| Notable British people of Guyanese origin: Valerie Amos, Leona Lewis, Randy Turpin, Eddy Grant, Mark Ramprakash, CCH Pounder |
| Total population |
|---|
| 20,872 Guyanese-born (2001 Census) 24,000 Guyanese-born (2009 estimate) |
| Regions with significant populations |
| London, Birmingham, Manchester |
| Languages |
|
English (British English, Guyanese Creole), Akawaio, Hindi, Macushi, Wai-Wai, Arawakan, Cariban |
| Religion |
|
Hinduism, Pentecostalism, Roman Catholic, Islam, Anglicanism |
| Related ethnic groups |
|
Guyanese people, British African-Caribbean community, Caribbean British, Black British, Black African, Multiracial, Indo-Caribbean, Indo-Guyanese, Amerindian |
| Footnotes |
| * Please note that in 2001 only 40.4% of Afro-Caribbeans in the UK were actually born in the Caribbean, 59.6% were born elsewhere (of which 57.9% of the total ethnic groups population was born in the UK)[1] |
Guyanese in the United Kingdom are citizens or residents of the United Kingdom whose origins lie in the South American nation of Guyana.
Contents |
At the time of the 2001 UK Census there were 20,872 Guyanese-born people in the UK.[2] In 2001, Guyana was the sixth most common birthplace within the Americas for people in the UK and on a global scale it ranked as the 51st most common birthplace of people resident in the UK.[2] Estimates published by the Office for National Statistics suggest that the Guyanese-born population of the UK was 24,000 in 2009.[3]
Guyanese immigrants have had an influence on recent literature in the UK, significant numbers of writers and poets have made their footprint on current British culture and have became everyday household names.[4] It is however claimed that this trend of success in the field has not continued through to the second and third-generation Guyanese Britons.[4] The late Beryl Gilroy was a significant figure within the Afro-Caribbean diaspora in the UK, the highly resected Guyanese-born novelsit became the first black headteacher of any school in the country.[4] Another important literary figure of the Guyanese British community and the UK as a whole is John Agard. Agard is probably the most famous Black British poet and he has been recognised with many awards. Pauline Melville's relatively small output of works lead to such awards as Guardian Fiction Prize, the Macmillan Silver Pen Award and the Commonwealth Writers Prize for best first book.[4] Wilson Harris whose finest moment was receiving the first ever Guyana Prize for Literature, Harris like many other Guyanese writers in the UK has been heavily influenced and inspired by the culture and history of his homeland.[4] Indo-Guyanese writer David Dabydeen who now lives in the UK has interests that lie in the slave trading history of Guyana as well as contemorary Caribbean culture in the UK.[5] It is however claimed that this trend of success in the field has not continued through to the second and third-generation Guyanese Britons.[4] Other writers such as Roy Heath and Michael Abbensetts have also helped create a greater knowledge of Guyanese culture in the UK, and they are easily one of the most successful literary diaspora communities as a whole in recent British history.[4]
The music of Guyana is a mix of Indian, African, European and native elements, it is very similar to the music of various other Caribbean nations, where regaee music, soca and calypso prove the most popular.[6] These forms of music have worked their way into British life by the Guyanese community of the UK and even by several famous Guyanese musicians who have migrated to the UK. The influence of Caribbean music in the United Kingdom is evident in many walks of life, many contemporary artists base their work on the reggae and calypso styles of Guyana although not a particularly recent artist Eddy Grant, a Guyanese-born immigrant to the UK has helped popularise such genres as reggae through his global hits such as "Electric Avenue" and "I Don't Wanna Dance".[7] Reggae has proven the most successful subcategory of Guyanese music (and Caribbean music in general) in the UK and Grant himself is noted as saying "in my heart, I know that Soca and Ringbang have the same potential as reggae to achieve great popularity… but there has never been any proper commitment to marketing these artists and their music. We are not Sony, and the artists on board realise it will take time. It is an upliftment process".[7] Despite this, as the Guyanese community in the UK has advanced in to its second and third generations, evidence of traditional Guyanese elements in the music has begun to decrease. British-born individuals of Guyanese origin have in particular become more mainstream and modernised. The most recent success story of a British singer of Guyanese origin is Leona Lewis, the Londoner whose music is largely Pop and R&B won series three of the talent contest The X Factor.[8] She has attained three number one hits in the UK and it the only solo British female in over two decades to have reached the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100. Traditional Guyanese acts and British acts influenced by such genres as reggae, soca and calypso can be found in festivals across the country, the most famous being the Notting Hill Carnival (the world's second largest street festival).[9]
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