White British people are now in a minority in London for the first time, it emerged today as census data revealed that the immigrant population of England and Wales went up by 3million over the past decade.
Just 3.7million Londoners described their ethnicity as 'White British' in 2011 - down from 4.3million in 2001, and making up 44.9 per cent of the city's population.
It is believed to be the first time that British whites have become a minority in any region of the UK.
Another major change to the nation came in the decreasing number of Christians - 4million fewer people claimed to belong to the faith as a quarter of Britons said they had no religion.
Foreign-born: This map shows the areas of England and Wales with the most immigrants (shown lighter) and the least (shown darker)
In 2011, 7.5million residents were foreign-born, making up 13 per cent, or one in eight of the population - up from 4.6million people in 2001.
There were 33.2million people claiming to be Christian, down from 37.3million in 2001 and making up just 59 per cent of the population.
25.1 per cent of people said they had no faith, up from 14.8 per cent a decade earlier, while the proportion of Muslims rose from 3.0 per cent to 4.8 per cent.
The third most popular religion was Hinduism, with 1.5 per cent of the population, while 0.8 per cent were Sikhs and 0.5 per cent Jewish.
Nearly 180,000 claimed to be followers of the Jedi religion featured in Star Wars - down from 2001, when around 400,000 jokingly put the faith down on their census form.
The statistics emerged as the Archbishop of Canterbury claimed that English cathedral congregations had grown dramatically in recent years, debunking the 'cliché' that the Church of England is fading away.
Ethnicity: This graphic shows how areas such as Wales, south-west England and the far north are heavily white, while regions like London are more ethnically diverse
The data on religion showed considerable national variation - Knowsley, in Lancashire, is the most Christian town in England with 80.9 per cent of residents following the faith, while in London's Tower Hamlets 34.5 per cent of the population are Muslims.
Norwich is the most godless place in the country, as 42.5 per cent said they had no religion - despite the presence of one of England's most spectacular cathedrals.
Britain's increasing diversity was emphasised by the data released by the Office of National Statistics, as it emerged that the proportion of the nation that is white has fallen below 90 per cent for the first time.
48.2million people described themselves as being white, making up 86.0 per cent of the population of England and Wales, down from 91.3 per cent a decade earlier.
7.5 per cent of the population is Asian, while 3.4 per cent described themselves as black.
Unsurprisingly, London was found to be the most ethnically diverse region, while Wales was the least.
London is also home to the most immigrants, as 37 per cent of its residents were born abroad and 24 per cent are not citizens of the UK.
Results: This is the second tranche of data from the 2011 census to have been released.
One major reason for the explosion in the foreign-born population is the accession of 12 countries in central and eastern Europe to the EU, giving them the right to live and work in the UK - the population of Poles in England and Wales has grown nine-fold over the decade.
Apart from Poland, the other leading countries of origin for British immigrants were India, Pakistan, Ireland and Germany.
The largest increase in ethnic group over the last decade was seen in the 'White: Other' category where an increase of 1.1million was recorded. This reflects more than half a million Poles who migrated into England and Wales during these years, the ONS said.
Around 2million respondents listed their partners or fellow household members as being of different ethnic groups - 47 per cent more than in 2001.
Nearly half of Britons - 46.6 per cent - are married, the data revealed, with nine per cent divorced and seven per cent widowed.
Over a third have never married, while 105,000 people - 0.2 per cent of the population - are in a same-sex civil partnership.
The census results reveal that the mean age of people in England and Wales is 39.4, with 21.3 per cent of the population under 18 and 16.6 per cent aged 65 or over.
Multicultural: The number of immigrants in England and Wales has shot up as the proportion of the population that is white has decreased over the past decade, according to census data
NORTHERN IRELAND: CATHOLICS CATCH UP WITH PROTESTANTS
There are now nearly as many Catholics as Protestants in Northern Ireland, it was revealed today.
According to last year's census, 48 per cent of population describe themselves as Protestant, while 45 per cent are Catholic.
In 2001, 53 per cent were Protestant and 44 per cent Catholic.
Almost half of the population described themselves as British when asked to choose from a list of identities.
A total of 48 per cent considered themselves British, while 29 per cent said they were Northern Irish and 28 per cent called themselves Irish.
Good news for the country came from the data on education, which revealed that for the first time more of us have a bachelor's degree or higher than have no academic qualifications - 27 to 23 per cent.
There are also encouraging signs in the fact that 81 per cent of people claim to be in good or very good health - however, 10million people say they are struggling with some sort of disability or long-term illness.
And 10 per cent of the population is forced to provide unpaid care to a disabled friend or relative, with 2million people spending over 20 hours a week as a volunteer carer
Further data show some 4.8million people now hold a non-UK passport. Of these, 2.3million have EU passports.
In 91 per cent of households, everyone's main language is English - but in four per cent, there is no one who was brought up speaking the language, which could harm the children of immigrants as they attempt to integrate into British society.
The statistics also offer a snapshot of how people live.
Since 2001, the proportion of people owning properties through a mortgage or loan has decreased from 39 per cent to 33 per cent, but the number of people who own homes outright increased from 29 per cent to 31 per cent.
The census also showed a rise in the number of tenants who rent their homes - a figure which increased from nine per cent to 15 cent.
Ownership of cars and vans has also gone up by 14 per cent.
Last year there was an average of 12 cars for every 10 households - up on 11 cars per 10 households in 2001.
London was the only region where the number of vehicles was lower than the number of households.
Guy Goodwin, the ONS's director of census, said: 'These statistics paint a picture of society and help us all plan for the future using accurate information at a local level.
'This is just the tip of the iceberg of census statistics. Further rich layers of vital information will be revealed as we publish more detailed data for very local levels over the coming months.'
Explore the census data with these interactive graphics from the ONS
White people are now the minority in our own country. London is swarming with immigrants, and they have now took over the white race in London. This is what they came here to do and now they have done it.
The White people are very soon to be the minority in Bradford. Birmingham and Leicester, with other towns and cities to follow until we are the minority in the whole of Great Britain.
There is not one thing we can do about now, there are thousands upon thousands of Muslim and baby's being born in Great Britain, because Muslim men can have four wives, if every Muslim man has four wives and each of his wives have two baby's each, that is eight babby's per household all over Great Britain, where as our own British people only have one or two children and only one wife.
Why are Muslims allowed four wives? and why can they claim income support for them, it's disgusting, and our own people who are in government have done this to us.
The Labour party are at fault, they are the ones who have brought all the Muslims to our country, they have destroyed us, they have destroyed any chance of a future for the white children who are growing up today.
We will soon be an Islamic country, we will soon be under Sharia law. The future is bleak. No one would listen to the British National Party, no one would listen to the one party who could have got us out of this mess, the people would rather listen to the lies of the press and the TV news and the governments of past and present.
The British National Party warned you time and time again, but you still voted for the lies, and by voting for the Labour party, you gave them the power the destroy our once great nation by all the immigration, you gave them the power to destroy your children's future and you gave them the power to destroy our country.
Two world wars were fought to give us our freedom, only now to have that freedom took away from us.
