Hong Kong and Macau The
official languages of
Hong Kong are Chinese and English, as defined in the
Hong Kong Basic Law. The Chinese language has
many different varieties, of which Cantonese is one. Given the traditional predominance of Cantonese within Hong Kong, it is the
de facto official spoken form of the Chinese language used in the
Hong Kong Government and all courts and tribunals. It is also used as the
medium of instruction in schools, alongside English. A similar situation also exists in neighbouring
Macau, where Chinese is an official language alongside
Portuguese. As in Hong Kong, Cantonese is the predominant spoken
variety of Chinese used in everyday life and is thus the official form of Chinese used in the government. The Cantonese spoken in Hong Kong and Macau is
mutually intelligible with the Cantonese spoken in the mainland city of
Guangzhou, although there exist some minor differences in accent, pronunciation, and vocabulary.
China Cantonese first developed around the port city of
Guangzhou in the
Pearl River Delta region of southeastern China. Due to the city's long standing role as an important cultural centre, Cantonese emerged as the prestige dialect of the
Yue varieties of Chinese in the
Southern Song dynasty and its usage spread around most of what is now the provinces of
Guangdong and
Guangxi. Despite the cession of Macau to Portugal in 1557 and
Hong Kong to Britain in 1842, the ethnic Chinese population of the two territories largely originated from the 19th and 20th century immigration from Guangzhou and surrounding areas, making Cantonese the predominant Chinese language in the territories. On the mainland, Cantonese continued to serve as the
lingua franca of
Guangdong and
Guangxi even after Mandarin was made the official language of the government by the
Qing dynasty in the early 1900s. Cantonese remained a dominant and influential language in southeastern China until the establishment of the People's Republic of China in 1949 and its promotion of
Standard Mandarin Chinese as the sole official language of the nation throughout the last half of the 20th century, although its influence still remains strong within the region. While the Chinese government encourages the use of Standard Mandarin rather than local varieties of Chinese in broadcasts, Cantonese enjoys a relatively higher standing than other Chinese languages, with its own media and usage in public transportation in Guangdong province. Furthermore, it is also a medium of instruction in select academic curricula, including some university elective courses and
Chinese as a foreign language programs. The permitted usage of Cantonese in mainland China is largely a countermeasure against the influence from Hong Kong, which has historically enjoyed more media freedom than its former counterpart, as its Cantonese-language media has a substantial exposure and following in Guangdong. Nevertheless, the place of local Cantonese language and
culture remains contentious, as with other non-Mandarin Chinese languages. A 2010
proposal to switch some programming on Guangzhou television from Cantonese to Mandarin was abandoned following massive public protests, the largest since the
Tiananmen Square protests of 1989. As a major economic centre of China, there have been concerns that the use of Cantonese in Guangzhou is diminishing in favour of Mandarin, both through the continual influx of Mandarin-speaking migrants from impoverished areas and strict government policies. As a result, Cantonese is being given a more important status by the natives than ever before as a common identity of the local people. This has led to initiatives to revive the language such as its introduction into school curricula and locally produced programs on broadcast media.
Southeast Asia Cantonese has historically served as a
lingua franca among overseas Chinese in Southeast Asia, who speak a variety of other forms of Chinese including
Hokkien,
Teochew, and
Hakka. Additionally, Cantonese media and popular culture such as
Hong Kong cinema is popular throughout the region.
Vietnam In
Vietnam, Cantonese is the dominant language of the main ethnic Chinese community, usually referred to as
Hoa, which numbers about one million people and constitutes one of the largest minority groups in the country. Over half of the ethnic Chinese population in Vietnam speaks Cantonese as a native language and the variety also serves as a lingua franca between the different Chinese dialect groups. Many speakers reflect their exposure to
Vietnamese with a Vietnamese accent or a tendency to
code-switch between Cantonese and Vietnamese.
Malaysia In
Malaysia, Cantonese is widely spoken among the
Malaysian Chinese community in the capital city of
Kuala Lumpur and the surrounding areas in the
Klang Valley (
Petaling Jaya,
Ampang,
Putrajaya,
Cheras,
Selayang,
Sungai Buloh,
Puchong,
Shah Alam,
Kajang,
Bangi, and
Subang Jaya). The language is also widely spoken as well in the town of
Sekinchan in the district of
Sabak Bernam located in the northern part of
Selangor state; the state of
Perak, especially in the state capital city of
Ipoh and its surrounding towns of
Gopeng,
Batu Gajah, and
Kampar of the
Kinta Valley region plus the towns of
Tapah and
Bidor in the southern part of the
Perak state; and most of the state of
Negeri Sembilan, especially in the state capital city of
Seremban, as well as the towns of
Port Dickson,
Kuala Pilah,
Bahau,
Tampin,
Rembau and
Gemas, with the exception of
Jelebu,
Mantin,
Nilai and
Kuala Klawang, where
Hokkien and
Hakka predominate, respectively. Cantonese is also widely spoken in the eastern
Sabahan town of
Sandakan as well as the towns of
Kuantan,
Raub,
Bentong,
Temerloh,
Pekan,
Jerantut as well as
Cameron Highlands in Pahang state, and they are also found in other areas like
Sarikei, Sarawak, and
Mersing, Johor. Although
Hokkien is the most natively spoken variety of Chinese and Mandarin is the medium of education at
Chinese-language schools, Cantonese is largely influential in the local Chinese media and is used in commerce by Chinese Malaysians. Due to the popularity of
Hong Kong popular culture, especially through drama series and popular music, Cantonese is widely understood by the Chinese in all parts of Malaysia, even though a large proportion of the Chinese Malaysian population is non-Cantonese. Television networks in Malaysia regularly broadcast Hong Kong television programmes in their original Cantonese audio and soundtrack. Cantonese radio is also available in the nation and Cantonese is prevalent in locally produced Chinese television. Cantonese spoken in Malaysia and Singapore often exhibits influences from
Malay and other Chinese varieties spoken in the country, like Hokkien and Teochew.
Singapore The Singapore government uses Mandarin as the official Chinese variety and has a
Speak Mandarin Campaign (SMC) seeking to actively promote using Mandarin at the expense of other Chinese varieties. A little over 15% of Chinese households in Singapore speak Cantonese. Despite the government actively promoting SMC, the Cantonese-speaking Chinese community has been relatively successful in preserving its language from Mandarin compared with other dialect groups. Notably, all nationally produced non-Mandarin Chinese TV and radio programs were stopped after 1979. The prime minister,
Lee Kuan Yew, then, also stopped giving speeches in
Hokkien to prevent giving conflicting signals to the people. Nevertheless, since the government restriction on media in non-Mandarin varieties was relaxed in the mid-1990s and 2000s, presence of Cantonese in Singapore has grown substantially. Forms of popular culture from Hong Kong, like
television series,
cinema and
pop music have become popular in Singaporean society, and non-dubbed original versions of the media became widely available. Consequently, the number of non-Cantonese Chinese Singaporeans being able to understand or speak Cantonese to some varying extent is growing, with a number of educational institutes offering Cantonese as an elective language course.
Cambodia Cantonese is widely used as the inter-communal language among
Chinese Cambodians, especially in
Phnom Penh and other urban areas. While Teochew speakers form the majority of the Chinese population in
Cambodia, Cantonese is often used as a vernacular in commerce and with other Chinese variant groups in the nation. Chinese-language schools in Cambodia are conducted in both Cantonese and Mandarin, but schools may be conducted exclusively in one Chinese variant or the other.
Thailand While
Thailand is home to the
largest overseas Chinese community in the world, the vast majority of ethnic Chinese in the country speak Thai exclusively. Among Chinese-speaking Thai households, Cantonese is the fourth most-spoken Chinese variety after
Teochew,
Hakka and
Hainanese. Nevertheless, within the Thai Chinese commercial sector, it serves as a common language alongside Teochew or Thai. Chinese-language schools in Thailand have also traditionally been conducted in Cantonese. Furthermore, Cantonese serves as the lingua franca with other Chinese communities in the region.
Indonesia In
Indonesia, Cantonese is locally known as
Konghu and is one of the variants spoken by the
Chinese Indonesian community, with speakers largely concentrated in certain major cities like
Jakarta,
Medan,
Surabaya,
Makassar,
Semarang,
Manado and
Batam. However, it has a relatively minor presence compared to other Southeast Asian nations, being the fourth most spoken Chinese variety after Hokkien, Hakka and Teochew.
North America United States . Cantonese has traditionally been the dominant Chinese variant among Chinese populations in the Western world. Over a period of 150 years (from 1850 to the 2000s), Guangdong has been the place-of-origin for most Chinese emigrants to Western nations; one coastal county,
Taishan (or Tóisàn, where the Sìyì or
sei yap variety of Yue is spoken), alone may be the origin of the vast majority of Chinese immigrants to the U.S. before 1965. As a result, Yue languages such as Cantonese and the closely related variety of
Taishanese have been the major Chinese varieties traditionally spoken in the United States. In 2009, 458,840 Americans spoke Cantonese at home according to an American Community Survey. The Zhongshan variant of Cantonese, which originated from the western Pearl River Delta, is spoken by many Chinese immigrants in Hawaii, and some in San Francisco and the
Sacramento River Delta (see
Locke, California). It is a Yuehai variety much like Guangzhou Cantonese but has "flatter" tones. Chinese is the second most widely spoken non-English language in the United States when both Cantonese and Mandarin are combined, behind Spanish. Many institutes of higher education have traditionally had Chinese programs based on Cantonese, with some continuing to offer these programs despite the rise of Mandarin. The most popular romanization for learning Cantonese in the United States is
Yale romanization. The majority of Chinese emigrants have traditionally originated from Guangdong and Guangxi, as well as Hong Kong and Macau (beginning in the latter half of the 20th century and before the
handover) and Southeast Asia, with Cantonese as their native language. However, more recent immigrants are arriving from the rest of mainland China and Taiwan and most often speak
Standard Mandarin (Putonghua) as their native language, although some may also speak their native local variety, such as
Shanghainese,
Hokkien,
Fuzhounese,
Hakka, etc. As a result, Mandarin is becoming more common among the Chinese American community. The increase of Mandarin-speaking communities has resulted in the rise of separate neighbourhoods or enclaves segregated by the primary Chinese variety spoken. Socioeconomic statuses are also a factor. For example, in New York City, Cantonese still predominates in the city's
older, traditional western portion of
Chinatown in
Manhattan and in Brooklyn's small new Chinatowns in
Bensonhurst and
Homecrest. The newly emerged
Little Fuzhou eastern portion of Manhattan's Chinatown and
Brooklyn's main large Chinatown in and around
Sunset Park are mostly populated by
Fuzhounese speakers, who often speak Mandarin as well. The Cantonese and Fuzhounese enclaves in New York City are more working class. However, due to the rapid gentrification of Manhattan's Chinatown and with NYC's Cantonese and Fuzhou populations now increasingly shifting to other Chinese enclaves in the
Outer Boroughs of NYC, such as
Brooklyn and
Queens, but mainly in Brooklyn's newer Chinatowns, the Cantonese speaking population in NYC is now increasingly concentrated in
Bensonhurst's Little Hong Kong/Guangdong and
Homecrest's Little Hong Kong/Guangdong. The Fuzhou population of NYC is becoming increasingly concentrated in Brooklyn's Sunset Park, also known as
Little Fuzhou, which is causing the city's growing Cantonese and Fuzhou enclaves to become increasingly distanced and isolated from both each other and other Chinese enclaves in Queens.
Flushing's Chinatown, which is now the largest Chinatown in the city, and
Elmhurst's smaller Chinatown in Queens are very diverse, with large numbers of Mandarin speakers from different regions of China and Taiwan. The Chinatowns of Queens comprise the primary cultural centre for New York City's Chinese population and are more middle class. In
Northern California, especially the
San Francisco Bay Area, Cantonese has historically dominated in the Chinatowns of
San Francisco and
Oakland, as well as the surrounding suburbs and metropolitan area, although since the late 2000s a concentration of Mandarin speakers has formed in
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 ethnic enclaves such as
San Gabriel,
Rosemead, and
Temple City. Mandarin predominates in much of the
emergent Chinese American enclaves in eastern Los Angeles County and other areas of the metropolitan region. While a number of more-established Taiwanese immigrants have learned Cantonese to foster relations with the traditional Cantonese-speaking Chinese American population, more recent arrivals and the larger number of mainland Chinese immigrants have largely continued to use Mandarin as the exclusive variety of Chinese. This has led to a
linguistic discrimination that has also contributed to social conflicts between the two sides, with a growing number of Chinese Americans (including
American-born Chinese) of Cantonese background defending the historic Chinese-American culture against the impacts of increasing Mandarin-speaking new arrivals.
Canada Cantonese is the most common Chinese variety spoken among
Chinese Canadians. According to the
Canada 2016 census, there were 565,275 Canadian residents who reported Cantonese as their native language. Among the self-reported Cantonese speakers, 44% were born in Hong Kong, 27% were born in Guangdong Province, and 18% were Canadian-born. Cantonese-speakers can be found in every city with a Chinese community. The majority of Cantonese-speakers in Canada live in the
Greater Toronto Area and
Metro Vancouver. There are sufficient Cantonese-speakers in Canada that there exist locally produced Cantonese TV and radio programming, such as
Fairchild TV. As in the United States, the Chinese Canadian community traces its roots to early immigrants from Guangdong during the latter half of the 19th century. Later Chinese immigrants came from Hong Kong in two waves, first in the late 1960s to mid 1970s, and again in the 1980s to late 1990s on fears arising from the
1989 Tiananmen Square protests and impending handover to the People's Republic of China. Chinese-speaking immigrants from conflict zones in Southeast Asia, especially Vietnam, arrived as well, beginning in the mid-1970s and were also largely Cantonese-speaking.
Western Europe United Kingdom The overwhelming majority of Chinese speakers in the United Kingdom use Cantonese, with about 300,000 British people claiming it as their first language. This is largely due to the presence of
British Hong Kongers and the fact that many
British Chinese also have origins in the former British colonies in Southeast Asia of Singapore and Malaysia.
France Among the
Chinese community in France, Cantonese is spoken by immigrants who fled the former
French Indochina (Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos) following the conflicts and communist takeovers in the region during the 1970s. While a slight majority of ethnic Chinese from Indochina speak Teochew at home, knowledge of Cantonese is prevalent due to its historic prestige status in the region and is used for commercial and community purposes between the different Chinese variety groups. As in the United States, there is a divide between Cantonese-speakers and those speaking other mainland Chinese varieties.
Portugal Cantonese is spoken by ethnic
Chinese in Portugal who
originate from Macau, the most established Chinese community in the nation with a presence dating back to the 16th century and
Portuguese colonialism. Since the late-20th century, however, Mandarin- and Wu-speaking migrants from mainland China have outnumbered those from Macau, although Cantonese is still retained among mainstream Chinese community associations.
Australia Cantonese was the dominant Chinese language of the
Chinese Australian community from the time the first ethnic Chinese settlers arrived in the 1850s until the mid-2000s, when a heavy increase in immigration from Mandarin-speakers largely from mainland China led to Mandarin surpassing Cantonese as the dominant Chinese dialect spoken. Cantonese is the third most-spoken language in Australia. In the 2011 census, the Australian Bureau of Statistics listed 336,410 and 263,673 speakers of Mandarin and Cantonese, respectively. By 2016, those numbers became 596,711 and 280,943. ==Cultural role==