MOSQUES IN BIRMINGHAM

For this paper, I will look at the spread of mosques over the areas of deprivation within Birmingham to support the points made previously. It is evident that Birmingham has a large and ever-growing Muslim population from various parts of Europe, Africa, and predominantly from South Asia, such as Bangladesh and Mirpur of Pakistan. The total number of individuals who identify themselves as Muslims equates to over 20% of the population of Birmingham (Census 2011), which is above the national average of 4%. It also has the second largest population of mosques within a city followed by London from which the majority are house conversions.

The data on the maps (fig 22 & 23) indicate that mosques are concentrated in areas of high Muslim population density which are concentrated mostly in inner-city areas where there are also high levels of social deprivation. These settlement patterns occurred as the post war Muslim migrants settled in such areas due to the employment opportunities available. The mosques that were established within these areas embedded within and serve very local communities.