[Madhatter]

In British English the word "Asian" usually refers to those of South Asian ancestry, such as Indians, Pakistanis, Bangladeshis and Sri Lankans; those of East Asian origin, such as Chinese or Japanese, and Southeast Asian origin are usually not included in the term; this is reflected in the "ethnic group" section of UK census forms and other government paperwork, which treat "Asian" and "Chinese" as separate.

Although increasingly common, the term is, like "Black Briton", somewhat contested. Some consider the term "Asian" somewhat vague given the wide variety of religious, ethnic, and racial groups in both South Asia and Britain, and prefer specific labels based on nationality (e.g. "British Indian"), religion (e.g. "British Muslim"), or ethnic/language community (e.g. "British Bengali"). Others see a certain degree of unity in the South Asian diaspora; the term Desi is sometimes used to name a South Asian person in a manner that avoids any allusion to the specific state of residence, pointing to a common identity, but is more often a word used within the Asian community. From about the 1960s to the 1980s, some British Asians also referred to themselves a "Black," a political term covering British immigrant communities from Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean

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According to the 2001 UK Census there are 2.33 million British Asians, making up 4% of the population of the United Kingdom. This further subdivides to 1.05 million of Indian origin (1.8% of the population), 747,000 of Pakistani origin (1.3%), 283,000 of Bangladeshi origin (0.5%), and 247,000 from other Asian origins (0.4%) (largely of Sri Lankan origin). British Asians make up 50.2% of the UK's non-white population. British Indians tend to be religiously diverse, with 45% Hindu, 29% Sikh, and 13% per cent Muslim, while their counterparts of Pakistani and Bangladeshi origin are much more religiously homogeneous, with Muslims accounting for 92% of each group.

British Indians tend to originate mainly from two Indian States, Sikhs are largely from the Punjab region whilst Hindus tend to originate from the Gujarat, Punjab and West Bengal regions. In recent years, there has been significant immigration from South India.

British Pakistanis originate largely from the Punjab region, with the remainder originating from other parts such as the NWFP and Sindh.

A number of British Asians originate from Azad Kashmir (many from Mirpur and surrounding areas), the Pakistan-administered part of the disputed Kashmir region.

British Bangladeshis largely originate from the Sylhet region of the country