Chinatown

A Chinatown is an ethnic enclave of Chinese people located outside of Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan. These districts are typically situated within urban areas. They can be found globally, including in Europe, Asia, Africa, Oceania, and the Americas. While the term often describes a district where the population is predominantly of Chinese origin, the definition can be complex.

Some Chinatowns function as pan-Asian districts. These areas serve multiple communities, such as Korean, Japanese, Filipino, or Indian groups. For example, Asiatown in Cleveland, Ohio, was originally called a Chinatown. It was later renamed because non-Chinese Asian Americans opened many businesses there. Today, it acts as a unifying center for many different Asian communities. Other areas, called ethnoburbs, are suburban clusters of residential and business districts.

The history of these settlements dates back to the Tang dynasty in the 10th century. This was due to China's important role in global trade. In the Philippines, early settlements were called pariáns. These were originally marketplaces for trade goods. The Spanish colonial policy of ethnic segregation led to the creation of many pariáns. Binondo in Manila, established in 1594, is recognized as the world's oldest standing Chinatown.

Emigration from China accelerated in the 1860s. This followed the signing of the Treaty of Peking in 1860, which opened borders to free movement. Most early emigrants came from the southeastern coastal provinces of Guangdong and Fujian. These migrants spoke various languages, including Cantonese, Hokkien, and Hakka. In the late 19th century, many immigrants to North America came from four counties in Guangdong called Sze Yup. Because of this, Toishanese became a dominant language in many Chinatowns in Canada and the United States.

Economic opportunities drove the growth of many Chinatowns in the 19th century. In the 1850s, the California and Victoria gold rushes attracted many Chinese prospectors. This led to the founding of Chinatowns in San Francisco and Melbourne. Melbourne's Chinatown is the oldest continuous Chinese settlement in the Western world. In the United States, many Chinese workers found jobs on the Transcontinental Railroad. This caused Chinatowns to appear in railroad towns like Chicago and St. Louis.

History was not always peaceful for these communities. Racial tensions flared in some mountain-area Chinatowns when lower-paid Chinese workers replaced white miners. In Wyoming, this led to the Rock Springs Massacre. Many frontier Chinatowns in the United States eventually became extinct due to American racism and the Chinese Exclusion Act. In London, the first Chinatown emerged in the Limehouse area at the start of the 20th century. It served Chinese sailors who worked in the Docklands.

Modern Chinatowns continue to change due to global events. In 2001, the September 11th attacks caused a shift in New York. About 14,000 Chinese workers moved from Manhattan's Chinatown to Montville, Connecticut. This happened as the garment industry declined and casino jobs grew. In Mexico, the Chinatown in Tijuana grew rapidly due to direct flights to China. The Chinese population there rose from 5,000 in 2009 to roughly 15,000 in 2012. This growth allowed it to overtake Mexicali's Chinatown as the largest Chinese enclave in Mexico.