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97-537: Ferr Smith (born September 10, 1941) was an American politician. He was a member of the Mississippi House of Representatives from the 23rd District, being first elected in 1992. He was a member of the Democratic party. This article about a Mississippi politician is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . American people Americans are the citizens and nationals of
194-730: A Compact of Free Association between the United States and each of these countries. They may also freely move to Svalbard due to its open migration policy, as long as they are able to obtain housing and means of support there. All of these jurisdictions, however, are tiny, with fewer than a half million people combined. Americans with parents or ancestors from certain countries, such as Germany , Ireland and Italy , may be able to claim nationality via jus sanguinis and therefore move there freely. Germany and Austria also have an easier path to citizenship for descendants of victims of Nazi crimes , even if jus sanguinis does not apply in
291-549: A Gallup poll from January 2019, 16% of Americans, including 40% of women under the age of 30, would like to leave the United States. In 2018, the Federal Voting Assistance Program estimated a total number of 4.8 million American civilians lived abroad, 3.9 million civilians, plus 1.2 million service members and other government-affiliated Americans. A survey by Arton Capital found that 53 percent of American millionaires are more likely to leave
388-465: A "very important" role in their lives, a proportion unusual among developed countries . However, similar to the other nations of the Americas. Many faiths have flourished in the United States, including both later imports spanning the country's multicultural immigrant heritage, as well as those founded within the country; these have led the United States to become the most religiously diverse country in
485-668: A civic spirit of volunteerism . With the formation of the state of Israel , over 100,000 Jews made aliyah to the holy land, where they played a role in the creation of the state. Other Americans traveled to countries like Lebanon , again to take place in the cultural scene. During the Vietnam War , about 100,000 American men went abroad to avoid conscription , 90% of them going to Canada. European nations, including neutral states like Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and Switzerland, offered asylum to thousands of American expatriates who refused to fight. A small number of Americans abandoned
582-579: A continuous presence in what is now the continental United States in 1565. Martín de Argüelles , born in 1566 in San Agustín, La Florida then a part of New Spain , was the first person of European descent born in what is now the continental United States. Virginia Dare , born in 1587 in Roanoke Island in present-day North Carolina , was the first child born in the original Thirteen Colonies to English parents. The Spaniards also established
679-414: A continuous presence in what over three centuries later would become a possession of the United States with the founding of the city of San Juan, Puerto Rico , in 1521. In the 2020 United States census, English Americans 46.5 million (19.8%), German Americans 45m (19.1%), Irish Americans 38.6m (16.4%), and Italian Americans 16.8m (7.1%) were the four largest self-reported European ancestry groups in
776-481: A lower cost of living, especially more affordable health care. Immigrants to the United States may decide to rejoin family members in their countries of origin. Other reasons include political dissatisfaction, safety concerns and cultural issues such as racism . Some Americans may also emigrate to evade legal liabilities; a common past case was evasion of mandatory military service . In addition to Americans who choose to emigrate as adults, many children are born in
873-444: A new record each year, with an unprecedented 5,411 in 2016, up 26% from the 4,279 renunciations in 2015. There are no exact figures on how many Americans live abroad. The United States Census Bureau does not count Americans abroad, and individual U.S. embassies offer only rough estimates. In 1999, a Department of State estimate suggested that the number of Americans abroad may be between three million and six million. In 2016,
970-681: A reaction to the prevailing European consensus that America's domestic originality was degenerate . Prevalent ideas and ideals that evolved domestically, such as national holidays , uniquely American sports , military tradition, and innovations in the arts and entertainment give a strong sense of national pride among the population as a whole. American culture includes both conservative and liberal elements, scientific and religious competitiveness, political structures, risk taking and free expression, materialist and moral elements. Despite certain consistent ideological principles (e.g. individualism , egalitarianism , faith in freedom and democracy ),
1067-545: A region that was settled historically by the British. Overall, as the largest group, European Americans have the lowest poverty rate and the second highest educational attainment levels, median household income , and median personal income of any racial demographic in the nation, second only to Asian Americans in the latter three categories. According to the American Jewish Archives and
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#17327875009031164-552: A total of 1,834,212 self-identifying individuals. Barack Obama , 44th President of the United States who is biracial- his mother is white (of English and Irish descent) and his father is of Kenyan birth- only self-identifies as being African American. According to the 2020 United States census, 8.4% or 27,915,715 Americans chose to self-identify with the "some other race" category, the third most popular option. Also, 42.2% or 26,225,882 Hispanic/Latino Americans chose to identify as some other race as these Hispanic/Latinos may feel
1261-442: Is also an option in the census and other surveys. The United States Census Bureau also classifies Americans as "Hispanic or Latino" and "Not Hispanic or Latino", which identifies Hispanic and Latino Americans as a racially diverse ethnicity that comprises the largest minority group in the nation. People of European descent, or White Americans (also referred to as European Americans and Caucasian Americans), constitute
1358-545: Is generally much more difficult for Americans to emigrate to a foreign country than, for example, citizens of countries in the Schengen Zone ; similar to most other large countries, Americans looking for economic opportunity are generally limited to transmigration within the U.S. In addition to U.S. territories , U.S. citizens have the right to reside in the Marshall Islands , Micronesia and Palau due to
1455-513: Is indigenous to the Americas , originally migrated to the two continents between 10,000 and 45,000 years ago. These Paleoamericans spread throughout the two continents and evolved into hundreds of distinct cultures during the pre-Columbian era . Following the first voyage of Christopher Columbus , the European colonization of the Americas began, with St. Augustine , Florida becoming
1552-453: Is now United States territory since the founding of San Juan, Puerto Rico (the oldest continuously inhabited settlement on American soil) in 1521 by Juan Ponce de León , and the founding of St. Augustine, Florida (the oldest continuously inhabited settlement in the continental United States) in 1565 by Pedro Menéndez de Avilés . In the State of Texas , Spaniards first settled the region in
1649-554: Is now the United States since before the Revolutionary War , relatively large waves of Chinese, Filipino, and Japanese immigration did not begin until the mid-to-late 19th century. Immigration and significant population growth continue to this day. Due to a number of factors, Asian Americans have been stereotyped as " perpetual foreigners ". As defined by the United States Census Bureau and
1746-598: Is the Asian American population, comprising 19,618,719 people in 2020, or 5.9% of the United States population. California is home to 5.6 million Asian Americans, the greatest number in any state. In Hawaii, Asian Americans make up the highest proportion of the population (57 percent). Asian Americans live across the country, yet are heavily urbanized, with significant populations in the Greater Los Angeles Area , New York metropolitan area , and
1843-586: The Book of Negroes as the British gave them certificates of freedom and arranged for their transportation. The Crown gave them land grants and supplies to help them resettle in Nova Scotia. Other Black Loyalists were evacuated to London or the Caribbean colonies. Thousands of slaves escaped from plantations and fled to British lines, especially after British occupation of Charleston, South Carolina . When
1940-554: The American Civil War , President Lincoln asked Kansas Senator Samuel C. Pomeroy and Secretary of the Interior Caleb Blood Smith to develop a plan to resettle African Americans out of the United States. Pomeroy had come up with the idea of Linconia , a freedmen colony much like Liberia in modern Chiriqui Province , Panama . After nearby Central American nations expressed their opposition to
2037-765: The Arab American Institute (AAI), Arab Americans have family origins in each of the 22 member states of the Arab League . Following consultations with MENA organizations, the Census Bureau announced in 2014 that it would establish a new MENA ethnic category for populations from the Middle East , North Africa , and the Arab world , separate from the "white" classification that these populations had previously sought in 1909. The groups felt that
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#17327875009032134-639: The Arab American National Museum , the first Middle Easterners and North Africans (viz. Jews and Berbers ) to arrive in the Americas landed in the late 15th to mid-16th centuries. Many fled ethnic or ethnoreligious persecution during the Spanish Inquisition ; a few were taken to the Americas as slaves. In 2014, the United States Census Bureau began finalizing the ethnic classification of people of Middle Eastern and North African ("MENA") origins. According to
2231-750: The British Empire was unusual, and usually limited to the wealthy, such as Benjamin Franklin , who was able to self-finance his trip to Paris as a U.S. diplomat . After the American Revolutionary War , some 3,000 Black Loyalists - slaves who escaped their Patriot masters and served on the Loyalist side because of the Crown 's guarantee of freedom - were evacuated from New York to Nova Scotia ; they were individually listed in
2328-542: The Cold War , Americans became a permanent fixture in many countries with large populations of American soldiers, such as West Germany and South Korea . The Cold War also saw the development of government programs to encourage young Americans to go abroad. The Fulbright Program was established in 1946 to encourage cultural exchange , and the Peace Corps was created in 1961 both to encourage cultural exchange and
2425-707: The Corps of Colonial Marines to fight against the United States. Their reward was guaranteed emancipation (as per the Mutiny Act 1807 ) and new land set aside for them in southern Trinidad . They and their descendants later became known as the Merikins . The middle of the 19th century saw the immigration of many New Englanders to Hawaii, as missionaries for the Congregational Church , and as traders and whalers. The American population eventually overthrew
2522-629: The Creoles and Cajuns of Louisiana and the Hispanos of the Southwest and brought close contact with the culture of Mexico . Large-scale immigration in the late 19th and early 20th centuries from Eastern and Southern Europe introduced a variety of elements. Immigration from Africa , Asia , and Latin America has also had impact. A cultural melting pot , or pluralistic salad bowl , describes
2619-483: The District of Columbia and the five inhabited U.S. territories have a non-white majority. The state with the highest percentage of non-Hispanic White Americans is Maine , while the state with the lowest percentage is Hawaii . Europe is the largest continent that Americans trace their ancestry to, and many claim descent from various European ethnic groups . The Spaniards were the first Europeans to establish
2716-574: The Kingdom of Kongo ). The first West African slaves were brought to Jamestown, Virginia in 1619. The English settlers treated these captives as indentured servants and released them after a number of years. This practice was gradually replaced by the system of race-based slavery used in the Caribbean . All the American colonies had slavery, but it was usually the form of personal servants in
2813-630: The Native American population and people from Alaska , Hawaii , Puerto Rico , Guam , Texas , and formerly the Philippines , who became American through expansion of the country in the 19th century; additionally, American Samoa , the United States Virgin Islands , and Northern Mariana Islands came under American sovereignty in the 20th century, although American Samoans are only nationals and not citizens of
2910-618: The Office of Management and Budget (OMB), an "American Indian or Alaska Native" is a person whose ancestry have origins in any of the original peoples of North, Central, or South America. 2.3 million individuals who are American Indian or Alaskan Native are multiracial; additionally the plurality of American Indians reside in the Western United States (40.7%). Collectively and historically this race has been known by several names ; as of 1995, 50% of those who fall within
3007-582: The Office of Management and Budget , the grouping includes individuals who self-identify as African American, as well as persons who emigrated from nations in the Caribbean and sub-Saharan Africa. The grouping is thus based on geography, and may contradict or misrepresent an individual's self-identification since not all immigrants from sub-Saharan Africa are "Black". Among these racial outliers are persons from Cape Verde , Madagascar , various Arab states, and Hamito-Semitic populations in East Africa and
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3104-659: The Peoples Temple establishment of Jonestown in Guyana . The opening of Eastern Europe, Central Europe, and Central Asia after the Cold War provided new opportunities for American businesspeople. Additionally, with the global dominance of the United States in the world economy, the ESL industry continued to grow, especially in new and emerging markets. Many Americans also take a year abroad during college, and some return to
3201-727: The Philippines after it became a U.S. territory following the Philippine–American War . Cecil Rhodes created the Rhodes Scholarship in 1902 to encourage greater cooperation between the United States, the British Empire and Germany by allowing students to study abroad . In the period between the First and Second World Wars, many Americans, particularly writers such as Ernest Hemingway , Gertrude Stein , and Ezra Pound , migrated to Europe to take part in
3298-525: The Sahel , and the Afrikaners of Southern Africa . African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans or Afro-Americans, and formerly as American Negroes ) are citizens or residents of the United States who have origins in any of the black populations of Africa. According to the 2020 United States census, there were 39,940,338 Black and African Americans in the United States, representing 12.1% of
3395-586: The San Francisco Bay Area . The United States census defines Asian Americans as those with origins to the countries of East Asia , South Asia , and Southeast Asia . Although Americans with roots in West Asia were once classified as "Asian", they are now excluded from the term in modern census classifications. The largest sub-groups are immigrants or descendants of immigrants from Cambodia, mainland China, India, Japan, Korea, Laos, Pakistan,
3492-576: The Sierra Leone Creole people and the founders of the nation of Sierra Leone. Thanks to the increase of whalers and clipper ships, Americans began to travel all over the world for business reasons. The early 19th century also saw the beginning of overseas religious missionary activity, such as with Adoniram Judson in Burma . During the War of 1812 , some African American slaves joined
3589-581: The United Kingdom . Unlike migration from other countries, United States migration is not concentrated in specific countries, possibly as a result of the roots of immigration from so many different countries to the United States. As of 2016 , there were approximately 9 million United States citizens living outside of the United States. As the result of U.S. tax and financial reporting requirements that apply to non-resident citizens, record numbers of American citizens renounced their U.S. citizenship in
3686-473: The United States of America . The United States is home to people of many racial and ethnic origins ; consequently, American law does not equate nationality with race or ethnicity but with citizenship. The majority of Americans or their ancestors immigrated to the United States or are descended from people who were brought as slaves within the past five centuries, with the exception of
3783-579: The Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom , the framers of the Constitution rejected any religious test for office. The First Amendment specifically denied the federal government any power to enact any law respecting either an establishment of religion or prohibiting its free exercise, thus protecting any religious organization, institution, or denomination from government interference. European Rationalist and Protestant ideals mainly influenced
3880-570: The Western Hemisphere and beyond, including the District of Columbia, the seat of government of the United States. English is the unofficial national language . Although there is no official language at the federal level, some laws—such as U.S. naturalization requirements —standardize English. In 2007, about 226 million, or 80% of the population aged five years and older, spoke only English at home. Spanish , spoken by 12% of
3977-472: The flag of the United States – for example, typically a top hat with red and white stripes and white stars on a blue band, and red and white striped trousers. Columbia is a poetic name for the Americas and the feminine personification of the United States of America, made famous by African American poet Phillis Wheatley during the American Revolutionary War in 1776. It has inspired the names of many persons, places, objects, institutions, and companies in
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4074-699: The northern states (north of the Mason–Dixon line ) had abolished slavery. However, slavery would persist in the southern states until the end of the American Civil War and the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment . Following the end of the Reconstruction era , which saw the first African American representation in Congress , African Americans became disenfranchised and subject to Jim Crow laws , legislation that would persist until
4171-597: The slavery era within the boundaries of the present United States. As an adjective, the term is usually spelled African-American . Montinaro et al. (2014) observed that around 50% of the overall ancestry of African Americans traces back to the Niger-Congo -speaking Yoruba of southwestern Nigeria and southern Benin (before the European colonization of Africa this people created the Oyo Empire ), reflecting
4268-479: The American culture has a variety of expressions due to its geographical scale and demographic diversity. Americans have migrated to many places around the world, including Argentina , Australia , Brazil , Canada , Chile , China , Costa Rica , France , Germany , Hong Kong , India , Japan , Mexico , New Zealand , Pakistan , the Philippines , South Korea , the United Arab Emirates , and
4365-602: The British evacuated, they took many former slaves with them. Many ended up among London's Black Poor , with 400 resettled by the Sierra Leone Company to Freetown in Africa in 1787. Five years later, another 1,192 Black Loyalists from Nova Scotia chose to emigrate to Sierra Leone, becoming known as the Nova Scotian settlers in the new British colony of Sierra Leone . Both waves of settlers became part of
4462-526: The English language, legal system and other cultural inheritances, had a formative influence. Other important influences came from other parts of Europe, especially Germany , France , and Italy . Original elements also play a strong role, such as Jeffersonian democracy . Thomas Jefferson's Notes on the State of Virginia was perhaps the first influential domestic cultural critique by an American and
4559-508: The Massachusetts Bay Colony was established by English Puritans , Pennsylvania by Irish and English Quakers , Maryland by English and Irish Catholics , and Virginia by English Anglicans . Although some individual states retained established religious confessions well into the 19th century, the United States was the first nation to have no official state-endorsed religion. Modeling the provisions concerning religion within
4656-648: The North (where 2% of the people were slaves), and field hands in plantations in the South (where 25% were slaves); by the beginning of the American Revolutionary War 1/5th of the total population was enslaved. During the revolution, some would serve in the Continental Army or Continental Navy , while others would serve the British Empire in the Ethiopian Regiment , and other units. By 1804,
4753-598: The OMB definition prefer the term "American Indian", 37% prefer "Native American" and the remainder have no preference or prefer a different term altogether. Among Americans today, levels of Native American ancestry (distinct from Native American identity ) differ. Based on a sample of users of the 23andMe commercial genetic test, genomes of self-reported African Americans averaged to 0.8% Native American ancestry, those of European Americans averaged to 0.18%, and those of Latinos averaged to 18.0%. Native Americans, whose ancestry
4850-482: The Office of Management and Budget, Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders are "persons having origins in any of the original peoples of Hawaii , Guam , Samoa , or other Pacific Islands ". Previously called Asian Pacific American , along with Asian Americans beginning in 1976, this was changed in 1997. As of the 2020 United States census, there are 622,018 who reside in the United States, and make up 0.2% of
4947-640: The Pacific also have large Pacific Islander populations such as Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands (Chammoro), and American Samoa (Samoan). The largest concentration of Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders, is Honolulu County in Hawaii, and Los Angeles County in the continental United States . The United States has a growing multiracial identity movement. Multiracial Americans numbered 7.0 million in 2008, or 2.3% of
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#17327875009035044-461: The Philippines, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam. Asians overall have higher income levels than all other racial groups in the United States, including whites, and the trend appears to be increasing in relation to those groups. Additionally, Asians have a higher education attainment level than all other racial groups in the United States. For better or for worse, the group has been called a model minority . While Asian Americans have been in what
5141-445: The U.S. than leave it. There is a scarcity of official records in this domain. Given the high dynamics of the emigration-prone groups, emigration from the United States remains indiscernible from temporary country leave. There are a few countries in the Caribbean which had very high migration rates to the United States in the 1980s and 1990s but recorded higher population totals in recent years, indicating significant return migration from
5238-449: The U.S., such as Trinidad and Tobago between its 2000 and 2011 censuses. Anyone born in the United States, with the sole exception of those born to foreign diplomats, acquires U.S. citizenship at birth. Those born abroad to at least one American parent also acquire U.S. citizenship if the parent had lived in the United States for a certain number of years. Immigrants to the United States may also become U.S. citizens by naturalization. In
5335-431: The United States is the process where citizens and nationals from the United States move to live in countries other than the US, creating an American Diaspora ( Overseas Americans ). The process is the reverse of the immigration to the United States . The United States does not keep track of emigration and counts of Americans abroad are thus only available based on statistics kept by the destination countries. Due to
5432-444: The United States census does not describe their European and American Indian ancestry as they understand it to be. A significant portion of the Hispanic and Latino population self-identifies as Mestizo , particularly the Mexican and Central American community. Mestizo is not a racial category in the United States census, but signifies someone who has both European and American Indian ancestry. Hispanic or Latino Americans constitute
5529-408: The United States constituting 62.4% of the population. However, the English Americans and British Americans demography is considered a serious under-count as they tend to self-report and identify as simply " Americans " (since the introduction of a new "American" category in the 1990 census) due to the length of time they have inhabited America. This is highly over-represented in the Upland South ,
5626-466: The United States has a high adherence level compared to other developed countries and a diversity in beliefs. The First Amendment to the country's Constitution prevents the Federal government from making any "law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof". The U.S. Supreme Court has interpreted this as preventing the government from having any authority in religion. A majority of Americans report that religion plays
5723-405: The United States to foreign temporary workers or international students and naturally move with their parents when they return to their countries of origin. Due to their acquisition of U.S. citizenship by birth but no significant connection to the country, they are sometimes called " accidental Americans ". One reason the U.S. diaspora is unusually small relative to its home population is that it
5820-419: The United States. Despite its multi-ethnic composition, the culture of the United States held in common by most Americans can also be referred to as mainstream American culture , a Western culture largely derived from the traditions of Northern and Western European colonists, settlers, and immigrants. It also includes significant influences of African-American culture . Westward expansion integrated
5917-510: The adult population identifies as having no religious belief or no religious affiliation. According to the American Religious Identification Survey , religious belief varies considerably across the country: 59% of Americans living in Western states (the " Unchurched Belt ") report a belief in God , yet in the South (the " Bible Belt ") the figure is as high as 86%. Several of the original Thirteen Colonies were established by settlers who wished to practice their religion without discrimination:
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#17327875009036014-754: The biggest issues with the American diaspora is double taxation . Unlike almost all countries in the world, the United States taxes its citizens even if they do not live in the country. The foreign earned income exclusion mitigates double taxation on income from work, but the Internal Revenue Code treats ordinary foreign savings plans held by residents of foreign countries as if they were offshore tax avoidance instruments and requires extensive asset reporting, resulting in significant costs for Americans at all income levels to comply with filing requirements even when they owe no tax. Even Canada's Registered Disability Savings Plan falls under such reporting requirements. The most prominent piece of legislation which has attracted
6111-469: The centrality of this West African region in the Atlantic slave trade . Zakharaia et al. (2009) found a similar proportion of Yoruba associated ancestry in their African American samples, with a minority also drawn from Mandinka populations (founders of the Mali Empire ), and Bantu populations (who had a varying level of social organization during the colonial era, while some Bantu peoples were still tribal, other Bantu peoples had founded kingdoms such as
6208-441: The countries of their origin, including the parents of American author/illustrator Eric Carle , who returned to Germany. Thousands of Japanese Americans were unable to return to the United States, after the Attack on Pearl Harbor . Éamon de Valera , the third Taoiseach of Ireland during the 1930s, was born in New York to an Irish mother and a Spanish father. He moved to Ireland at a young age with his mother's family. During
6305-436: The country for political reasons, defecting to the Soviet Union, Cuba, or other countries, such as Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann , and sixties radicals such as Joanne Chesimard , Pete O'Neal , Eldridge Cleaver , and Stokely Carmichael . During this period Americans continued to travel abroad for religious reasons, such as Richard James , inventor of the Slinky , who went to Bolivia with the Wycliffe Bible Translators , and
6402-407: The country after graduation. Iraq War deserters sought refuge mostly in Canada and Europe, and NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden escaped to Russia. Increasing numbers of Americans retire abroad due to financial setbacks resulting from the 2008 financial crisis . Young Americans facing a tough job market due to the recession are also increasingly open to working abroad. According to
6499-450: The country after the 2024 presidential election, regardless of who wins. There are many reasons why Americans emigrate from the United States. Economic reasons include job or business opportunities, or a higher standard of living in another country. Others emigrate due to marriage or partnership to a foreigner, for religious or humanitarian purposes, or to seek adventure or experience a different culture. Many decide to retire abroad seeking
6596-414: The country for most of its history. During the early 19th century, particularly between 1824 and 1826, thousands of free blacks emigrated from the United States to Haiti to escape antebellum segregation and racist policy. They primarily settled in Samana Province , where their descendants still live today as the Samana Americans . They speak their own variety of English called Samana English . During
6693-467: The cultural scene. European cities like Amsterdam , Berlin , Copenhagen , Paris, Prague , Rome , Stockholm , and Vienna came to host a large number of Americans. Many Americans, typically those who were idealistic and/or involved in left-leaning politics, also participated in the Spanish Civil War (mainly supporting the Republicans against the Nationalists ) in Spain while they lived in Madrid and elsewhere. Other Americans returned home to
6790-426: The decade from 2010 to 2020. In 2024 a new organization was created to lobby the U.S. Congress for relief from citizenship-based taxation that is often cited as the reason for the record renunciations. American diaspora 70.4% Christianity (46.6% Protestantism , 20.8% Roman Catholicism , 3.3% Other Christianity ) Significant: Unaffiliated with any religion (22.8%) Minority: Emigration from
6887-765: The decision. Still, it was also a consequence of the pragmatic concerns of minority religious groups and small states that did not want to be under the power or influence of a national religion that did not represent them. The American culture is primarily a Western culture , but is influenced by Native American, West African, Latin American, East Asian, and Polynesian cultures. The United States of America has its own unique social and cultural characteristics, such as dialect , music , arts , social habits , cuisine , and folklore . Its chief early European influences came from English , Scottish , Welsh , and Irish settlers of colonial America during British rule. British culture , due to colonial ties with Britain that spread
6984-457: The earlier "white" designation no longer accurately represents MENA identity, so they successfully lobbied for a distinct categorization. This new category would also include Israeli Americans . The Census Bureau does not currently ask about whether one is Sikh , because it views them as followers of a religion rather than members of an ethnic group, and it does not combine questions concerning religion with race or ethnicity. As of December 2015,
7081-721: The federal government. In addition to the United States, Americans and people of American descent can be found internationally. As many as seven million Americans are estimated to be living abroad, and make up the American diaspora . The United States is a diverse country, racially , and ethnically . Six races are officially recognized by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes: Alaska Native and American Indian, Asian, Black or African American, Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander, White, and people of two or more races. "Some other race"
7178-468: The first permanent European settlement in the continental United States . From the 16th through the 19th centuries, the population of Native Americans declined in the following ways: epidemic diseases brought from Europe; genocide and warfare at the hands of European explorers, settlers and colonists, as well as between tribes; displacement from their lands; internal warfare, enslavement ; and intermarriage . Another significant population
7275-404: The flow of people back and forth between the United Kingdom and its colonies, as well as between the colonies, there has been an American diaspora of a sort since before the United States was founded. During and immediately after the American Revolutionary War , a number of American Loyalists relocated to other countries, chiefly Canada and the United Kingdom . Residence in countries outside
7372-631: The government of Hawaii, leading to its annexation by the United States. During this time the American Colonization Society established a colony in the Pepper Coast for freedmen known as Liberia . The ACS's main goals were to Christianize indigenous Africans, end the illegal slave trade, and resettle African Americans out of the United States. Their descendants became the Americo-Liberians , who dominated
7469-514: The ire of Americans abroad is the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA). Disadvantages stemming from FATCA, such as hindering career advancement overseas, may decrease the number of Americans in the diaspora in future years. The problem is so severe that some Americans have addressed it by renouncing or relinquishing their U.S. citizenship. Since 2013, the number of people giving up US citizenship has risen to
7566-408: The largest ethnic minority in the United States . They form the second largest group in the United States, comprising 62,080,044 people or 18.7% of the population according to the 2020 United States census. Hispanic and Latino Americans are not considered a race in the United States census, instead forming an ethnic category. People of Spanish or Hispanic and Latino descent have lived in what
7663-406: The late 1600s and formed a unique cultural group known as Tejanos . Uncle Sam is a national personification of the United States and sometimes more specifically of the American government , with the first usage of the term dating from the War of 1812 . He is depicted as a stern elderly white man with white hair and a goatee beard, and dressed in clothing that recalls the design elements of
7760-517: The majority of the 331 million people living in the United States, with 191,697,647 people or 57.8% of the population in the 2020 United States census . They are considered people who trace their ancestry to the original peoples of Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa. Non-Hispanic Whites are the majority in 45 states. There are five minority-majority states : California , Texas , New Mexico , Nevada , and Hawaii . In addition,
7857-468: The nation's total population. 14% of the population have at least a bachelor's degree , and 15.1% live in poverty , below the poverty threshold . As compared to the 2000 United States census, this population grew by 40%; and 71% live in the West ; of those over half (52%) live in either Hawaii or California , with no other states having populations greater than 100,000. The United States territories in
7954-497: The numbers drastically increased after 2010 when the U.S. government enacted the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act , requiring foreign banks to report information on American holders of bank accounts located outside the United States. More than 3,000 Americans renounced U.S. citizenship in 2013, many citing the financial disclosure requirements and difficulty in finding banks willing to accept them as customers. More than 5,000 renounced in 2016, and more than 6,000 did in 2020. One of
8051-583: The passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act due to the civil rights movement . According to United States Census Bureau data, very few African immigrants self-identify as African American. On average, less than 5% of African residents self-reported as "African American" or "Afro-American" on the 2000 U.S. census. The overwhelming majority of African immigrants (~95%) identified instead with their own respective ethnicities. Self-designation as "African American" or "Afro-American"
8148-436: The past it was possible for Americans abroad to lose U.S. citizenship involuntarily, but after Supreme Court decisions such as Afroyim v. Rusk and Vance v. Terrazas , along with corresponding changes in U.S. law, they can only lose U.S. citizenship in a very limited number of ways, most commonly by expressly renouncing it at a U.S. embassy or consulate. Historically, few Americans renounced U.S. citizenship per year, but
8245-497: The population at home, is the second most common language and the most widely taught second language. Some Americans advocate making English the country's official language, as it is in at least twenty-eight states. Both English and Hawaiian are official languages in Hawaii by state law. While neither has an official language, New Mexico has laws providing for the use of both English and Spanish, as Louisiana does for English and French. Other states, such as California, mandate
8342-703: The population. Black and African Americans make up the third largest group in the United States, after White and European Americans, and Hispanic and Latino Americans. The majority of the population (55%) lives in the South ; compared to the 2000 United States census, there has also been a decrease of African Americans in the Northeast and Midwest . Most African Americans are the direct descendants of captives from Central and West Africa , from ancestral populations in countries like Nigeria , Benin , Sierra Leone , Guinea-Bissau , Senegal , and Angola , who survived
8439-408: The population; by the 2020 census the multiracial increased to 13,548,983, or 4.1% of the total population. They can be any combination of races (White, Black or African American, Asian, American Indian or Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander, "some other race") and ethnicities. The largest population of Multiracial Americans were those of White and African American descent, with
8536-509: The project, it was quickly scrapped. However, 453 African workers were sent to Ile-à-Vache in Haiti as part of a private colonization effort run by entrepreneur Bernard Kock. This colony was short-lived due to Kock breaking the contract. By the end of 1863, all of the colonists had returned to the United States. After the Civil War, thousands of Southerners moved to Brazil , where slavery
8633-501: The publication of Spanish versions of certain government documents. The latter include court forms. Several insular territories grant official recognition to their native languages, along with English: Samoan and Chamorro are recognized by American Samoa and Guam , respectively; Carolinian and Chamorro are recognized by the Northern Mariana Islands; Spanish is an official language of Puerto Rico. Religion in
8730-449: The sampling strata for the new MENA category includes the Census Bureau's working classification of 19 MENA groups, as well as Iranian , Turkish , Armenian , Afghan , Azerbaijani , and Georgian groups. In January 2018, it was announced that the Census Bureau would not include the grouping in the 2020 census. Black and African Americans are citizens and residents of the United States with origins in sub-Saharan Africa . According to
8827-409: The second-largest group and are 18.7% of the United States population. African Americans constitute the country's third-largest ancestry group and are 12.1% of the total U.S. population. Asian Americans are the country's fourth-largest group, composing 5.9% of the United States population. The country's 3.7 million Native Americans account for about 1%, and some 574 native tribes are recognized by
8924-733: The settlers returned to the U.S. There was also a sizeable presence of ex-confederates in British Honduras , now known as Belize . In Asia, the U.S. government made efforts to secure special privileges for its citizens. This began with the Treaty of Wanghia in China in 1844. It was followed by the expedition of Commodore Perry to Japan 10 years later, and the United States–Korea Treaty of 1882 . American traders began to settle in those countries. Many Americans migrated to
9021-503: The specific case. Similarly, American Jews may move to Israel under its Law of Return . The USMCA (and previously NAFTA ) allows U.S. citizens to work in Canada and Mexico in business or in certain professions, with few restrictions. However, to obtain permanent residence they must still satisfy the regular immigration requirements in these countries. The United States is a net immigration country, meaning more people arrive in
9118-412: The way in which generations of Americans have celebrated and exchanged distinctive cultural characteristics. The United States currently has 37 ancestry groups with more than one million individuals. White Americans with ancestry from Europe, the Middle East, or North Africa form the largest racial and ethnic group at 57.8% of the United States population. Hispanic and Latino Americans form
9215-476: The world. The United States has the world's largest Christian population . The majority of Americans (76%) are Christians , mostly within Protestant and Catholic denominations; these adherents constitute 48% and 23% of the population, respectively. Other religions include Buddhism , Hinduism , Islam , and Judaism , which collectively make up about 4% to 5% of the adult population. Another 15% of
9312-399: Was highest among individuals from West Africa (4%–9%), and lowest among individuals from Cape Verde, East Africa and Southern Africa (0%–4%). African immigrants may also experience conflict with African Americans. According to the 2020 United States census, there are 2,251,699 people who are Native Americans or Alaska Natives alone; they make up 0.7% of the total population. According to
9409-543: Was still legal at the time. They founded a city called Americana and became known as Confederados . Some also migrated to Mexico, where they established the New Virginia Colony with the help of Emperor Maximilian I of Mexico . They founded their capital, Carlota, and had planned to make more settlements, but the colony was abandoned after the fall of the Second Mexican Empire , and most of
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