Central Asian Community in Birmingham

Where they come from

Central Asia includes Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, lands once crossed by the Silk Road trade routes and home to the great cities of Samarkand and Bukhara. Central Asians in Birmingham include students, professionals and families.

The community in numbers

At the 2021 Census, out of a city population of 1,144,919, 200 people living in the city had been born in Central Asia; and 65 Birmingham residents described their ethnic group as Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Tajik, Turkmen or Uzbek.

Working for Birmingham

Central Asian residents study and work in engineering, energy, business, medicine and IT, and many speak their national language, Russian and English. Students at the city's universities often return home to senior roles, while those who settle bring energy and enterprise to their work.

Every community that has settled in Birmingham has helped to shape it. Newcomers have filled gaps in the workforce, opened shops and restaurants, and raised children who have gone on to become the city's doctors, teachers, engineers and entrepreneurs. The Central Asian community is part of that tradition of hard work and ambition, and of the city's own motto: Forward.

Culture and community life

Nowruz, the spring new year, is celebrated across Central Asia with family meals and music. Plov, a rich dish of rice, meat and carrots, is shared at every celebration, and Central Asian hospitality, carpets, embroidery and horsemanship are admired around the world.

For anyone who wants to learn more, the best introduction is the simplest one: say hello. Birmingham's communities are at their best when they meet, share food and learn from one another, and the Central Asian community is a warm part of that everyday exchange.