People Group Info
Total Population: 994,855
ROP3 Code: 103701IMB Affinity Group: East Asian Peoples
Affinity Bloc: East Asian Peoples
People Cluster: Chinese
Language: Yue Chinese - (yue)
Religion: Buddhism - Mahayana
Country of Origin: Hong Kong
People Group Profiles
“All nations will come and worship before you."
- Revelations 15:4
Total Population: 994,855
ROP3 Code: 103701
Photo courtesy of Joshua Project.
By Karolien Taverniers
Creative Commons
New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY - 350,000
Toronto (Mississauga, Brampton), ON - 212,830
Vancouver (Surrey), BC - 162,425
San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA - 38,400
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA - 33,400
Click here to recommend other locations where this People Group resides.
Over a period of 150 years, the province of Guangdong in China has been the most common origin of most Cantonese Chinese to North America. However, in the past 30 plus years, Cantonese Chinese also migrated from Hong Kong, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, and Indonesia.
Although the Cantonese language shares much vocabulary with Mandarin Chinese, the two varieties are not mutually intelligible because of pronunciation, grammatical, and also lexical differences. Sentence structure, in particular the placement of verbs, sometimes differs between the two. The use of vocabulary in Cantonese also tends to have more historic roots. Mandarin Chinese and Cantonese Chinese becomes the third most widely spoken non-English language in North America behind Spanish and French.
With the above in mind, Cantonese Chinese take great pride in their distinct Cantonese Chinese social identity.
This has resulted in larger metro area enclaves of various Chinese people groups emerging. For example, in New York City, Cantonese speakers still predominate in the city's older and traditional Chinatown in Manhattan, while the newer Chinatowns of Queens and Brooklyn, have large numbers of Mandarin Chinese and Hokkien Chinese speakers respectively.
As another example, in northern California, especially in the San Francisco Bay Area, Cantonese Chinese have historically and continue to predominate in the Chinatowns of San Francisco and Oakland, as well as the surrounding suburbs and metropolitan area, although Mandarin is now also found in the Silicon Valley. In contrast, southern California hosts a much larger Mandarin-speaking population, with Cantonese found in more historical Chinese communities such as that of Chinatown, Los Angeles and older Chinese ethnoburbs such as San Gabriel, Rosemead and Temple City.
Similar to other Chinese groups, the majority of Cantonese Chinese profess faith in Buddhism but what they practice is correctly called Chinese folk religion. It incorporates traditional Chinese practices such as the belief in deities (bodhisattvas) who help people gain salvation. Many Cantonese Chinese households have the deity Guanyin (the goddess of mercy) on the family altar. Guanyin is believed to have compassion for people in need. Religion, like other aspects of their life, is pragmatic and relates to the everyday issues of life. At the time of offering incense it is a routine for the Cantonese to ask Guanyin and the other deities or spirits for blessing, protection, good health, etc. Many Cantonese place great importance and value on education and skills. They believe that sufficient education and skill improvement can help them improve their standard of living. In spite of professed beliefs, the risk of materialism replacing recognition of true spiritual needs is great.
Learn more about "Learning Paths"
Online Courses for embracing, encountering and engaging diaspora people. Work at your own pace. Begin anytime and complete the course according to your schedule. Interactive, Hands-On Application.
Learn more about "Reaching the Nations"
This book delineates five disciplines Christians should develop in order to effectively reach the nations. More specifically, it will guide Christians to develop an engagement strategy in their locale.
World Religions - Beliefs Overview
An overview of major world religions and cults - their beliefs and practices.
Prayer Guide for Unreached Peoples
A 30 day guide to pray for unreached people groups.
Online Talking Bible - Cantonese
The purpose of Talking Bibles is to give non-readers and the blind access to the Bible in their native language.
Prayer Guide using the GOSPELS acronym
A prayer guide that utilizes the acronym GOSPELS to pray for workers among diaspora.
Country | City | Metro Area Name | State / Prov. | Baseline Population |
---|---|---|---|---|
United States | New York | New York-Newark-Jersey City | NY | 300,000 |
United States | Toronto | Toronto (Mississauga, Brampton) | ON | 212,830 |
United States | Vancouver | Vancouver (Surrey) | BC | 162,425 |
United States | NY | New York-Newark-Jersey City | NY | 50,000 |
United States | SF | San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward | CA | 38,400 |
United States | LA | Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim | CA | 33,400 |
United States | Calgary | Calgary | AB | 25,595 |
United States | Edmonton | Edmonton | AB | 19,030 |
United States | Montréal | Montreal (Laval) | QC | 13,410 |
United States | San Jose | San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara | CA | 10,400 |
United States | Ottawa - Gatineau | Ottawa–Gatineau | ON | 8,680 |
United States | Seattle | Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue | WA | 7,800 |
United States | Chgo | Chicago-Naperville-Elgin | IL | 5,250 |
United States | Plano | Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington | TX | 3,000 |
United States | Charlotte | Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia | NC | 2,500 |
United States | Austin | Austin-Round Rock | TX | 1,200 |
United States | McAllen | McAllen-Edinburg-Mission-Brownsville | TX | 400 |
United States | McAllen | McAllen-Edinburg-Mission-Brownsville | TX | 100 |
United States | Beaumont | Beaumont-Port Arthur | TX | 100 |
United States | Jefferson City | Jefferson City | MO | 10 |