Guangdong Province
Before World War II, 90 percent of the Chinese immigrants who reached the United States came from an area the size of Rhode Island (1,231 square miles or about 3,150 square kilometers) in China's Guangdong Province1. Toishan County sent so many immigrants to New York City's Chinatown that until the 1960's fluency in the Toishanese dialect was required of the Chinese consulate in New York2. People from Toishan and the other areas around Guangdong's capital Guangzhou (Canton) were separated from China's central authority by thousands of miles and differences in the spoken language, but they were close to large seaports, including Hong Kong. Geographic and cultural isolation coupled with access to departure routes provided early migrants some impetus to leave. Political unrest and lack of economic opportunity were also motivating factors. As established Chinese boasting of American wealth or suffering from loneliness encouraged their family members and neighbors to follow them across the ocean by any possible means, the United States saw a large influx of immigrants from a small area of China.