Before 949, Shanghai was known as the "ten-mile foreign market", and the concession once attracted many foreigners to settle down. Among them, the upper-class expatriates (mainly from Britain and the United States, more than 65,438+/kloc-0,000) mainly live in the western part of the two concessions and cross-border road-building areas (now Xuhui, Changning and Jing 'an). And all kinds of middle and lower class expatriates-Japanese, Australians, Portuguese, some Belarusian refugees, Jewish refugees during World War II, and Indian Sikhs patrolling the concession-mainly live in Hongkou District, north of Suzhou Creek. Many Belarusian refugees who fled to Shanghai from the Soviet Red Army successfully established themselves in Shanghai and moved to Joffre Avenue in the middle of the French Concession. Although France opened the concession in Shanghai, the number of expatriates was always small (even among the expatriates in the French concession), and Catholic clergy accounted for a large proportion. Almost all of these foreigners left Shanghai after 1949.

Before 1949, immigrants from all over China often lived in the form of ethnic groups. Most of the early immigrants in Shanghai came from the neighboring southern Jiangsu and Wuyu District of Zhejiang Province, especially Suzhou and Ningbo. 1843 After the opening of Shanghai, Ningbo businessmen immediately poured into Shanghai, and quickly surpassed the Guangdong comprador by taking advantage of geography and language, becoming the most influential business gang in Shanghai. 1860 During the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's attack on Suzhou, Suzhou residents set off a wave of large-scale immigration to Shanghai. The floating population in Wuyu District obviously occupies a dominant position among Shanghai residents and occupies the central area of the city. Most immigrants from northern Jiangsu (Jiangbei people or everyone in northern Jiangsu) in Jianghuai Mandarin area are marginalized. Many of them came to Shanghai as refugees to escape the floods in their hometown. They mainly live in Zhabei District and Putuo District on the northwest edge of the city, and many of them live in Yangpu District and Hongkou District in the northeast of the city, living together with immigrants from Ningbo and other places. Guangdong immigrants mainly gather in the area of Sichuan North Road in Hongkou District.

In the movement of educated youth going to the countryside, from the mid-1950s to the late 1970s, after 25 years, many young people in Shanghai were distributed to all parts of the mainland, which also changed the population composition of other regions. After the Cultural Revolution, Shanghai educated youth was transferred back to Shanghai.

1990, Shanghai once again became the destination of immigrant cities. Many people from all over the mainland moved to Shanghai to settle down. Many people from Taiwan Province Province and Hongkong live in Shanghai. As many foreign companies have offices in Shanghai all the year round, many foreigners have settled in Shanghai all the year round.

A small number of Jews still run family businesses in Shanghai, which brings business opportunities to Shanghai. Many Japanese and Koreans gathered near Gubei community. Now, more and more westerners live in Changning District and Xuhui District of Shanghai.