Chinatown, Manhattan is a
neighborhood in
Lower Manhattan,
New York City, bordering the
Lower East Side to its east,
Little Italy to its north,
Civic Center to its south, and
Tribeca to its west. Chinatown is home to the largest enclave of
Chinese people in the
Western Hemisphere. With an estimated population of 90,000 to 100,000 people, Manhattan's
Chinatown is also one of the oldest ethnic
Chinese enclaves outside of
Asia. The Manhattan Chinatown is one of
nine Chinatown neighborhoods in New York City, as well as one of twelve in the
New York metropolitan area, which contains the largest ethnic Chinese population outside of Asia, enumerating an estimated 819,527 uniracial individuals as of 2014. Historically it was primarily populated by
Cantonese speakers. However, in the 1980s-90s, large numbers of Chinese
Min Dong-speaking immigrants also arrived. As many Mingdong and Cantonese speakers now speak
Mandarin—the official dialect of Chinese—in addition to their native dialects, this made it more important for Chinatown residents to learn and speak Mandarin.