It is difficult to quantify the overall black population in Europe due to the countries’ refusal to collect racial data on their citizens. However, there is data on the country of origin of African migrant population and the number of migrant children who are citizens.
Nigeria has the highest number of migrants in Europe with 390,000 migrants between 2010 and 2017, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of data from Eurostat on asylum applicants from sub-Saharan Africa between 2010 and 2017.
Overall, there were nearly one million asylum applicants from the sub-region and the second highest country of origin was South Africa with 310,000 migrants. The other countries of origin are Somalia, Senegal, Ghana, Angola, Kenya, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Cameroon.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Congress estimates that seven million people of African descent were living in Europe in 2011.
After a careful analysis, Face2Face Africa presents a list of 5 countries in Europe where black people feel at home.
1. Serbia
Despite notorious chants during football matches, Serbia was ranked the least racist country in Europe by a Harvard University study that interviewed 288,076 white Europeans on “implicit bias” which shows how quickly people associate blackness with negative concepts.
Serbs are noted to have resentment towards Westerners who hail from countries including the United States that had a hand in the Yugoslavia bombing in 1999. But for Black people, staying in the big cities is advised and try to stay away from football matches for your safety. They will usually strike not because of the colour of your skin, but because of rivalry.
2. Netherlands
The Dutch have tried to express their openness to the Black race with open doors and policies to stem out racism. However, they refuse to let go of one racist blackface Christmas tradition, Zwarte Piet or Black Pete, who is believed to be Santa Claus’s helper and keeps resurfacing yearly despite anti-racist protests.
The Netherlands is one of the most populated countries in Europe and as part of anti-racism policies, it sees no race and nationals are considered Dutch regardless of the skin colour. So many Black people of African and Caribbean origins are Dutch citizens and they face less racist apprehension as other major European countries.
3. Germany
There is no data on racial diversity in Germany as the government says it doesn’t want to divide its citizens. However, Germany has a very high number of Black people who are mainly in Hamburg and Berlin and inhabit the cities as natives and immigrants.
Germany’s past has brought a lot of changes to its attitude towards race. But, Germany has an estimated one million people with “African roots”, according to a recent survey by a UN team.
4. France
France has put in place laws to protect black people and people of colour from racist behaviours and these laws have lessened racist tensions.
Colonial policies have entertained an influx of black people in the country which is now racially interwoven by people of diverse cultures and colours.
Migrant populations from Africa in France is 980,000, second to the United Kingdom.
5. United Kingdom
The United Kingdom is estimated to accommodate the largest number of black people in Europe and has far less racist nationals who discriminate based on skin colour.
In terms of migrant populations, the UK has the highest with 1.27 million people from the sub-Saharan African region.
