Chinese Venezuelans

Chinese Venezuelans
Chino-venezolanos
Total population
	~450,000
Regions with significant populations
	Valencia, Caracas, Maracay, Barquisimeto, Barcelona-Puerto La Cruz, Maracaibo, Maturín, Acarigua
Languages
	Venezuelan Spanish, Cantonese, Mandarin Chinese, others
Religion
	Buddhism, Roman Catholicism, Taoism
Related ethnic groups
	Asian Americans, Chinese people

Chinese Venezuelans (Spanish: Chino-venezolanos) are people of Chinese ancestry who were born in or have immigrated to Venezuela. The country is home to nearly 400,000 Chinese.^[1] Almost all their businesses are related to the culinary field. Chinese restaurants in Venezuela are very affluent, mainly due to Venezuelans taste for Cantonese food.^[2] Venezuela is also home to one of Latin America's largest concentrations of ethnic Chinese. The city of Valencia is home of the major Chinese community and hosts various markets devoted to Chinese culture including smoked ducks and authentic pottery. A local newspaper is also edited in Chinese. A lively barrio chino can also be found on Avenida Principal El Bosque in the El Bosque district of Caracas. While there are Chinatowns in the major cities throughout Venezuela, they are non-descript and in non-touristic parts of town.

Chinese immigration came mostly in two waves, the first beginning in 1847 and consisting of mainly Cantonese immigrants^[3] and the second one beginning in the 1940s and '50s and reaching a peak in the mid 1970s in connection with the oil boom.

Cantonese is widely spoken among Chinese Venezuelans, especially the variety commonly known as Hoisan or Toisan, but there has been recent Taiwanese immigration, adding to the linguistic and cultural diversity. The largest group of Han Chinese in Venezuela are from Guangdong and Hong Kong.

Demographics

Population

States with the highest proportions of Chinese-born population tend to be those of the Capital Region and Eastern Region. The states with the most population of Chinese-born people are also located in the central-north area.

At the 2011 census, this was the breakdown of Chinese-born population by state:^[4]

State	Chinese-born Population	Percentage
Amazonas	31	0.021
Anzoátegui	1,193	0.082
Apure	116	0.025
Aragua	1,305	0.081
Barinas	414	0.051
Bolívar	515	0.037
Capital District	1,765	0.092
Carabobo	2,016	0.09
Cojedes	167	0.039
Delta Amacuro	42	0.026
Falcón	269	0.028
Federal Dependencies	1	0.047
Guárico	350	0.047
Lara	1,247	0.071
Mérida	306	0.037
Miranda	1,453	0.055
Monagas	796	0.088
Nueva Esparta	344	0.071
Portuguesa	660	0.077
Sucre	321	0.037
Tachira	264	0.023
Trujillo	336	0.049
Vargas	134	0.038
Yaracuy	394	0.066
Zulia	919	0.025
Total Venezuela	15,358	0.06

Communities with high percentages of Chinese-born people

Parroquia (parish)	Populated place	State	% Chinese over total population
Barinas	Barinas	Barinas	1.06
Andres Eloy Blanco	Maracay	Aragua	0.66
San José	Valencia	Carabobo	0.52
Altagracia	West Caracas	Capital District	0.44
El Morro	Lechería	Anzoátegui	0.43
San Simón	Maturín	Monagas	0.43
Catedral	West Caracas	Capital District	0.42
Puerto La Cruz	Puerto La Cruz	Anzoátegui	0.39
Santa Teresa	West Caracas	Capital District	0.35
Candelaria	West Caracas	Capital District	0.34
Fraternidad	Puerto Cabello	Carabobo	0.33
Sagrario	West Caracas	Capital District	0.32
Chacao	East Caracas	Miranda	0.31
Sabana de Mendoza	Sabana de Mendoza	Trujillo	0.31
Concepción	Barquisimeto	Lara	0.30
Juan Griego	Juan Griego	Nueva Esparta	0.29
Candelaria	Valencia	Carabobo	0.27
San Pedro	West Caracas	Capital District	0.26
Atapiripe	Atapiripe	Anzoátegui	0.24
El Llano	Mérida	Mérida	0.52

References

^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-06-26. Retrieved 2014-02-28.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) P.201
^ http://asiapacifico.bcn.cl/en/articles/chinese-community-latin-america/ Archived 2011-02-06 at the Wayback Machine The Chinese Community in Latin America
^ http://gadantre-1.blogia.com/2009/022101-los-chinos-en-la-venezuela-de-hoy.php "...since 1847 when the first Chinese came to Venezuela..." (Spanish)
^ Censo 2011 - INE

External links

Venezuela's Sabor y Suerte in Chinese Food.

[1] "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-06-26. Retrieved 2014-02-28.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) P.201

[2] ttp://asiapacifico.bcn.cl/en/articles/chinese-community-latin-america/ Archived 2011-02-06 at the Wayback Machine The Chinese Community in Latin America

[3] ttp://gadantre-1.blogia.com/2009/022101-los-chinos-en-la-venezuela-de-hoy.php "...since 1847 when the first Chinese came to Venezuela..." (Spanish)

[4] Censo 2011 - INE

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