The Hakka language (客家話, 客語) is spoken in the provinces Guangdong, Fujian, Jiangxi, Hunan, Guangxi, Guizhou, Sichuan, and in Hong Kong, especially the New Territories, Taiwan, Hainan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Netherlands, Surinam, United Kingdom and other overseas Chinese communities of Hakka origin. The term "Hakka" itself translates as "guest families", reflecting their separate migratory paths and late arrival in many places, especially in Guangdong province where they arrived roughly two hundred years after the Cantonese (本地) arrived. The accent as spoken in Meixian (Moiyen) is considered as standard.

There is a large diaspora of people speaking the Hakka dialect, not only in China but also in overseas regions such as Indonesia and Malaysia. About 40 million people speak the Hakka dialect. Together with Cantonese and Min, Hakka is another common Chinese variety among migrant Chinese communities. In Surinam, the original Chinese population is 100% Hakka-speaking, and until today there is still a significant Hakka population.