A
British Bangladeshi is a person of
Bangladeshi origin who resides in the United Kingdom having immigrated to the UK and attained citizenship through naturalisation or whose ancestors did so. They are also known as
British Bengalis, in reference to the
main ethnic group from that region. Large numbers of Bangladeshis immigrated to the UK, primarily from
Sylhet, located in the north-east of the country, mainly during the 1970s. The largest concentration is in London, primarily in the east London boroughs, of which
Tower Hamlets has the highest proportion, making up approximately 37% of the borough's total population. This large
diaspora in London leads people in Bangladesh to refer to British Bangladeshis as "Londonis". There are also significant numbers of British Bangladeshis in
Birmingham,
Oldham,
Luton,
Burnley and
Bradford, with smaller clusters in
Manchester,
Newcastle upon Tyne,
Rochdale,
Cardiff, and
Sunderland. There exists some confusion over the term 'British Bengali' as there are British people of Indian descent who might have some ancestors from the Bengal region of India. Following the
partition of Bengal this is now split between West Bengal in India (from the partition of India and Pakistan) and the nation of
Bangladesh, formerly East Pakistan