Editing Overseas Chinese (section)

===Early emigration===
[[File:ChineseMigration003.jpg|thumb|right|Main sources of Chinese migration from the 19th century to 1949.]]

In the mid-1800s, outbound migration from China increased as a result of the European colonial powers opening up [[treaty ports]].<ref name=":Han2" />{{Rp|page=137}} The British colonization of Hong Kong further created the opportunity for Chinese labor to be exported to plantations and mines.<ref name=":Han2" />{{Rp|page=137}}

During the era of European colonialism, many overseas Chinese were [[coolie]] laborers.<ref name=":Han2" />{{Rp|page=123}} Chinese capitalists overseas often functioned as economic and political intermediaries between colonial rulers and colonial populations.<ref name=":Han2" />{{Rp|page=123}}

The area of [[Taishan, Guangdong Province]] was the source for many of economic migrants.<ref name="pan" /> In the provinces of [[Fujian]] and [[Guangdong]] in China, there was a surge in emigration as a result of the poverty and village ruin.<ref>''The Story of California From the Earliest Days to the Present'', by Henry K. Norton. 7th ed. Chicago: A.C. McClurg & Co., 1924. Chapter XXIV, pp. 283–296.</ref>

San Francisco and California was an early American destination in the mid-1800s because of the California Gold Rush. Many settled in San Francisco forming one of the earliest Chinatowns. For the countries in North America and Australia saw great numbers of Chinese gold diggers finding gold in the [[gold mining]] and [[railway]] construction. Widespread famine in Guangdong impelled many Cantonese to work in these countries to improve the living conditions of their relatives.

From 1853 until the end of the 19th century, about 18,000 Chinese were brought as [[Indentured servitude#Caribbean|indentured workers]] to the [[British West Indies]], mainly to [[British Guiana]] (now [[Guyana]]), [[Trinidad]] and [[Jamaica]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=Displacements and Diaspora|jstor = j.ctt5hj582|year = 2005|isbn = 9780813536101|publisher = Rutgers University Press}}</ref> Their descendants today are found among the current populations of these countries, but also among the migrant communities with Anglo-Caribbean origins residing mainly in the [[United Kingdom]], the [[United States]] and [[Canada]].

Some overseas Chinese were sold to [[South America]] during the [[Punti–Hakka Clan Wars]] (1855–1867) in the [[Pearl River Delta]] in Guangdong.

[[File:Chinese women and children in Brunei.JPG|thumb|left|[[Ethnic Chinese in Brunei|Chinese]] women and children in [[Brunei]], {{circa|1945}}.]]
Research conducted in 2008 by German researchers who wanted to show the correlation between economic development and height, used a small dataset of 159 male labourers from Guangdong who were sent to the Dutch colony of Suriname  to illustrate their point. They stated that the Chinese labourers were  between 161  to 164&nbsp;cm  in height for males.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Baten |first1=Jörg |title=Anthropometric Trends in Southern China, 1830–1864 |journal=Australian Economic History Review |date=November 2008 |volume=43 |issue=3 |pages=209–226|doi=10.1111/j.1467-8446.2008.00238.x}}</ref>  Their study did not account for factors other than economic conditions and acknowledge the limitations of such a small sample.

[[File:Gu family of Chinese-Indonesian.jpg|thumb|1958 old photograph of [[Chinese Indonesians|Indonesian-Chinese]] of [[Gǔ (surname 古)|Gu (古) surname]], first until third generations]]
[[File:Chinese merchants grouped outside their club house on Penang Island, 1881.jpg|thumb|left|Chinese merchants in [[Penang]], [[Straits Settlements]] (present-day [[Malaysia]]), {{circa|1881}}.]]

The [[Lanfang Republic]] in [[West Kalimantan]] was established by overseas Chinese.

In 1909, the Qing dynasty established the first ''Nationality Law'' of China.<ref name=":Han2" />{{Rp|page=138}} It granted Chinese citizenship to anyone born to a Chinese parent.<ref name=":Han2" />{{Rp|page=138}} It permitted [[Multiple citizenship|dual citizenship]].<ref name=":Han2" />{{Rp|page=138}}