Chinatowns in Africa
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This article discusses Chinatowns in Africa. There are least three major Chinatowns in Africa.
As former colonies of Europe, the coastal African nations of Madagascar, Mauritius, and South Africa were the main receiving points of Chinese immigrants from the 1890s to the early part of the 20th century. The early Chinese arrived to labour in the Transvaal gold mines of South Africa and on the Tananrive Tamatave railway of Madagascar. Many of these Chinese immigrants were exploited.
Today, South Africa remains the top African destination for first-generation Chinese-speaking immigrants.
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[edit] Madagascar
Madagascar has received some Chinese immigrants. In Madagascar, there are about 30,000 Chinese, the majority of them came from the Pearl River delta in Canton. A Chinatown, called Quartier Chinois, is located in Antananarivo.
[edit] Mauritius
The Chinatown or Quartier chinois is in the city of Port Louis on rue Royal. The Hakka Chinese are the dominant group in Mauritius. Its Chinatown was founded in 1944.
[edit] Morocco
The sole and quickly growing Chinatown of Arabic-speaking North Africa is the Quartier chinois located on rue Mohamed Ben Ahmed Lekrik in the Derb Omar district of Casablanca. Many immigrants in Casablanca's Chinatown engage in the wholesale apparel businesses, selling low-quality products at low prices.
[edit] South Africa
Inner-city Johannesburg has a declining Chinatown on Commissioner Street, but a newer Chinatown can be found on Derrick Avenue in the hilly suburb of Cyrildene. Taiwanese immigrants have settled extensively in the country—South Africa also had its first elected Taiwanese-born legislator in the 1980s—but there has also been fairly recent ethnic Chinese immigration from Mainland China, Hong Kong, and Singapore. [1] South African Chinese are dispersed throughout South African cities. A few pictures of new "Chinatown" in Cyrildene can be seen on the webblog: http://www.bbc.co.uk/africalives/myafrica/blogs/005020/0000005096.shtml
[edit] External links
- Antananrivo Chinatown Gallery Some photos of Antananrivo's Chinatown
- Johannesburg Chinatowns
