the number of polish and swedish immigrants are not as high in the UK as in Norway, but it’s a fact, that more than 200 nations are represented in both countries. In Britain, 8% of the population defines itself as mixed race or belonging to an ethnic minority, while this number is around 16% in Norway.