Friday, March 28, 2008

Australia's Global Ethnic Rankings

We all know that Australia is a country of migrants. A short search of Wikipedia shows that, measured by ancestry, Australia is in global terms:

  • The second largest Irish, Maori and Maltese country.
  • The third largest English country.
  • The fourth largest Scottish country.
  • The fifth largest Greek, Vietnamese and Dutch country.
  • The seventh largest German country.
  • The ninth largest Italian country.
  • The eleventh largest Serbian country.
  • The fifteenth largest Han Chinese country.
  • The sixteenth Turkish country.
  • The seventeenth largest Indian country.

What do we make of all this? Well, it's just a measure of diversity.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

That is fascinating, so much so that I am about to steal the entry and repost it, with acknowledgment, on English/ESL.

Jim Belshaw said...

That's good, Neil. The start of the post was a check I did on the Han Chinese. The Wikepedia entry included a list of countries by Han Chinese population. So I got curious and checked other national groups.

This type of list does, I think, provide a different and useful perspective.

Anonymous said...

Revising your Saturday reflections post-party??

Jim Belshaw said...

Well spotted, Neil. I am indeed. I have taken the post off-line to take advantage of the auto-save facility.

As so often happens, the post has taken on a life of its own becoming one of those monster posts for which I am, justly, infamous!

I have to cook lunch soon, so will have to stop!