Welcome (2014)
A little about ourselves, currently, music but what we propose for the future....
Radio Central proposes to serve the British Pakistani, Urdu, Punjabi, Mirpuri, and Pashto speaking Communities in Birmingham.
There are 1,073,045 people living in Birmingham.
After London, Birmingham has the 2nd largest Pakistani Community in the UK.
Amongst the South Asian Communities living in Birmingham, the Pakistani Community makes up the largest ethnic group. Infact, the combined numbers of Bangladeshi and Indian Communities are less than the Pakistani Community.
Pakistani: 144,627 (13.5%)
Bangladeshi: 32, 532 (3%)
Indian: 64,621 (6%)
Source: 2011 UK Census Ethnic group, local authorities in England and Wales
An increase of 2.9 percent in the Pakistani population has been seen since the last census in 2001, with the Pakistani community making the youngest age profile for Birmingham’s two most densely populated wards.
These are Washwood Heath and Bordseley Green, where 1 in 3 of the population is children. Of a total of 40 wards in Birmingham, Census figures suggest that Pakistani community is spread across all wards, but there is a marked trend in larger concentration of this community within the inner city wards.
The Pakistani community is made up of 4 main ethnic groups defined by their language/dialect:
1. Pakistani/Urdu- (29,403). Is the national language of Pakistan and is understood as the universal language after English amongst the Pakistani Community. This language is almost identical to Hindi, which is the national language of India.
2. Pakistani/Punjabi- (21,166). This is spoken and understood by a majority of the community.
3. Pakistani/Kashmiri- (10,827). This is a dialect spoken by a majority of the people from Pakistan from areas bordering Pakistani Controlled Kashmir region. This group is also known as ‘Mirpuri’.
There are no official figures, but it is estimated that 70-80 percent of people defining themselves as ‘Pakistani’, originate from the ‘Azad Jammu and Kashmir region of Pakistani administered Kashmir, who emigrated to the UK throughout the 50’s and 60’s on a voucher scheme, and those whose homes were sub-merged after the building of Mangla Dam:
4. Pakistani/Pashto- (6,123). Spoken in the tribal areas of Pakistan. There is a large Pashto speaking community in Birmingham within the inner city Wards of: Bordseley Green, Washwood Heath, Springhill, Hodgehill, Nechells, South Yardley, and Sparkbrook.
Recent News
March 2017
Broadcasting on Birmingham DAB+ (9A)
Broadcasting on Birmingham DAB+ (9A)