page_title: Lakemba, New South Wales
section_title: Population
hierarchical_section_title: Lakemba, New South Wales / Population
caption_attribution_description: English: Photo taken 15 Nov 2006 by blu3d facing North East on Lakemba Street, Lakemba.
context_page_description: Lakemba is a suburb south west of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Lakemba is located 12 kilometres south west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Canterbury-Bankstown.
context_section_description: In the 2016 Census, there were 17,023 people in Lakemba.
  Lakemba has had a diverse demographic history. Like most of the rest of Australia, its first non-Aboriginal inhabitants in the nineteenth century were British and Irish settlers. By the mid-twentieth century, the suburb had absorbed large numbers of Greek and Italian arrivals. Local businesses and clubs reflected this in Mediterranean delicatessens, take-away shops and the Greek Orthodox Club.
  From the mid-1970s, Lakemba became very popular with migrants from Lebanon and by the mid-1990s the area was considered a centre of Lebanese Australian life. The founding of the Lakemba Mosque and the establishment of specialised restaurants, take-away shops, grocery shops, clothing and book sellers has encouraged a general perception of Lakemba as a predominantly Arab and Muslim suburb, particularly in the media. In recent times Lakemba has seen a large increase of people with Bangladeshi ancestry.
  In 2016 31.5% of people were born in Australia. The most common countries of birth were Bangladesh 15.4%, Pakistan 6.6%, India 5.0%, Myanmar 4.7% and Lebanon 4.0%.
  In terms of ancestry, the largest group in 2016 were those claiming Bangladeshi ancestry with 12.9%, followed by Lebanese 7.7%, Australian 6.7%, Indian 6.6% and Pakistani 6.0%.
  14.7% of people only spoke English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Bengali 18.7%, Arabic 13.7%, Urdu 10.3%, Vietnamese 4.0% and Rohingya 3.9%.
  In the 2011 census, the most common responses for religion were Islam 51.8% (8031), Catholic 13.4% (2072), Eastern Orthodox 6.2% (959), No Religion 5.3% (828) and Buddhism 4.3% (666). In 2016, the most common responses in Lakemba were Islam 59.2%, Catholic 10.3%, Not stated 8.5%, No Religion 6.5% and Eastern Orthodox 5.1%.
caption: Lakemba Street, view north-east towards the Sydney CBD
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