Samoan Americans
| Total population | |
|---|---|
|
109,637 alone, 0.04% of U.S. population 184,440 including partial ancestry, 0.06% (2010 Census) |
|
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Alaska (Anchorage) · California (Southern California, San Francisco Bay Area, Monterey County) · Hawaii (Honolulu) · Utah (Salt Lake City) . Washington (King County, Tacoma) | |
| Languages | |
| American English, Samoan | |
| Religion | |
| Congregationalist, Roman Catholicism, Methodists, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Assembly of God, Seventh Day Adventists | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Native Hawaiians, Tongans, Maori, Polynesians, Pacific Islanders |
Samoan Americans are Americans of Samoan origin, including those who immigrated from the Independent State of Samoa and emigrated from American Samoa to the United States. Samoan Americans are Pacific Islanders in the United States Census, and are the second largest Pacific Islander group in the U.S., after Native Hawaiians.
American Samoa has been an unincorporated territory of the United States since 1900, and Western Samoa, officially known as the Independent State of Samoa, is an independent nation that gained its independence from New Zealand in 1962. America Samoa and Samoa together make up the Samoan Islands, an archipelago that covers 1,170 sq mi (3,030 km2). Like Hawaiian Americans, the Samoans arrived in the mainland in the 20th century as agricultural laborers and factory workers.
There are more than 180,000 people of Samoan descent living stateside, which is roughly the population of the Independent State of Samoa, which had an estimated population of 179,000 in 2009. Honolulu, Hawaii has the largest Samoan population, while Long Beach, California has the largest Samoan population in the mainland United States: one percent of the city's population, or 4,513 people, as of 2010. There are also significant Samoan communities throughout the state of California, and in Washington, Utah, and Alaska.
Since the end of World War II, persons born in American Samoa are United States nationals, but not United States citizens. For this reason, Samoans from American Samoa can move to Hawaii or the mainland United States and obtain citizenship comparatively easily. Many Samoans settled on the west coast of the U.S., as well as in Alaska and Hawaii, seeking better opportunities from their homeland.
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