Tagata Samoa i le Iunaite Sitete | |
|---|---|
| Total population | |
| 121,585 alone, 0.04% of US population 243,682 including partial ancestry, 0.06% (2021 census estimates) | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| American Samoa Alaska (Anchorage,Barrow),California (Los Angeles County,Orange County,Sacramento County,San Diego County,San Francisco Bay Area),Minnesota (Minneapolis-St Paul),Missouri (Independence),Nevada (Las Vegas),Hawaii,Utah (Salt Lake County,Utah County),Washington (Seattle,Tacoma) | |
| Languages | |
| American English,Samoan | |
| Religion | |
| Christianity (Congregationalist,Catholic,Methodist,Assembly of God,Seventh-day Adventist, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints) and various non denomational Christian churches | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| OtherPolynesians Tongan Americans |
Samoan Americans areAmericans ofSamoan origin, including those who emigrated from the United States Territory ofAmerican Samoa and immigrants from theIndependent State of Samoa to the United States. Samoan Americans arePacific Islanders in theUnited States census, and are the second largestPacific Islander group in the US, afterNative Hawaiians.
American Samoa has been anunincorporated territory of the United States since 1900, and Samoa, formally known as theIndependent State of Samoa and known asWestern Samoa until 1997, is an independent nation that gained its independence fromNew Zealand in 1962.American Samoa (which is under the jurisdiction of the United States of America) and Samoa together make up theSamoan Islands, anarchipelago that covers 1,170 sq mi (3,030 km2). LikeNative Hawaiians, theSamoans arrived on the mainland US in the 19th century serving in theUS Armed Forces and working as fishermen, and later they often worked as agricultural laborers and factory workers.
As per 2021 US census estimates, there are over 240,000 people of Samoan descent living in the United States, including those of partial ancestry,[1][2] which is roughly over the population of the Independent State of Samoa, as of 2021.Honolulu, Hawaii, has the largest Samoan population of over 12,000 making up over 2% of the city's population. There are large Samoan communities inGreater Los Angeles,Orange County, California,San Francisco Bay Area, andGreater San Diego counties in the state ofCalifornia. Other states with cities and towns with significant communities areAlaska,Arizona,Missouri,Oregon,Nevada,Texas,Utah, andWashington.
Migration from Samoan Islands to the United States began in the 19th century. A small group of Samoans were part of the first MormonPolynesian colony in the US, which was founded in Utah in 1889 and consisted of Samoans,Hawaiian natives,Tahitians, andMaori people.[3]
American Samoa officially became a US territory in 1900 with theTreaty of Cession of Tutuila and in 1904 with theTreaty of Cession of Manu'a.[4]
In the 1920s a small group of Mormons from American Samoa emigrated to the modern United States. They were brought by American Mormons toLaie,Hawaii to assist in building theMormon Temple of this place.[5][6] The community grew over the decade and in 1929 there were already 125 American Samoans living in Laie, but the Samoan migration to Hawaii fell in the following years. It was probably due to thecrash of 29, the loss of an important rice field for the community, and theSecond World War. In the second half of the 1940s about 300 mostly military families of American Samoans emigrated to the United States specifically to Hawaii.[7]
In 1951, nearly 1,000 American Samoans linked with the army (i.e. military personnel and their relatives[8]) migrated to the Honolulu's American bases by accepting an invitation from the US Navy (which had left its bases in thePago Pago city, as American Samoa began to be administered by theU.S. Department of the Interior[5]) so that the Marines could continue working for the Navy. However, many of them later migrated to California (in 1952).[9][8]
In 1952 the natives of American Samoa become U.S. nationals, although not American citizens, through theImmigration and Nationality Act of 1952.[10] This encouraged Samoan emigration to the United States and during the rest of the decade nearly four thousand Samoans migrated to the US, mostly to California[11] and Hawaii. Many more Samoans migrated to the United States in the 1960s, surpassing those who emigrated in the previous decade. In fact, the largest Samoan migration to the US occurred at this time (mainly at the beginning of the decade).[12][8] After 1965 increased migration fromSamoa republic.[6] At this time, many Samoans serving in the US military emigrated to be stationed in Hawaii.[7] In the 1970s over 7,540 Western Samoans emigrated to the United States, although the number of people from American Samoa who emigrated to the U.S. is unknown.[13]
In 1972, the number of American Samoans living in the United States exceeded the Samoan population in American Samoa, and California took the place ofTutuila as the main Samoan-populated region.[14] In 1980 over 22,000 Samoa-born lived in the U.S., mostly of Western Samoa (more than 13,200), while 9,300 were from American Samoa.[13]
According to 2021US Census Bureau estimates, there were 243,682 Samoan people in the United States stateside population, including those who have partial Samoan ancestry.[15] The Samoan American community consists in Americans of both American Samoan and Western Samoan descent.
63,000 people of Samoan origin reside inCalifornia, meaning almost one-third of the Samoan population in the U.S. lives in California. 0.2% of California's population is of Samoan descent. The number of those who identify as Samoan alone is 36,443.[16] The percentages and numbers of Samoan people residing in cities listed below vary from 2015 to 2018, according to the "5-Year Estimates Detailed Tables" from the US Census Bureau.[17]
Carson (1.8-2.2%),Compton (0.3-0.5%), andLong Beach (0.7-0.8%), andParamount (0.7-1%) inLos Angeles County,Oceanside (0.5-0.6%) inSan Diego County, andTwentynine Palms (0.9-1.1%) inSan Bernardino County have among the highest concentration of Samoans in Southern California, which include those of partial ancestry.[18] Also inSan Diego, one of the very first Samoan churches in the entire United States, was founded in 1955 byRev. Suitonu Galea'i. From there, multiple Samoan churches throughout California branched from the First Samoan Congregational Christian Church of San Diego.[19][20][21] There are Samoan communities enumerating several hundred inMoreno Valley (300 to 500) andSan Bernardino (400), at least 0.2% of the city's populations.
Much of San Francisco's Samoan community is tight-knit live amongst the city's African American community. Thepublic housing communities as well as residential communities in theBayview-Hunters Point,Potrero Hill, andVisitacion Valley neighborhoods in southeasternSan Francisco are home to much of the city's Samoan community. As per the 2015-18 estimates, San Francisco is 0.2-0.3% Samoan (1,807-2,262 residents).[18] The 2018 estimate of the number of Samoans in San Francisco is a decrease from the 2000 reported number of Samoans, which was 2,311 (which did not account for people who reported to be part Samoan).[22] In theEast Bay Area,San Leandro is home to a sizable Samoan community (0.4%-0.6%), as well as inDaly City (0.4-0.9%),East Palo Alto (1.2-1.3%), andHayward (0.6%-0.9%).[23]Balboa High School is about 3% Pacific Islander during the 2010s and 2020s and middle and elementary schools, such as Charles Drew Elementary in southeast San Francisco, are rife in Samoans and in general Pacific Islanders; that school of roughly 200 students is 15-25% Pacific Islander, and a similar volume of Islanders go to school at KIPP Bayview and Martin Luther King, Jr. Middle School.
In Daly City, Samoan restaurants and businesses are located off Geneva Avenue. In 1972, the First Samoan Congregational Church ofSan Jose was founded by Rev. Felix T. and Molly T. Ava Molifua, affiliated with Northern California UCC.[19] San Jose has over 3,000 Samoans in residence (0.3%).
AnotherSan Mateo County city,San Bruno, is about one percent Samoan; there are also Samoan communities in nearbySouth San Francisco andSan Mateo proper, although it is more Tongan-populated within its Polynesian community.
In theCentral Valley and inland California, where compared to the Bay Area has a slightly smaller percentage of Samoans, higher populations are commonly found in the areas ofModesto (0.2%),Sacramento, andStockton. The city of Sacramento has over 1,800 to 2,200 Samoans, about 0.4% of its population.
InCentral California, Samoan Americans are concentrated inMonterey County, which was home to aU.S. Army base,Fort Ord, which closed in 1994. The populations are concentrated inMarina (0.8-1%) andSeaside (0.4%-0.9%).[18]
TheSeattle−Tacoma,Washington area is also home to a sizable Samoan community, especially in the cities ofKent (1.5%),Renton (1%),Federal Way (1.6%),SeaTac (2.9%), andWhite Center (3.2%).[24] Seattle has 1,500 Samoans, 0.2% of the city's population.[17] The First Samoan Christian Congregational Church in theWashington state was established in 1964 in southeast Seattle, where Samoans settled in the Pacific Northwest.[25] The south Seattle neighborhoods ofColumbia City andRainier Valley have had sizeable Samoan communities since the 1960s and 1970s. Nearly 6,000 people of their descendants reside inPierce County, Washington, making up 0.7% of the county's population.[26] Tacoma is home to 1,800 Samoans, making up nearly one percent of the city's population.[17]
The Dalles, Oregon has a Samoan community of nearly 200 Samoan people, making up 1.3% of the city's population.[17]Portland, Oregon also has some Samoans, about 500, andGresham has about the same with of a much smaller population of a city in general, therefore making half a percent of its population.
Utah statewide is 0.6% Samoan including those with some non-Samoan ancestry, and 0.3% are those who identify as Samoan alone.[16] Utah has a history of Samoan immigration dating back to the late 1800s, due to them taking upMormonism which was preached and influenced to them by missionaries who had come toPolynesian islands. Utah's Mormon community had housing and services for some Polynesian immigrants, which also includedTongans andMaori.Salt Lake City, Utah is home to 1,500 Samoan-origin people, 0.7% of the city's population.[27]Salt Lake County cities such asKearns (2%),Taylorsville (1.5%), andWest Valley City (1.8%) having above average proportions of Samoan people for Utah. There is a sizable Samoan community inUtah County, specificallyProvo, which is at least 0.3% Samoan.[17]
There is a Samoan community inColorado Springs, Colorado of 430 people (0.1%), andLawton, Oklahoma (0.3%), in whichComanche County, Oklahoma is at least 0.6% Pacific Islander (2010), mainly Samoan.
Las Vegas, Nevada is home to over 1,500 Samoans, 0.2% of the city's population.[17]
Outside the mainland US, many Samoan Americans have settled inHawaii andAlaska. About 2.8% of Hawaiian residents are of Samoan descent, with 1.3% having full Samoan ancestry. Many live on the island ofOahu. Linapuni Street, especially the Kuhio Park Terrace apartments inHonolulu, has the highest concentration of Samoans of any residential area in Hawaii, at 37% of residents. CentralPalolo has the highest percentage of any Hawaiian tract, with 4% having a Samoan background.[28] The Oahu town ofLaie has 1,380 Samoan Americans, about 21% of the town, one of the highest concentration of Samoan Americas of any town or city in the US.[17]
Two percent of people in the city ofAnchorage, Alaska are of Samoan descent, with nearly 6,000 living in the city. Alaska has a relatively high proportion of them, comprising about 0.8% of the state's population.[26][17]
In recent years, the Samoan population has rapidly increased in Alaska.Barrow, Alaska andWhittier, Alaska both are rife in Samoan residents and Samoan churches have become commonly attended in rural Alaska as well.
In theMidwest, a significant Samoan community is inIndependence,Missouri, where around 1,000 Samoan people reside (0.9% of the city). In nearbyKansas City, Missouri there lives 340 Samoans, which is 0.1% of the city's population.[17]
In theEastern United States andSoutheastern United States, Samoan communities exist inFayetteville, North Carolina andClarksville, Tennessee.[29] There are 365 Samoan-origin people inPrince William County, Virginia, and a Samoan church inAlexandria.[30]
There is a community of Samoans inLiberty County, Georgia.
InTexas, there is a Samoan community prominent in theDallas-Fort Worth suburb ofEuless (0.5%), and a Samoan church in the city ofKilleen (0.3%).
Significant numbers of Samoan Americans serve in theUS military.American Samoa has the highest rate of military enlistment of any state or territory.[31]
American football is the most popular sport in American Samoa. Per capita, theSamoan Islands have produced the highest number ofNational Football League players. In 2010, it was estimated that a boy born to Samoan parents is 56 times more likely to get into the NFL than any other boy in America.[32]
| Lists of Americans |
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