Chinatown (Manhattan)

Chinatown, Manhattan
Crossing Canal Street in Chinatown, facing Mott Street toward the south
Traditional Chinese	曼哈頓華埠
Simplified Chinese	曼哈顿华埠
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Mànhādùn huá bù Wade–Giles Man4 Ha1 Dun4 Hua2 Pu4 IPA [mânxátʰwə̂n xwǎ pû] Yue: Cantonese Jyutping Maan6haa1deon6 faa1bou6 Eastern Min Fuzhou BUC Man-ha-tún huà-pú

Manhattan's Chinatown (simplified Chinese: 曼哈顿华埠; traditional Chinese: 曼哈頓華埠; pinyin: Mànhādùn huábù; juytping: Maan⁶haa¹deon⁶ faa¹bou⁶) is a neighborhood in Lower Manhattan, New York City, bordering the Lower East Side to its east, Little Italy to its north, Civic Center to its south, and Tribeca to its west. Chinatown is home to the largest enclave of Chinese people in the Western Hemisphere. With an estimated population of 90,000 to 100,000 people, Manhattan's Chinatown is also one of the oldest Chinese ethnic enclaves. The Manhattan Chinatown is one of nine Chinatown neighborhoods in New York City, as well as one of twelve in the New York metropolitan area, which contains the largest ethnic Chinese population outside of Asia, comprising an estimated 819,527 uniracial individuals as of 2014. Historically it was primarily populated by Cantonese speakers. However, in the 1980s-90s, large numbers of Fuzhounese-speaking immigrants also arrived. As many Fuzhounese and Cantonese speakers now speak Mandarin—the official language in China and Taiwan—in addition to their native languages, this made it more important for Chinatown residents to learn and speak Mandarin.