Hainanese (ethnic)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Hainanese (meaning the Han Chinese settlers of the island's east coast) are a Chinese ethnic group, originating from Hainan (the southernmost and smallest Chinese province). They are considered a subgroup of the much larger Han ethnicity (which makes up 91% of China's population).
Much of the population of the Hainanese people, along with the Hakka, Cantonese and Hokkien peoples is now in diaspora in many Southeast Asian countries, including Malaysia (where they were known as Hailam). They were never the dominant Chinese ethnic group in any country.
Although most Hainanese people were originally fishermen from the Fujian and Guangdong provinces who settled the islands of China's smallest province, in the Southeast Asian countries they moved into, many of them went on to become cooks, restaurateurs, and hoteliers. The person who created the world-famous Singapore Sling, Mr. Ngiam Tong Boon, was in fact a Hainanese.
| Han subgroups by dialect or region |
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| Northern and Northeastern • Central Plain • Shaanxi-Shanxi • West of River • Southwestern • Huai-Yangtze • Wu-Yue • Hunan • Ou-Yue • Northern Min • Eastern Min • Southern Min • Hakka • Teochiu (Teochew) • Cantonese • Hainan |
