Chinese people in the Netherlands
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| (80,198 (2012) 0.48% of the population Statistics for people born in the People's Republic of China or the Republic of China and their children only) |
|
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Rotterdam (6,500), Amsterdam (5,000), Eindhoven (3,200) | |
| Languages | |
| Indonesian languages, Dutch, Chinese (largely Cantonese and Hakka among older migrants and their descendants; recent expatriates typically speak Mandarin) | |
| Religion | |
| Buddhism (~18.7%), Chinese folk religion, Taoism, Christianity | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Overseas Chinese |
Chinese people in the Netherlands form one of the largest overseas Chinese populations in continental Europe. As of 2012[update], official statistics showed 80,198 people originating from the People's Republic of China (PRC) or the Republic of China on Taiwan (ROC), or people with at least one such parent. However, these statistics do not capture the whole size of the Chinese community, which since its earliest days has included not just migrants from China, but people of Chinese ethnicity drawn from among overseas Chinese communities as well.
Early Chinese labour migration to the Netherlands was drawn primarily from two sources: peddlers from Qingtian, Zhejiang who began arriving in the country after World War I, and seamen of Guangdong origin drawn from among the British Chinese community; the latter had initially been brought in as strikebreakers in 1911. During the Great Depression, many of the seamen were laid off and also took to street peddling, especially of pindakoekjes (peanut cakes); the Dutch referred to them as "pindaman" ("peanut man"). Their numbers dropped as a result of voluntary outmigration and deportations; by World War II, fewer than 1,000 remained.
Another group of early ethnic Chinese in the Netherlands were students; they were largely not from China, however, but were instead drawn from among Chinese communities in the Dutch East Indies. From a group of 20 in 1911, their numbers continued to increase, interrupted only by World War II; in 1957, out of the roughly 1,400 ethnic Chinese from Indonesia in the Netherlands, 1,000 were students. In 1911, these students established the Chung Hwa Hui, which was in contact with various Chinese organizations and political parties in Europe. Largely of Peranakan origin, the students tended to speak Indonesian local languages as their mother tongues, and had already done their early education at Dutch-medium schools. However, with increasing tensions in Indonesia–Netherlands relations in the late 1950s and early 1960s, the number of students dropped off sharply.
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