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As of 1990, the majority of Asians living in the Paris area were ethnic Chinese originating from several countries. [1] The largest group includes ethnic Chinese from Indochina, and a smaller group originates from Zhejiang. [2]
During World War I, the French brought workers from Zhejiang to work in the war efforts. When the war ended, several thousand remained, most of whom originated from Qingtian, while most of the imported Chinese workers went back to China. These Chinese worked as stall-holders in fairgrounds. [1]
In the 1920s, there was a community of Chinese students living in Paris. Many of them had become political activists. Zhou Enlai and Deng Xiaoping lived in a flat near Place d'Italie. In 1921, they published Youth, a Chinese-language newspaper, from this flat. [3]
A group of Chinese from Wenzhou, Zhejiang settled Paris in the 1930s. According to the 1936 Census, slightly more than 2,000 Chinese lived in Paris. [1]
As of the 1930s the Chinese population included employees of French companies, including workers in leather shops and factories such as those owned by Renault. Other Chinese included artisans and tradespeople. [1] After World War II additional Chinese from Zhejiang arrived. [2] During that period many Chinese became leather goods wholesaler dealers and manufacturers. [1]
Michelle Guillon, author of "The Chinese and Chinese Districts in Paris", wrote that "before 1975" the Chinese in Paris "were not perceived as immigrants but rather as a little group that added a touch of exoticism to the capital, thanks to their restaurants in the Latin Quarter." [4]
Immigrants from Cambodia and Vietnam had arrived in Paris since the colonial era but had arrived in the largest numbers post-1975. Guillon wrote that there was a likelihood of "many members of the Chinese minorities (Cantonese and Teochew) among these refugees" and that these refugees had been persecuted in Laos and Vietnam in the 1970s, but "it is impossible to work out any count on the criteria of legal nationality" since they had stayed in Laos and Vietnam and had taken Laotian and Vietnamese nationalities many years prior. [2]
The French dispersed refugees so they would not join communities where foreigners were already settled, and the government set up many shelter and lodging centres in central and western France. However the ethnic Chinese from Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam banded together after leaving the shelter and lodging centres and settled in Paris. Later groups of ethnic Chinese Indochinese immediately went to Paris after arriving at Charles de Gaulle Airport. [2]
Ethnic Chinese Indochinese families living in provincial French cities felt isolation. They moved to Paris as ethnic Chinese companies opened there. In the 1980s, additional Chinese from Zhejiang arrived. [2]
In 1998, Guillon wrote that the Chinese now were "a constituent part of the Parisian population." [5]
In 2011, several muggings assaults on ethnic Chinese occurred in the 20th arrondissement of Paris, causing ethnic Chinese to hold demonstrations against violence. David Chazan of the BBC wrote that they are perceived as being prosperous and therefore are targeted. [6]
In 2016, protests staged by ethnic Chinese occurred after several Chinese in Aubervilliers were attacked. [7] The Franco-Chinese Friendship Association stated that from November 2015 to August 2016 over 100 ethnic Chinese in Aubervilliers had been robbed. 49-year old Chaoling Zhang (张朝林 Zhāng Cháolín), beaten in a robbery, died on 16 August 2016. [8]
As of 1990, in the City of Paris there were 7,590 Chinese citizens and 1,272 former Chinese citizens naturalized as French. The combined total was 8,862. During that year, in the City of Paris there were 128 Taiwanese citizens and 36 former Taiwanese citizens naturalized as French, making a combined total of 164. [9]
As of 1990, in the Île-de-France region there were 11,263 Chinese citizens and 2,564 former Chinese citizens naturalized as French, making a combined total of 13,827. During that year, there were 248 Taiwanese citizens in the region and 80 former Taiwanese naturalized as French, making a combined total of 328. [9]
As of 1998 the ethnic Chinese population includes those who were born in Cambodia. Guillon wrote that due to integration of ethnic Chinese into Cambodian society, the Chinese adoption of Khmer names, and intermarriage between Chinese and Khmer, there is difficulty in differentiating between Chinese and Khmer people in Paris. [10] Guillon wrote that Chineseness became re-emphasized in these Cambodian-born Chinese due to the nature of their exile from Cambodia. [10]
The areas of Chinese settlement include the Porte de Choisy area in the 13th arrondissement (the Paris Chinatown), the Belleville area in northeast Paris, and the Temple and Arts-et-Metiers area , which is mostly in the 3rd arrondissement but also has portions in the southern 10th arrondissement and the western 11th arrondissement; this area, in the historical centre of Paris, is in proximity to the Centre National d'Art Contemporain Georges Pompidou. The Parisian public perceives the Porte de Choisy and Belleville areas as being the major Chinatowns. The area with the highest proportion of Asians is the Temple/Arts-et-Metiers area. [11]
7,000 Asians live in the Choisy area. [12] Major banks of China such as the Bank of China and the International Commercial Bank of China, as of 1998, have operations in this area. [13]
As of 1998, Belleville has the largest Chinese restaurants in area in Paris. [13]
As of 1998, 8,000 Asians live in the Temple/Arts-et-Metiers area, [11] making up about 4-9% of the population. [12] The main Asian group is the Wenzhou people. [11] 70-90% of the residents, of 1998, had or once had Chinese citizenship. [14]
Ethnic Chinese from Wenzhou began arriving in Aubervilliers in the 1980s and 1990s to participate in the textile industry. [7] As of 2016 [update] 4,000 ethnic Chinese live in Aubervilliers. [8]
As of 1998, most Asians living in Marne-la-Vallée are Chinese. They had previously lived in Paris but moved to Marne-la-Vallée to get an increased quality of life. The residents of this area do ethnic shopping in Paris, and there are few ethnic shops and businesses in Marne-la-Vallée. [15]
Marinette Dupain-Cheng, the female protagonist of the animated television series Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir , is a French-Chinese student with the secret superhero identity of Ladybug.
The 13th arrondissement of Paris is one of the 20 arrondissements of the capital city of France. In spoken French, this arrondissement is referred to as treizième.
Vitry-sur-Seine is a commune in the southeastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located 7.5 km (4.7 mi) from the centre of Paris.
Noisy-le-Grand is a commune in the eastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located 15.2 km (9.4 mi) from the centre of Paris. The commune of Noisy-le-Grand is part of the sector of Porte de Paris, one of the four sectors of the "new town" of Marne-la-Vallée.
Chinatowns in Europe include several urban Chinatowns that exist in major European capital cities. There is a Chinatown in London, England, as well as major Chinatowns in Manchester, Birmingham, Newcastle and Liverpool. In Paris there are two Chinatowns: one where many Vietnamese – specifically ethnic Chinese refugees from Vietnam – have settled in the Quartier chinois in the 13th arrondissement of Paris which is Europe's largest Chinatown, and the other in Belleville in the northeast of Paris. Berlin, Germany has two Chinatowns, one in the East and one in the West. Antwerp, Belgium also has an upstart Chinese community.
Cambodia is the smallest of the three Francophone communities in Southeast Asia, the others being found in Vietnam and Laos. Out of all Asian Francophone nations, Cambodia is where French has declined the most. In 2014, French was spoken by 423,000 people as a foreign language, which is 3% of the country's population and by only 873 people as a mother tongue according to the country's 2008 census.
Khmer people are one of the Cambodian ethnic group and nation native to Cambodia, accounting for over 97% of the country's 15.9 million people. They speak the Khmer language, which is part of the larger Austroasiatic language family found in parts of Southeast Asia, parts of central, eastern, and northeastern India, parts of Bangladesh in South Asia, in parts of Southern China and numerous islands in the Indian Ocean.
The city of Paris had a population of 2,187,526 people within its administrative city limits as of January 1, 2017. It is surrounded by the Paris unité urbaine, or urban area, the most populous urban area in the European Union. In 2017 the unité urbaine had a population of 10,784,830. The Paris Region, or Île-de-France covers 12,012 square kilometers, and has its own regional council and president. It has a population of 12,174,880 as of January 2017, or 18.3 percent of the population of France.
Marne-la-Vallée is a new town located near Paris, France.
Cambodians in France consist of ethnic Khmer people who were born in or immigrated to France. The population as of 2020 was estimated to be about 80,000, making the community one of the largest in the Cambodian diaspora. The Cambodian population in France is the most established outside Southeast Asia, with a presence dating to well before the Vietnam War and subsequent Indochina refugee crisis.
Lognes is a community in the eastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located in the Seine-et-Marne department in the Île-de-France 20.7 km (12.9 mi) from the center of Paris.
Noisiel is a commune in the French department of Seine-et-Marne, administrative region of Île-de-France, France. It is located in the eastern suburbs of Paris, 20.5 km (12.7 mi) from the center of Paris.
The largest of the ethnic groups in Cambodia are the Khmer, who comprise approximately 90% of the total population and primarily inhabit the lowland Mekong subregion and the central plains. The Khmer historically have lived near the lower Mekong River in a contiguous arc that runs from the southern Khorat Plateau where modern-day Thailand, Laos and Cambodia meet in the northeast, stretching southwest through the lands surrounding Tonle Sap lake to the Cardamom Mountains, then continues back southeast to the mouth of the Mekong River in southeastern Vietnam.
The Chinese diaspora in France consists of people of Chinese ancestry who were born in or immigrated to France. The population of the community is estimated to be about 600,000, making it the largest Asian community in the country. Though they form a small part of the overseas Chinese population, the Chinese diaspora of France represents the largest overseas Chinese community in Europe.
Laos is a Buddhist-majority nation with the officially recognised Muslim population approximately constituting 0.01% of the total population as of 2008 census. The majority of Laotian Muslims are Sunni. Laotian Muslims can be found in the capital, Vientiane, which has two mosques, as well as other urban areas such as Savannakhet and Oudomxay; the latter of which had a mosque constructed there in June 2016. Laotian Muslims are an ethnically diverse group, mainly consisting of ethnic Lao, Chin Haw, Chams, Tamils and Pashtuns, with interracial marriages being increasingly popular. They are generally engaged in trade, agriculture, cosmetics, clothing and business though some have attained official roles with the government.
Asian diasporas in France consist of foreign residents and French citizens originating from Asian countries living in France. French citizens of Asian descent primarily have ancestry from the former French colonies of Indochina, although there has been a growing number of Chinese and Turkish immigration to France. Other Asian ethnic groups found in France include other West Asians, such as the Lebanese, South Asians, Japanese and Koreans.
The Laotian diaspora consists of roughly 800,000 people, both descendants of early emigrants from Laos, as well as more recent refugees who escaped the country following its communist takeover as a result of the Laotian Civil War. The overwhelming majority of overseas Laotians live in just three countries: Thailand, the United States, and France.
The Indochina refugee crisis was the large outflow of people from the former French colonies of Indochina, comprising the countries of Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos, after communist governments were established in 1975. Over the next 25 years and out of a total Indochinese population in 1975 of 56 million, more than 3 million people would undertake the dangerous journey to become refugees in other countries of Southeast Asia, Hong Kong, or China. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, 250,000 Vietnamese refugees had perished at sea by July 1986. More than 2.5 million Indochinese were resettled, mostly in North America, Australia, and Europe. More than 525,000 were repatriated, either voluntarily or involuntarily, mainly from Cambodia.
The Quartier Asiatique, also called Triangle de Choisy or Petite Asie is the largest commercial and cultural center for the Asian community of Paris. It is located in the southeast of the 13th arrondissement in an area that contains many high-rise apartment buildings. Despite its status as a "Chinatown", the neighborhood also contains significant Vietnamese, Laotian and Cambodian populations.
Paris is home to the oldest Overseas Vietnamese community in the Western world and is also one of the largest outside Vietnam. There are an estimated 70,000 people of Vietnamese descent within the city limits of Paris as of 2018, with the greater Île-de-France area home to another estimated 100,000. Both figures make the Paris metropolitan area host to one of the greatest concentrations of Vietnamese outside Vietnam, if not the largest.
Chinese prostitution in Paris has developed since the late 1990s. Prostitutes of Chinese origin work mainly on the streets of some neighbourhoods, where they are nicknamed les marcheuses, but also in massage parlours or through the internet. In 2016, Médecins du Monde estimated that there were 1,450 Chinese prostitutes in Paris.
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