Asian Peruvians, primarily referring to those of
Chinese and
Japanese
Japanese may refer to:
* Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia
* Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan
* Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture
** Japanese diaspor ...
descent. Around 36,000 constitute some 0.16% of Peru's population as per the
2017 Census in Peru. In the
2017 Census in Peru, only 14,223 people self-reported ''tusán'' or Chinese ancestry, while only 22,534 people self-reported ''nikkei'' or Japanese ancestry. However, according to the 2009 census, it was estimated that 5% (or 1.2 million) of the 29 million Peruvians in 2009 had Chinese roots and ancestry, while 160,000 Peruvians in 2015 had Japanese roots and ancestry.
East and Southeast Asians
Asian slaves, shipped from the
Spanish Philippines
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
** Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
** Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, C ...
to
Acapulco
Acapulco de Juárez (), commonly called Acapulco ( , also , nah, Acapolco), is a city and major seaport in the state of Guerrero on the Pacific Coast of Mexico, south of Mexico City. Acapulco is located on a deep, semicircular bay and has ...
(see
Manila-Acapulco galleons), were all referred to as "Chino" meaning Chinese. In reality they were of diverse origins, including Japanese, Malays, Filipinos, Javanese, Timorese, and people from modern day Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, Makassar, Tidore, Terenate, and China.
Filipinos made up most of their population.
People from this diverse community of Asians in Mexico were called "los indios chinos" by the Spanish. Most of these slaves were male and were obtained from Portuguese slave traders who obtained them from Portuguese colonial possessions and outposts of the
Estado da India
The State of India ( pt, Estado da Índia), also referred as the Portuguese State of India (''Estado Português da Índia'', EPI) or simply Portuguese India (), was a state of the Portuguese Empire founded six years after the discovery of a se ...
, which included parts of India, Bengal, Malacca, Indonesia, Nagasaki in Japan, and Macau.
Spain received some of these Chino slaves from Mexico, where owning a Chino slave was a sign of high status.
16th century records of three Japanese slaves, Gaspar Fernandes, Miguel and Ventura, who ended up in Mexico showed that they were purchased by Portuguese slave traders in Japan and brought to Manila from where they were shipped to Mexico by their owner Perez. Some of these Asian slaves were also brought to
Lima
Lima ( ; ), originally founded as Ciudad de Los Reyes (City of The Kings) is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón, Rímac and Lurín Rivers, in the desert zone of the central coastal part of t ...
, where it was recorded that in 1613 there was a small community of Asians made out of Chinese, Filipinos, Malays, Cambodians and others.
Chinese
Historic communities inhabited by people of Chinese descent are found throughout the Peruvian
upper Amazon
The Amazon River (, ; es, Río Amazonas, pt, Rio Amazonas) in South America is the largest river by discharge volume of water in the world, and the disputed longest river system in the world in comparison to the Nile.
The headwaters of th ...
, including cities such as
Yurimaguas
Yurimaguas is a port town in the Loreto Region of the northeastern Peruvian Amazon. Historically associated with the Mainas missions, the culturally diverse town is affectionately known as the "Pearl of the Huallaga" (''Perla del Huallaga''). Yuri ...
,
Nauta
Nauta is a town in the northeastern part of Loreto Province in the Peruvian Amazon, roughly south of Iquitos, the provincial capital. Nauta is located on the north bank of the Marañón River, a major tributary of the Upper Amazon, a few miles ...
,
Iquitos
Iquitos (; ) is the capital city of Peru's Maynas Province and Loreto Region. It is the largest metropolis in the Peruvian Amazon, east of the Andes, as well as the ninth-most populous city of Peru. Iquitos is the largest city in the world tha ...
and the north central coast (Lambayeque and Trujillo). In contrast to the Japanese community in Peru, the
Chinese appear to have intermarried much more since they came to work in the
rice fields
A paddy field is a flooded field of arable land used for growing semiaquatic crops, most notably rice and taro. It originates from the Neolithic rice-farming cultures of the Yangtze River basin in southern China, associated with pre-Aus ...
during the Viceroyalty and to replace the
African slaves, during the abolition of slavery itself.
Japanese
Japanese immigrants arrived from
Okinawa
is a prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 km2 (880 sq mi).
Naha is the capital and largest city ...
; but also from
Gifu
is a city located in the south-central portion of Gifu Prefecture, Japan, and serves as the prefectural capital. The city has played an important role in Japan's history because of its location in the middle of the country. During the Sengoku ...
,
Hiroshima,
Kanagawa
is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Kanagawa Prefecture is the second-most populous prefecture of Japan at 9,221,129 (1 April 2022) and third-densest at . Its geographic area of makes it fifth-smallest. Kanagaw ...
and
Osaka
is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of ...
prefectures. Many arrived as farmers or to work in the fields, but after their respective contracts were completed, settled in the cities.
[Irie, Toraji. "History of the Japanese Migration to Peru," ''Hispanic American Historical Review.'' 31:3, 437-452 (August–November 1951); 31:4, 648-664 (no. 4).] In the period before World War II, the Japanese community in Peru was largely run by ''
Issei
is a Japanese-language term used by ethnic Japanese in countries in North America and South America to specify the Japanese people who were the first generation to immigrate there. are born in Japan; their children born in the new country are ...
'' immigrants born in Japan. "Those of the second generation", (the ''
Nisei
is a Japanese-language term used in countries in North America and South America to specify the ethnically Japanese children born in the new country to Japanese-born immigrants (who are called ). The are considered the second generatio ...
''), "were almost inevitably excluded from community decision-making."
The first Asian-Peruvian president,
Alberto Fujimori
Alberto Kenya Fujimori Inomoto ( or ; born 28 July 1938) is a Peruvian politician, professor and former engineer who was President of Peru from 28 July 1990 until 22 November 2000. Frequently described as a dictator,
*
*
*
*
*
*
he remains a ...
, was
elected in 1990, prevailing over novelist
Mario Vargas Llosa
Jorge Mario Pedro Vargas Llosa, 1st Marquess of Vargas Llosa (born 28 March 1936), more commonly known as Mario Vargas Llosa (, ), is a Peruvian novelist, journalist, essayist and former politician, who also holds Spanish citizenship. Vargas Ll ...
.
Koreans
According to the statistics of
South Korea
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...
's
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Koreans in Peru formed Latin America's seventh-largest
Korean diaspora
The Korean diaspora (South Korea: or , North Korea: or ) consists of around 7.3 million people, both descendants of early emigrants from the Korean Peninsula, as well as more recent emigres from Korea. Around 84.5% of overseas Koreans live in ...
community at 1,774 people .
Other groups
South Asians
Indians in Peru
Indians in Peru form a tiny minority in the country and are one of the smaller populations of the Indian diaspora. According to the Indian Ministry of External Affairs, there were about 50000 Indians living in Peru as of December 2016.
History
T ...
form a tiny minority in the country. The first immigrants from India to have arrived in Peru were businessmen who had gone there in the early 1960s. Later on, the community grew in number marginally until the early 1980s, after which many of its members left due to the severe local economic crises and the prevailing terrorism.
West Asians
An estimated 10,000 Palestinians live in Peru alone, many of these families who arrived after the first Israel wars in 1948-49 had re-established and bettered themselves in Peru when it comes to socio-economic status.
Notes
{{Immigrant groups in Peru
Ethnic groups in Peru