Who are the Overseas Chinese?

The Overseas Chinese are people of Chinese birth or descent who live outside the Mainland China region, which in this case includes Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau.

Before the handover of Hong Kong and Macau back to Mainland China, the People's Republic of China (PRC) considers the residents of these two areas as "Oveseas Chinese Status". However, after the official handover back to the motherland, the Status was removed.

Some Chinese people in other lands who are of partial Chinese ancestry i.e. either one of their parents or their grandparents is Chinese, also do consider themselves as Overseas Chinese.

Below is an uncompleted list of Overseas Chinese in the various countries:

Total population of Overseas Chinese = 39,379,784

Regions with significant populations

Majority populations

Singapore 2,684,936
Christmas Island, Australia 1,045

Minority populations

Indonesia 7,566,200
Thailand 7,153,240
Malaysia 7,070,500
United States 3,376,031
Canada 1,612,173
Peru 1,300,000
Vietnam 1,263,570
Philippines 1,146,250
Burma 1,101,314
Russia 998,000
Australia 614,694
Japan 519,561
Cambodia 343,855
United Kingdom 296,623
France 230,515
India 189,470
Laos 185,765
Cuba 170,000
Brazil 151,649
New Zealand 147,570
Netherlands 144,928
South Korea 137,790
Panama +100,000

In Southeast Asia and particularly in Malaysia and Singapore, the countries classifies the Peranakan as Chinese despite their partial assimilation into the Malay culture.