东南亚是世界上海外华人分布最集中的地区，总人数在2000万以上。16世纪后期到20世纪初期，我国东南沿海一带，特别是广东、福建两省，有大量人口“下南洋”谋生。他们中大部分人取得了所在国国籍，被称为华人。还有少数人保留了中国国籍，属于华侨。华人和华侨在东南亚各国人口中占较大比重。例如，新加坡站76%，马来西亚站35%华人和华侨对东南亚的开发和繁荣做出了巨大贡献。

世界主要唐人街列表

亚太

泰国曼谷、菲律宾马尼拉、越南胡志明市、马来西亚槟城、马来西亚吉隆坡、新加坡、日本横滨中华街、日本神户中央区南京町、日本长崎新地、韩国首尔、韩国仁川、澳洲墨尔本、澳洲悉尼Capitol-Terrace

美洲

美国纽约 、美国旧金山 - Jackson Street, Stockton Avenue 、美国洛杉矶 - Broadway Avenue, Spring Street 、美国波士顿 、美国芝加哥 - Along Wentworth at Cermak 、美国费城 、美国波特兰 、美国西雅图 、美国华盛顿 - H Street 、加拿大多伦多登打士西街唐人街、加拿大多伦多华埠 - Dundas Street, Spadina Avenue 、加拿大温哥华 - Pender Street and Main Street 、加拿大列治文 、加拿大蒙特利尔-rue ST-LAURENT

欧洲

英国伦敦中国城、法国巴黎

世界次要唐人街列表

亚太

缅甸仰光 、澳洲布里斯班、 新西兰奥克兰Newmarket 、新西兰威灵顿

美洲

美国克里夫兰 、夏威夷檀香山 、美国休士顿 、美国奥克兰 - Broadway Avenue, 7th Street, Harrison Avenue, 10th Street 、美国奥克拉荷马市 - N. West 23rd Street and Classen Blvd 、美国匹兹堡 、美国沙加缅度 - 3rd, 5th, J, and I Streets 、墨西哥墨西哥市 、加拿大卡尔加里 、加拿大艾德蒙顿 、加拿大温尼伯 、古巴哈瓦那

欧洲

格拉斯哥的小型唐人街是个被称为“中国城”的商场俄罗斯莫斯科 、英国曼彻斯特 、英国伯明翰 、英国利物浦 、英国格拉斯哥、 英国卡的夫、 荷兰阿姆斯特丹

唐人街（又称华埠或中国城；英语：Chinatown）是指除两岸三地以外的其它国家大城中华裔人士聚居区。唐人街因历史因素或特殊国情在东亚、东南亚和北美洲皆十分常见。唐人街最早在19世纪的美国和加拿大形成。当时，由于歧视性的土地法规严禁华人等有色人种介入土地买卖市场或仅准许华人在特定区域购买土地，从而形成了第一代华人移民的聚居区。

唐人街之形成，乃因为早期华人移居海外，成为当地的少数族群，在面对新环境需要同舟共济，便群居在一个地带，故此多数唐人街是华侨历史的一种见证。在东南亚，由於移民的历史比较早，因此语言和文化多与当地融合了。另外华裔因为力争上游，所以一般还掌控了当地的产业主导权，这也形成了一个有趣的普遍现象。

在北美的唐人街经常可见餐馆林立，而餐馆和洗衣店即早期华侨的主要营商行业。一些历史较悠久的唐人街，皆位於大城的旧区，环境会较为挤迫，治安和种族问题亦是某一些华埠要面对的问题。一些唐人街亦出现华人人口迁离、人口老化的现象。

另一方面，随著地球村的观念形成，半世纪以来，各国政府纷纷开放参政权予华裔，使华人的地位在外国趋於公平，在西方国家新一代的华人移民和当地土生土长的华裔人士由於高科技、企管和专业背景，许多家庭甚至於有经济能力在高级住宅区居住。北美洲好几个都会区更已进入「后唐人街」时代，即唐人街外的华人人口和商业活动已远超过原唐人街，而且华人人口和商业活动不再是聚集在某个社区，而是在市郊多个相邻社区里，散居在主流或其他少数族裔当中。「后唐人街」的例子包括美国加州洛杉矶地区的圣盖博谷、旧金山湾区的矽谷、纽约皇后区的法拉盛、加拿大温哥华地区的列治文市和本那比市，以及多伦多地区的士嘉堡区、万锦镇等。

A Chinatown is a section of an urban area with a large number of Chinese outside the majority-Chinese countries of Greater China. Chinatowns occur all over the world, including those in East Asia, Southeast Asia, North America, South America, Australia, Europe and the United Kingdom.

In the past, overcrowded Chinatowns in urban areas were generally shunned by the non-Chinese public as ethnic ghettos, and seen as places of vice and cultural insularity where "unassimilable foreigners" congregated. Nowadays, many old and new Chinatowns are considered significant centers of commercialism and tourism. Some of them also serve, to varying degrees, as centers of multiculturalism, if in a somewhat superficial manner.

Many Chinatowns are focused on commercial tourism, whereas others are actual living and working communities; some are a synthesis of both. Chinatowns also range from rundown ghettos to modern sites of recent development. In some, recent investments have revitalized run-down and blighted areas and turned them into centers of economic and social activity. In certain cases, this has led to gentrification and a reduction in the specifically Chinese character of the neighborhoods.

Some Chinatowns have a long history, such as the Chinatown in Nagasaki, Japan, or Yaowarat Road in Bangkok, both of which were founded by Chinese traders more than 200 years ago. Chinatown, San Francisco, California was the first Chinatown to be established outside Asia, during the California Gold Rush, which began in 1848. Other cities in North America where Chinatowns were established in the mid-nineteenth century include almost every major settlement along the West Coast from San Diego to Victoria BC and Vancouver BC. The British Columbia Chinatowns played major roles, as ports of entry, in the Klondike Gold Rush and Caribou Gold Rush. By the second half of the nineteenth century, bustling Chinatowns were also established in New York and Chicago. The discovery of gold in Australia caused the establishment of relatively small Chinatowns in cities there, and similar migrations of Chinese resulted in tiny settlements termed "Chinatowns" being established in New Zealand and even South Africa. European Chinatowns, such as those in Germany, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom, are for the most part smaller and more recent than North American Chinatowns. Other Chinatowns are newer, such as in Chinatown, Las Vegas in 1995, Dubai, and Santo Domingo and have received official recognition.