Hongkongese Americans (

Cantonese Cantonese ( zh, t=廣東話, s=广东话, first=t, cy=Gwóngdūng wá) is a language within the Chinese (Sinitic) branch of the Sino-Tibetan languages originating from the city of Guangzhou (historically known as Canton) and its surrounding are ...

: 美籍香港人), include

Americans Americans are the Citizenship of the United States, citizens and United States nationality law, nationals of the United States, United States of America.; ; Although direct citizens and nationals make up the majority of Americans, many Multi ...

who are also

Hong Kong permanent resident The Hong Kong Basic Law classifies residents of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region () as either permanent residents or non-permanent residents. Hong Kong residents have rights under the Basic Law including freedom of speech, freedom of ...

s who identify themselves as

Hongkongers Hongkongers (), also known as Hong Kongers, Hong Kongese, Hongkongese, Hong Kong citizens and Hong Kong people, typically refers to residents of the territory of Hong Kong; although may also refer to others who were born and/or raised in the ...

(who see Hong Kong as their home and are culturally associated with Hong Kong, especially through descent, growth, birth, long term residence in Hong Kong, or other types of deep affiliations with Hong Kong), Americans of

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

ancestry (inhabitants of the New Territories), and also Americans who have Hong Kong parents.

is a

special administrative region of China The special administrative regions (SAR) of the People's Republic of China are one of the provincial-level administrative divisions of the People's Republic of China directly under the control of its Central People's Government (State Co ...

and before that it was a

British colony The British Overseas Territories (BOTs), also known as the United Kingdom Overseas Territories (UKOTs), are fourteen territories with a constitutional and historical link with the United Kingdom. They are the last remnants of the former Bri ...

from 1841 until the Transfer of sovereignty to China in 1997. Many of the Hong Kong Americans hold both United States citizenship and

right of abode in Hong Kong Right of abode in Hong Kong entitles a person to live and work in the territory without any restrictions or conditions of stay. Someone who has that right is a Hong Kong permanent resident. Foreign nationals may acquire the right of abode after ...

. Other than the

US passport United States passports are passports issued to citizens and nationals of the United States of America. They are issued exclusively by the U.S. Department of State. Besides passports (in booklet form), limited-use passport cards are issued ...

, many of them also hold a

HKSAR Passport The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region passport is a passport issued only to permanent residents of Hong Kong who also hold Chinese citizenship. Note that: The passport is referred to both as the HKSAR Passport and the Hong Kong Specia ...

or the

British National (Overseas) British National (Overseas), abbreviated BN(O), is a class of British nationality law, British nationality associated with the British Hong Kong, former colony of Hong Kong. The status was acquired through voluntary registration by individual ...

passport. Most of Hong Kong Americans were born in Hong Kong, United States, or

Guangdong Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020) ...

History

After the passage of the

Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, also known as the Hart–Celler Act and more recently as the 1965 Immigration Act, is a federal law passed by the 89th United States Congress and signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson. The l ...

, an influx of

-speaking Hong Kong immigrants settled in

Chinatown, San Francisco The Chinatown centered on Grant Avenue and Stockton Street (San Francisco), Stockton Street in San Francisco, California, () is the oldest Chinatown in North America and one of the largest Han Chinese, Chinese ethnic enclave, enclaves outside As ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

Chinatown, Los Angeles Chinatown is a neighborhood in Downtown Los Angeles, California, that became a commercial center for Chinese and other Asian businesses in Central Los Angeles in 1938. The area includes restaurants, shops, and art galleries, but also has a resident ...

, and

Chinatown, Manhattan Manhattan's Chinatown () is a Neighborhoods in Manhattan, neighborhood in Lower Manhattan, New York City, bordering the Lower East Side to its east, Little Italy, Manhattan, Little Italy to its north, Civic Center, Manhattan, Civic Center to its ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. In Chinatown neighborhoods, many Hong Kong immigrants opened businesses such as Chinese restaurants and supermarkets. During the 1980s and the 1990s, a large number of high-skilled Hong Kong immigrants settled in the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Go ...

, where many were employed by high-technology companies in

Silicon Valley Silicon Valley is a region in Northern California that serves as a global center for high technology and innovation. Located in the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area, it corresponds roughly to the geographical areas San Mateo County ...

. Many of the Hong Kong immigrants in the Bay Area resided in suburban communities, such as Burlingame,

South San Francisco South San Francisco is a city in San Mateo County, California, United States, located on the San Francisco Peninsula in the San Francisco Bay Area. The city is colloquially known as "South City". The population was 66,105 at the 2020 census. ...

, San Mateo, Fremont, and in the Richmond District and Sunset District, San Francisco, Sunset District in San Francisco. Many also settled in the New York Metropolitan area. Many Hong Kong immigrants also immigrated to Greater Los Angeles's San Gabriel Valley in the 1980s and 1990s, most of them settling in Monterey Park, California, Monterey Park, Alhambra, California, Alhambra, San Gabriel, California, San Gabriel, Temple City, California, Temple City, and Rosemead, California, Rosemead.

Population

As of 2012, there are 219,231 people in the United States who are born in Hong Kong. 96,281 of people born in Hong Kong live in the state of

. 39,523 of the people born in Hong Kong live in New York state, New York. New Jersey, Texas and Washington state, Washington have 9,487, 8,671, and 8,191 Hong Kong-born residents, respectively. There is also a sizable community of Hong Kongers in the Greater Boston Area, especially in Quincy, Massachusetts. Massachusetts has 7,464 residents who were born in Hong Kong.Quincy's Asian American community is growing, changing
''The Patriot Ledger'' All these numbers would have excluded those who were born elsewhere than Hong Kong (mainly the United States or Guangdong, China) as well as their descendants.

Notable people

* Nathan Adrian – swimmer and Olympic Games, Olympic medal winner *Celia Au – actress and filmmaker *MC Jin, Jin Au-Yeung, professionally known as "MC Jin" – rapper, songwriter, actor, comedian * Brian Burrell – actor * Flora Chan – TVB actress * Francis Chan – preacher * Jaycee Chan – singer, film actor * Melissa Chan – journalist * John S. Chen – CEO of BlackBerry * Kevin Cheng – TVB actor * Amy Chow – gymnast and Olympic medal winner * Denny Chin – judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (1994–present), first Asian American appointed as a United States district court judge * Margaret Chin – member of the New York City Council representing Chinatown * Khalil Fong – singer-songwriter * The Fung Brothers – comedy and hip hop duo * James Hong – actor * William Hung – singer * Yuet Wai Kan – pioneer in the use of DNA to diagnose human diseases; helped set the stage for the Human Genome Project * Michelle Kwan – Olympic medal winner, ice skater * Nancy Kwan – actress and model * Kent Lai – tenured full professor, University of Utah School of Medicine * Brandon Lee – martial artist and actor * Bruce Lee – martial artist and actor * Justin Lo – Cantopop singer-songwriter * Byron Mann – actor * Jimmy O. Yang – comedian *Robin Shou – actor, martial artist and stuntman *Harry Shum Jr. – actor * Vivienne Tam – fashion designer * Sam Tsui – musician, singer-songwriter and an Internet celebrity through YouTube * Margaret W. Wong – Hong Kong-born naturalized American immigration attorney * Daniel Wu – actor *Wayne Wang – film director

References

{{Demographics of the United States American people of Hong Kong descent, Hong Kong American, Culture of Hong Kong