Pacific Islander American

Pacific Islander Americans, also known as Oceanian Americans, are residents of the United States with original ancestry from Oceania. They represent the smallest racial group counted in the United States census of 2000. They numbered 874,000 people or 0.3 percent of the United States population. They are most concentrated in Hawaii, Alaska and the West Coast, specifically California and Utah, although they are to be found in other Western US States as well.

Definition

In the 2000–2010 U.S. Census the term "'Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander' refers to people having origins in any of the original peoples of Hawaii, Guam, Tonga, Samoa or other Pacific Islands. ... They are of Polynesian, Micronesian and Melanesian cultural backgrounds." The US Census counts Indigenous Australians and Māori, the natives of New Zealand, as part of the Pacific Islander race.

This includes Indigenous Australians, Polynesians, Melanesians and Micronesians.

Individuals

In politics

Mufi Hannemann was mayor of Honolulu from January 2, 2005 to July 20, 2010. Mufi Hanneman is a German and Samoan American who was originally a history teacher.

Media

Pacific Islander Americans have media portrayal mostly as professional wrestlers, but are also portrayed as regular people. Dwayne Johnson,...
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