[4] Between 2001 and 2006, the city experienced the ninth largest population percentage loss of any UK unitary authority.

While 84% of Liverpool's population is white, the city is one of the most important sites in the history of multiculturalism in the United Kingdom.

[citation needed] The influences of Irish and Welsh culture have given Liverpool's people traits usually associated with the Celtic fringes of the British Isles.

According to the 2001 census, 38% of the population of Granby,[14] 37% of Princes Park,[15] and 27% of Central[16] were from ethnic groups other than White British.

The largest and most significant non-English ethnic and national groups in Liverpool are listed in alphabetical order below.

[22] The International Organization for Migration estimates that Liverpool is home to between 1,000 and 2,000 Jamaicans, with the vast majority of these residing in Toxteth and Granby.

[23] Some Black Africans in Liverpool can trace their ancestry back to the city's links with the slave trade, whilst Afro-Caribbeans are a fairly recent and emerging ethnic group.

[24] By far the largest wave of Afro-Caribbean immigrants to the UK occurred in the 1940s and 1950s, when the British government encouraged people to come over and help contribute to the economy by taking up empty job vacancies.

This was in part due to Alfred Holt and Company establishing the first commercial shipping line to focus on the China trade.

Some of these men married working class British women, resulting in a number of British-born Eurasian Chinese being born during World War II in Liverpool.

[27] Although the Chinese population in Liverpool is much smaller than it was mid-20th century, the city's Chinatown district has spread significantly since its first establishment, now taking up much of Berry Street.

[29] GhanaiansThere is a strong presence of Ghanaians in Liverpool, with an estimated 9,000 individuals originating in the African nation living in the city.

The main reason for Italians coming to the city was to embark on a journey from the port of Liverpool to the 'New World' in hope of a better life than in their native Italy.

[38] Despite this many failed to complete the journey and actually remained in Liverpool, the largest numbers settling on and around Scotland Road, which soon became nicknamed 'Little Italy'.

[46] Liverpool has friendship links with Havana, Cuba, La Plata, Argentina and Valparaiso, Chile.

[29] Brazilica Festival is the UK's largest celebration of Brazilian culture and has been held annually in Liverpool since 2008.

[49] SomalisSomalis number in the thousands in Liverpool, and are one of the city's longest established ethnic minority groups.

In 2004, a local social worker, Mohamed "Jimmy" Ali, became the UK's first Somali councillor, although he has since lost his seat.

[54] However, around 1910 a group of Indian males from the Punjab region of India moved to Liverpool and established the city's first fixed community.

During World War I, many more came to Liverpool to look for work while numerous more came to the city after India was granted independence in 1947.

[citation needed] YemenisLiverpool, like several other port cities (such as South Shields, Cardiff and Kingston upon Hull), has had a strong presence of Yemeni people for centuries.

[58] After the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869, an increase of trade between Britain and the Far East meant that more men had to be recruited to work in ports and on ships.

[58] Aden in Yemen was the main refuelling point for the vast majority of ships sailing this route, which led to many locals taking up jobs in the field.

During the late 19th and early 20th centuries many of these seamen moved ashore and set up home in the likes of Liverpool.

[61] ZimbabweansPeople originating in Zimbabwe are another large Black African group in Liverpool; they are thought to number no fewer than 3,000.

The road running between the two cathedrals is called Hope Street, a coincidence which is often commented on positively by both Anglicans and Catholics.

Liverpool had one of the earliest mosques in Britain, founded in 1887 by William Abdullah Quilliam, a lawyer who had converted to Islam.

[77] The Jewish population reached up to 11,000 in the past, but this dwindled due to the common practice of moving elsewhere for work, and the current number is around 3,000.

[77] Most Jews reside in the southern areas of the city, primarily in the suburbs of Allerton and Childwall, each of which has its own Orthodox synagogue.

[85] Notable Liverpudlian Jews include entrepreneur Brian Epstein, who managed the Beatles;[86] actor Jason Isaacs, whose great-grandparents co-founded the Jewish community in Childwall;[87] businessman David Lewis, who founded the Lewis's department store chain and left much money after his death for the construction of what would become some of the city's most important hospitals and philanthropic institutions;[88] Lewis's chairman Harold Cohen, who funded the construction of the University of Liverpool's Harold Cohen Library;[77] and rabbi Isser Yehuda Unterman, who was Chief Rabbi of Liverpool for 22 years before becoming Chief Rabbi of Israel.