Vietnamese New Zealanders (Vietnamese: Người New Zealand gốc Việt) are New Zealanders of partially or full Vietnamese ancestry.

According to the 2018 census, 10,086 New Zealanders identify themselves as with the Vietnamese ethnic group.^[1] Many of them came to New Zealand to escape religious persecution or war.^[2]

History

Vietnamese people began arriving in New Zealand during the mid-1970s and early 1980s as refugees following the end of the Vietnam War owing to fear of persecution or uncertainty under a new Communist government.^[2] New Zealand was one of the countries that assisted in the resettlement of Vietnamese refugees, with the first arrivals in 1977 when 412 refugees were accepted.^[2] The largest intake of Vietnamese refugees occurred in 1979–1980 when about 1,500 arrived^[2] with approximately 4,500 Vietnamese being accepted for resettlement between 1977 and 1993.^[3] Many of them settled in large urban areas.^[2] Owing to the economic troubles of the 1980s in which many had lost their factory jobs and isolation, about 1/3 of the population moved to Australia where there were larger Vietnamese communities.^[2]

Currently, in the 2018 Census, there are 10,086 Vietnamese living in New Zealand, with the majority being concentrated in Auckland, Wellington, and Christchurch.^[2]

Notable Vietnamese New Zealanders

• Lan Pham, politician and ecologist.^[4]
• Kaelin Nguyen, professional footballer^[5]

See also

• New Zealand–Vietnam relations

References

External links

• Te Ara Encyclopedia of New Zealand: Vietnamese