As the census data shows, a total of 1.3 million new migrants have come to Australia since 2011, from various countries. Out of this, the most prominent being 191000 from China and 163000 arriving from India.
For the first time, there is a clear shift that a large size of overseas born population is from Asia compare to Europe. The face and texture of Australia is changing.
As Surjeet Dhanji says. It is now more multicultural
Though English remains the main language, Mandarin is the second-most common language spoken at home with 2.5% of the population. Arabic Language is the third most common.
With Indian diaspora sealing its very presence in Australia, Hindi has emerged as top Indian language spoken in Australia. The state-wise figure of Hindi-speakers is :
NSW - 67,034
VICTORIA - 51,241
QUEENSLAND - 18,163
SOUTH AUSTRALIA - 7,310
WESTERN AUSTRALIA - 10,747
TASMANIA - 639
AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL TERRITORY (ACT) - 3,646
NORTHERN TERRITORY - 852
Though, 30% preferred for no religion as the top answer to the religious belief question, Surjeet says, it does not mean that people are now less religious. Rather, there are many other factors, as there are few religions which did not appear for example Zoroastrian.
But, Australia's religious face is changing. Diversity is visible in religious and cultural belief. Islam has grown from 2.1 per cent to 2.6 over 10 years, Buddhism increased from 2.1 to 2.4 per cent and Hinduism had grown 0.7 to 1.9 per cent.
And As Surjeet points out, there are more temples, Gurudwara compare to a decade ago. And Hinduism is Australia's fastest-growing religion.
The census puts our population at 23.4 million people.
And as census data reflect, Australia has emerged more multicultural and its face is now more Asian than being European.
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