Demography In the 2000 and
2010 censuses, the term "Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander" refers to people having origins in any of the original peoples of Hawaii, Guam, Tonga, Samoa, Fiji, New Zealand, and the Marshalls or other Pacific Islands. Most Pacific Islander Americans are of Native Hawaiian,
Samoan, and
Chamorro origin. The fact that Hawaii is a US state (meaning that almost the entire native Hawaiian population lives in the US), as well as the migration and high birth rate of the Pacific Islanders have favored the permanence and increase of this population in the US (especially in the number of people who are of partial Pacific Islander descent). In the 2000 census, over 800,000 people claimed to be of Pacific Islander descent and in the 2010 census 1,225,195 Americans claimed "'Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander'" as their race alone or in combination. Most of them live in urban areas of Hawaii and California, but they also have sizeable populations in
Washington,
Utah,
Nevada, Oregon,
Texas,
Florida,
Arizona, and
New York. On the other hand, Pacific Islander Americans represent the majority (or are the main ethnic group) in American Samoa, Guam, and the
Northern Mariana Islands, where many of them are natives.
Areas of origin Melanesian Americans Melanesian Americans are Americans of
Melanesian descent. Most of them are of
Fijian descent. Most Fijian Americans are of
Fijian and Indian descent. More than 32,000 people of Fijian origin live in the US. Most of them live in California. Smaller communities of
New Caledonian,
Papuan,
Vanuatuan, and
Solomon Islander origin also live in the US.
Micronesian Americans Micronesian Americans are Americans of
Micronesian descent. They come from the whole region, mainly from the Mariana Islands, but also from territories as the
Marshall Islands, the
Federated States of Micronesia or
Palau. There are more than 8,000 people living in the US whose origins are in the Federated States of Micronesia. Most of them live in Hawaii, California, Oregon, and Texas, as well as in Mariana Islands. Another 7,000 Americans are of
Palauan descent. According to the 2010 census, the largest Chamorro populations were located in California, Washington, and Texas, but their combined number from these three states totaled less than half the number living throughout the US. It also revealed that the Chamorro people are the most geographically dispersed Oceanian ethnicity in the country.
Marshallese Americans come from the
Marshall Islands. In the 2010 census, 22,434 Americans identified as being of Marshallese descent. Due to the Marshall Islands entering the Compact of Free Association in 1986, Marshallese have been allowed to migrate and work in the US. There are many reasons why Marshallese moved to the US. Some Marshallese moved for educational opportunities, particularly for their children. Others sought work or better health care than what is available in the islands. Massive layoffs by the Marshallese government in 2000 led to a second big wave of immigration. Arkansas has the largest Marshallese population with over 6,000 residents. Many live in
Springdale, and the Marshallese constitute over 5% of the city's population. Other significant Marshallese populations include
Spokane and
Costa Mesa. Smaller communities of
I-Kiribati and
Nauruan origins also live in the US.
Polynesian Americans Polynesian Americans are Americans of
Polynesian descent. Large subcategories of Polynesian Americans include Native Hawaiians and Samoan Americans. In addition there are smaller communities of
Tongan Americans,
French Polynesian Americans, and
Māori Americans. There is a notable Native Hawaiian presence in
Las Vegas. The city is sometimes called the "Ninth Island" in reference to the eight islands of Hawaii. A Samoan American is an American who is of ethnic
Samoan descent from either the independent nation
Samoa or the
American territory of American Samoa. Samoan American is a subcategory of Polynesian American. About 55,000 people live on American Samoa, while the 2000 and 2008 US censuses have found four times the number of Samoan Americans live in the mainland US. California has the most Samoans; concentrations live in the
San Francisco Bay Area,
Los Angeles County, and
San Diego County.
San Francisco has approximately 2,000 people of Samoan ancestry, and other Bay Area cities such as
East Palo Alto and
Daly City have Samoan communities. In Los Angeles County,
Long Beach and
Carson have abundant Samoan communities, as well as in
Oceanside in San Diego County. Other
West Coast metropolitan areas such as
Seattle have strong Samoan communities, mainly in
King County and in
Tacoma.
Anchorage,
Alaska, and
Honolulu, Hawaii, both have thousands of Samoan Americans residing in each city. Persons born in American Samoa are US nationals, but not
US citizens (this is the only circumstance under which an individual would be one and not the other). For this reason, Samoans can move to Hawaii or the mainland US and obtain citizenship comparatively easily. Like Native Hawaiians, Samoans arrived in the mainland in the 20th century as agricultural laborers and factory workers. Elsewhere in the US, Samoan Americans are plentiful throughout the state of Utah, as well as in
Killeen, Texas;
Norfolk, Virginia; and
Independence, Missouri. A
Tongan American is an American who is of ethnic Tongan descent. Utah has the largest Tongan American population, followed by Hawaii. Many of the first Tongan Americans moved to the United States in connection to
the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They have strong presence in parts of
Salt Lake Valley in Utah, especially
West Valley City and Salt Lake City. Utah is roughly one percent Tongan, a high rate compared to Tongans only making up less than a scant 0.02% of the US population. Tongan communities are also more common in the West Coast, such as
San Mateo County, some areas of the
South Bay of Los Angeles, and the Seattle-Tacoma metropolitan area of Washington.
Portland, Oregon is also home to a Tongan community that started to emigrate in the 1970s. The
Dallas, Texas suburb of
Euless also has a Tongan population in the low thousands.
Origins (alone or in any combination) Location ==Military==