page_title: Islam in the United Kingdom
section_title: Somalis
hierarchical_section_title: Islam in the United Kingdom / Demographics / African / Somalis
caption_attribution_description: English: Young Somali women at a Somali community gathering in London with President of Somalia Hassan Sheikh Mohamud (May 2013).
context_page_description: Islam is the second largest religion in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, with results from the United Kingdom 2011 Census giving the UK Muslim population in 2011 as 2,516,000, 4.4% of the total population. The vast majority of Muslims in the United Kingdom live in England: 2,660,116. 76,737 Muslims live in Scotland, 45,950 in Wales. London has the greatest population of Muslims in the country. The majority of Muslims in United Kingdom adhere to Sunni Islam, while smaller numbers are associated with Shia Islam.
  During the Middle Ages, there was some general cultural exchange between Christendom and the Islamic world, however, there were no Muslims in the British Isles. During the Elizabethan age contacts became more explicit as the Tudors made alliances against Catholic Habsburg Spain, including with Morocco and the Ottoman Empire. As the British Empire grew, particularly in India, Britain came to rule territories with many Muslim inhabitants; some of these, known as the lascars are known to have settled in Britain from the mid-18th century onwards.
context_section_description: The United Kingdom, with 43,532 Somalia-born residents in 2001, and an estimated 101,000 in 2008, is home to the largest Somali community in Europe. A 2009 estimate by Somali community organisations puts the Somali population figure at 90,000 residents. The first Somali immigrants were seamen and traders who arrived in small numbers in port cities in the late 19th century, although most Somalis in the UK are recent arrivals. Further more Somali European such as from Holland or Denmark have been emigrating in recent years. Established Somali communities are found in Bristol, Cardiff, Liverpool and London, and newer ones have formed in Leicester, Manchester and Sheffield.
caption: Somali women at a Somali community gathering event in London
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