Asian Peruvians

Asian Peruvians

Chinatown in Lima
Total population
(3,670,000 15% of Peru's population)
Regions with significant populations
Lima · La Libertad · Lambayeque
Languages
Spanish · Chinese · Japanese · Korean · Indian languages ·
Religion
Buddhism · Catholicism · Hinduism · Islam · Judaism · Protestantism · Shintoism · Sikhism.
Related ethnic groups
Asian Latin Americans

Asian Peruvians, primarily Chinese and Japanese, constitute some 15-20% of Peru's population, which in proportion to the overall population is one of the largest of any Latin American nation.

Peru has the second largest population of Japanese people in Latin America after Brazil and the largest population of Chinese people in Latin America.

Despite the presence of Peruvians of Japanese heritage being quite recent, in the past decade they have made significant advancements in business and political fields; a past president, Alberto Fujimori and his daughter, Keiko Fujimori, who ran for the presidency in 2010, along with several past cabinet members, and one member of the Peruvian congress are of Japanese origin.

Asian slaves, shipped from the Spanish Philippines to Acapulco (see Manila-Acapulco galleons), were all referred to as "Chino" meaning Chinese. In reality they were of diverse origins, including Japanese, Malays, Filipinos, Javanese, Timorese, and people from modern day Bangladesh, India, Ceylon, Makassar, Tidore, Terenate, and China. Filipinos made up most of their population. People from this diverse community of Asians in Mexico were called "los indios chinos" by the Spanish. Most of these slaves were male and were obtained from Portuguese slave traders who obtained them from Portuguese colonial possessions and outposts of the Estado da India, which included parts of India, Bengal, Malacca, Indonesia, Nagasaki in Japan, and Macau.Spain received some of these Chino slaves from Mexico, where owning a Chino slave was a sign of high status. 16th century records of three Japanese slaves, Gaspar Fernandes, Miguel and Ventura, who ended up in Mexico showed that they were purchased by Portuguese slave traders in Japan and brought to Manila from where they were shipped to Mexico by their owner Perez. Some of these Asian slaves were also brought to Lima, where it was recorded that in 1613 there was a small community of Asians made out of Chinese, Japanese, Filipinos, Malays, Cambodians and others.