Overseas Chinese - Current Numbers

Current Numbers

There are over 50 million overseas Chinese. Most overseas Chinese are living in Southeast Asia where they make up a majority of the population of Singapore and significant minority populations in Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei, the Philippines, and Vietnam. The overseas populations in those areas arrived between the 16th and 19th centuries mostly from the maritime provinces of Guangdong and Fujian, followed by Hainan. There were incidences of earlier emigration from the 15th centuries in particular to Malacca.

Urban areas with large Chinese populations include Bangkok with 2,900,000 (2009 census, registered resident only), Singapore with 2,800,000 (2010 census), Kuala Lumpur with 612,277 (2000 census, city only), Penang with 650,000 (2005), Jakarta with 528,300 (2010 census), the New York City Metropolitan Area with 682,265 and the San Francisco Bay Area with 592,865 (2010 United States Census), the Greater Toronto Area with 486,300 (2006 Census, metropolitan area), as well as the Greater Vancouver Area with 402,000 (2006 Census, metropolitan area).