# Black Welsh people

Black Welsh people are inhabitants of Wales who have an African or an Afro-Caribbean background and are black. Wales is home to one of the United Kingdom's oldest black communities, and Tiger Bay in Cardiff has housed a large Somali population since the development of the port in the 19th century. The 2011 census reported that there were more than 18,000 Welsh-African people in Wales (0.6% of the Welsh population).
The first recorded black person to live in North Wales, of whom historians have detailed knowledge, was John Ystumllyn (died 1786), a Gwynedd gardener whose origins are unrecorded.

## Demographics

Black Welsh people by census data :
| Ethnic group | 2021 | 2021 | 2011 | 2011 | 2001 | 2001 | 1991 | 1991 |
| Ethnic group | Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | Number | % |
| Black Welsh people | 27,554 | 0.89% | 18,276 | 0.60% | 7,069 | 0.24% | 9,492 | 0.33% |
| —Black African | 19,907 | 0.64% | 11,887 | 0.39% | 3,727 | 0.13% | 2,671 | 0.09% |
| —Black Caribbean | 3,700 | 0.12% | 3,809 | 0.12% | 2,597 | 0.09% | 3,348 | 0.12% |
| —Other Black | 3,947 | 0.13% | 2,580 | 0.08% | 745 | 0.03% | 3,473 | 0.12% |
| Wales | 3,107,494 | 100% | 3,063,456 | 100% | 2,903,085 | 100% | 2,835,073 | 100% |

## Notable black Welsh people
### Sports
#### Association football

* Ethan Ampadu
* George Berry
* Nathan Blake
* Ben Cabango
* Robert Earnshaw
* Danny Gabbidon
* Ryan Giggs
* Adam Henley
* Brennan Johnson
* Joel Lynch
* Rabbi Matondo
* Eddie Parris
* Jazz Richards
* Tyler Roberts
* Hal Robson-Kanu
* Sanchez Watt
* Sorba Thomas
* Ashley Williams

#### Athletics

* Jamie Baulch, sprint athlete
* Colin Jackson
* Christian Malcolm, track and field athlete
* Nigel Walker, former Welsh track and field athlete and Wales international rugby union player

#### Rugby League

* Billy Boston, represented Great Britain
* Regan Grace
* Clive Sullivan, the first black athlete to captain Great Britain in any sport

#### Rugby Union

* Aled Brew
* Nathan Brew
* Leon Brown
* Mark Brown, became the first known player of black origin to represent Wales in 1983.
* Colin Charvis, the first black captain of the Wales national rugby union team
* Rio Dyer
* Jason Forster
* Ashton Hewitt, Hewitt has also become known for speaking out against racial abuse.
* Martyn Madden
* Mackenzie Martin
* Richard Parks, former Wales international rugby union player turned extreme endurance athlete and television presenter
* Anthony Sullivan
* Ben Thomas
* Gavin Thomas
* Christ Tshiunza, became the first black & African born player to represent Wales in November 2021.
* Eli Walker
* Nigel Walker
* Glen Webbe, often stated to be the first black player to play for Wales, Webbe was the first black player to represent Wales at a World Cup, and is considered by many to be Wales' "first black icon".

#### Boxing

* Steve Robinson

### Music

* Dame Shirley Bassey, singer
* Jason Camilleri (Dregz), rapper and former BBC presenter
* Kizzy Crawford, singer-songwriter and producer
* Eädyth, producer and singer-songwriter
* Patti Flynn, jazz singer and founder and patron of Black History Wales
* Benji Webbe, musician, frontman of the alternative metal band Skindred

### Film and television

* Josie d'Arby, TV presenter
* Rakie Ayola, actress
* Rungano Nyoni, film director and screenwriter
* Suzanne Packer, actress
* Jessica Sula, actress
* Tayce, RuPaul's Drag Race UK series 2 contestant
* Darragh Mortell, actor
* Gabin Kongolo, actor

### Others

* Betty Campbell, headteacher
* Abdulrahim Abby Farah, diplomat
* Vaughan Gething, former First Minister of Wales in the Welsh Government, first black leader of a European nation
* Uzo Iwobi, equalities practitioner and former Commissioner for the Commission for Racial Equality
* Louise Watkins Kelton, United States Marshal