Samoans

Samoans
tagata Sāmoa
Samoan canoe performers
Total population
c. 700,000-800,000
Regions with significant populations
Oceania
 United States243,682[1]
 Samoac. 205,557
 New Zealand182,721[2]
 Australia 98,029[3]
 American Samoa47,910
 Canada1,100[4]
 Tokelau100[5]
Languages
Samoan, English, German (Historically)
Religion
Christianity, traditional faith
Related ethnic groups
Other Polynesians, Samoan Australians, Samoan New Zealanders

Samoans or Samoan people (Samoan: tagata Sāmoa) are the Indigenous Polynesian people of the Samoan Islands, an archipelago in Polynesia, who speak the Samoan language. The group's home islands are politically and geographically divided between the Independent State of Samoa and American Samoa, an unincorporated territory of the United States of America. Though divided by national border, the culture and language are the same.

The Samoan people and culture form a vital link and stepping stone in the formation and spread of Polynesian culture, language and religion throughout Eastern Polynesia.[6]

Polynesian trade, religion, war, and colonialism are important markers within Polynesian culture that are almost certainly rooted in the Samoan culture. Samoa's ancient history with the kingdom of Tonga, chiefdoms of Fiji and French Polynesia form the basis of modern Polynesian culture.[7][6]

  1. ^ "NATIVE HAWAIIAN AND OTHER PACIFIC ISLANDER ALONE BY SELECTED GROUPS". United States Census. Retrieved April 4, 2012.
  2. ^ "2018 Census ethnic group summaries | Stats NZ". www.stats.govt.nz. Retrieved February 24, 2021.
  3. ^ "20680-Country of Birth of Person (full classification list) by Sex – Australia". 2006 Census. Australian Bureau of Statistics. Archived from the original (Microsoft Excel download) on December 25, 2018. Retrieved June 2, 2008. Total count of persons: 19,855,288.
  4. ^ "Census Profile, 2016". February 8, 2017.
  5. ^ "Australia-Oceania :: Tokelau". CIA The World Factbook. October 18, 2021.
  6. ^ a b Best, Elsdon (1918). "Polynesian Navigators: Their Exploration and Settlement of the Pacific". Geographical Review. 5 (3): 169–182. Bibcode:1918GeoRv...5..169B. doi:10.2307/207638. ISSN 0016-7428. JSTOR 207638.
  7. ^ "Discovery and Settlement of Polynesia". archive.hokulea.com. Retrieved April 14, 2020.

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