Americans: Difference between revisions

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[[File:Map of the American Diaspora in the World (Updated).svg||center|frameless|260x260px260px]]

| ref2 = <ref>{{cite book|last1last=Vidal|first1first=Roberto|editor1editor-last=Chiarello|editor1editor-first=Leonir Mario|title=Public Policies on Migration and Civil Society in Latin America: The Cases of Argentina, Brazil, Colombia and Mexico|date=2013|publisher=Scalabrini International Migration Network|location=New York|isbn=978-0-9841581-5-7|pages=263–410|edition=1st|url=http://www.simn-global.org/anuncios/140/5501b7c2b82e9.pdf|access-date=26 December 2017|chapter=Chapter III: Public Policies on Migration in Colombia|chapter-url=http://www.simn-global.org/anuncios/147/550316541cf02.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150319054055/http://www.simn-global.org/anuncios/140/5501b7c2b82e9.pdf|archive-date=19 March 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref>

| ref4 = <ref name="UNmigrantstock"/><ref name="MPI"/><ref>{{Citecite web|title=U.S. Relations With the Philippines Bilateral Relations Fact Sheet|url=https://www.state.gov/u-s-relations-with-the-philippines/|access-date=2022-08-17|website=United States Department of State|language=en|archive-date=February 7, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230207062435/https://www.state.gov/u-s-relations-with-the-philippines/|url-status=live}}</ref>

| ref9 = <ref name="auto">{{Citecite web|url=https://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/fr/dossiers-pays/etats-unis/relations-bilaterales/|title=Présentation des États-Unis|first=Ministère de l'Europe et des Affaires|last=étrangères|website=France Diplomatie : : Ministère de l'Europe et des Affaires étrangères|access-date=January 25, 2022|archive-date=January 25, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220125191500/https://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/fr/dossiers-pays/etats-unis/relations-bilaterales/|url-status=live}}</ref> – 191,930 <ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.aaro.org/living-abroad/how-many-americans-live-abroad|title=How Many Americans Live Abroad? |website=aaro.org}}</ref>

| ref10 = <ref>{{Citationcitation |last=Abizaid |first=John |title=U.S. Ambassador Abizaid's Message to American Citizens about COVID-19. |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rnDtkNHUrU |publisher=U.S. Mission Saudi Arabia |language=en |access-date=2022-03-10 |archive-date=March 10, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220310033301/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rnDtkNHUrU |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Houthi Terrorist Attack in Saudi Arabia|url=https://www.state.gov/houthi-terrorist-attack-in-saudi-arabia/|access-date=2022-02-11|website=United States Department of State|language=en|archive-date=February 11, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220211014736/https://www.state.gov/houthi-terrorist-attack-in-saudi-arabia/|url-status=live}}</ref>

'''Americans''' are the [[Citizenship of the United States|citizens]] and [[United States nationality law|nationals]] of the [[United States|United States of America]].<ref name="nationals and citizens">{{USC|8|1401}}; {{USC|8|1408}}; {{USC|8|1452}}</ref><ref name="American Somoans"/> The United States is home to [[Race and ethnicity in the United States|people of many racial and ethnic origins]]; consequently, [[Law of the United States|American law]] does not equate [[nationality]] with [[Race (human categorization)|race]] or [[ethnicity]] but with citizenship.<ref>*{{cite web |url=https://cite.case.law/f3d/502/337/#p341 |title=Fernandez v. Keisler, 502 F.3d 337 |page=341 |date=September 26, 2007 |work=Fourth Circuit |quote=The INA defines 'national of the United States' as '(A) a citizen of the United States, or (B) a person who, though not a citizen of the United States, owes permanent allegiance to the United States.' |access-date=June 8, 2021 |archive-date=August 30, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210830214914/https://cite.case.law/f3d/502/337/#p341 |url-status=live }}

* {{cite web |url=https://cite.case.law/f-supp-2d/599/772/#footnote_1_3 |title=Robertson-Dewar v. Mukasey, 599 F. Supp. 2d 772 |page=779 n.3 |date=February 25, 2009 |work=U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas |quote=The [INA] defines naturalization as 'conferring of nationality of a state upon a person after birth, by any means whatsoever.' |access-date=June 8, 2021 |archive-date=August 30, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210830214920/https://cite.case.law/f-supp-2d/599/772/#footnote_1_3 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Permanent Allegiance Law and Legal Definition |url=https://definitions.uslegal.com/p/permanent-allegiance/ |publisher=USLegal |access-date=October 1, 2018 |archive-date=October 25, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121025124037/https://definitions.uslegal.com/p/permanent-allegiance/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Citizen">* {{cite book |author1=Christine Barbour |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=40dPkS2aRZEC&pg=PA31 |title=Keeping the Republic: Power and Citizenship in American Politics, 6th Edition The Essentials |author2=Gerald C Wright |date=January 15, 2013 |publisher=CQ Press |isbn=978-1-4522-4003-9 |pages=31–33 |quote=Who Is An American? Native-born and naturalized citizens |access-date=January 6, 2015 |archive-date=February 5, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230205053711/https://books.google.com/books?id=40dPkS2aRZEC&pg=PA31 |url-status=live }}

* {{cite book |author=David Halle |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1KCdTkq56zoC&pg=PA233 |title=America's Working Man: Work, Home, and Politics Among Blue Collar Property Owners |date=July 15, 1987 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=978-0-226-31366-5 |page=233 |quote=The first, and central, way involves the view that Americans are all those persons born within the boundaries of the United States or admitted to citizenship by the government. |access-date=October 16, 2015 |archive-date=February 5, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230205053712/https://books.google.com/books?id=1KCdTkq56zoC&pg=PA233 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Petersen |first1=William |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7Mkxdz_3d-oC&pg=PA62 |title=Concepts of Ethnicity |last2=Novak |first2=Michael |last3=Gleason |first3=Philip |publisher=Harvard University Press |year=1982 |isbn=9780674157262 |page=62 |quote=...from Thomas Paine's plea in 1783...to Henry Clay's remark in 1815... "It is hard for us to believe ... how conscious these early Americans were of the job of developing American character out of the regional and generational polaritities and contradictions of a nation of immigrants and migrants." ... To be or to become an American, a person did not have to be of any particular national, linguistic, religious, or ethnic background. All he had to do was to commit himself to the political ideology centered on the abstract ideals of liberty, equality, and republicanism. Thus the universalist ideological character of American nationality meant that it was open to anyone who willed to become an American. |access-date=February 1, 2013 |archive-date=April 4, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230404205901/https://books.google.com/books?id=7Mkxdz_3d-oC&pg=PA62 |url-status=live }}</ref> The majority of Americans or their ancestors [[Immigration to the United States|immigrated]] to the United States or are descended from people who were [[Atlantic slave trade|brought]] as [[Slavery in the United States|slaves]] within the past five centuries, with the exception of the [[Native Americans in the United States|Native American]] population and people from [[Alaska]], [[Hawaii]], [[Puerto Rico]], [[Guam]], [[Texas]], and formerly the [[Philippines]],<ref>{{cite book|last=Lifshey|first=Adam|title=Subversions of the American Century: Filipino Literature in Spanish and the Transpacific Transformation of the United States|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z17rCgAAQBAJ|year=2015|publisher=University of Michigan Press|isbn=978-0-472-05293-6|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=Z17rCgAAQBAJ&dq=%22the+status+of+filipinos+in+the+philippines+as+american+nationals%22&pg=PA119 119]|quote=the status of Filipinos in the Philippines as American nationals existed from 1900 to 1946|access-date=May 26, 2018|archive-date=September 28, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230928160538/https://books.google.com/books?id=Z17rCgAAQBAJ|url-status=live}}<br />{{cite book|author=Rick Baldoz|title=The Third Asiatic Invasion: Empire and Migration in Filipino America, 1898–1946|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=J7QUCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA174|date=28 February 2011|publisher=NYU Press|isbn=978-0-8147-9109-7|page=174|quote=Recalling earlier debates surrounding Filipinos' naturalization status in the United States, he pointed out that U.S. courts had definitively recognized that Filipinos were American "nationals" and not "aliens".|access-date=May 28, 2018|archive-date=September 23, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230923060630/https://books.google.com/books?id=J7QUCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA174|url-status=live}}<br />{{cite web |url=https://fam.state.gov/FAM/08FAM/08FAM030205.html |title=8 FAM 302.5 Special Citizenship Provisions Regarding the Philippines |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=15 May 2020 |website=Foreign Affairs Manual |publisher=United States Department of State |access-date=9 Jun 2020 |archive-date=July 19, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180719010406/https://fam.state.gov/FAM/08FAM/08FAM030205.html |url-status=live }}</ref> who became American through expansion of the country in the 19th century;<ref>Fiorina, Morris P., and Paul E. Peterson (2000). ''The New American Democracy''. London: Longman, p. 97. {{ISBN|0-321-07058-5}};</ref> 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 the United States.<ref>U.S. Census Bureau. [https://www.census.gov/population/foreign/about/faq.html Foreign-Born Population Frequently asked Questions] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151117174325/https://www.census.gov/population/foreign/about/faq.html |date=November 17, 2015 }} viewed January 19, 2015. The U.S. Census Bureau uses the terms native and native born to refer to anyone born in Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, or the U.S. Virgin Islands.</ref><ref name="American Somoans">* {{cite news |date=March 28, 2018 |title=U.S. nationals born in American Samoa sue for citizenship |work=NBC News |agency=Associated Press |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/u-s-nationals-born-american-samoa-sue-citizenship-n860721 |access-date=2018-10-01 |archive-date=September 28, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180928134312/https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/u-s-nationals-born-american-samoa-sue-citizenship-n860721 |url-status=live }}

Despite its multi-ethnic composition,<ref name="DD">Adams, J.Q., and Pearlie Strother-Adams (2001). ''[[iarchive:dealingwithdiver0000adam|Dealing with Diversity]]''. Chicago: Kendall/Hunt. {{ISBN|0-7872-8145-X}}.</ref><ref name="Society in Focus">Thompson, William, and Joseph Hickey (2005). ''Society in Focus''. Boston: Pearson. {{ISBN|0-205-41365-X}}.</ref> the culture of the United States held in common by most Americans can also be referred to as mainstream [[Culture of the United States|American culture]], a [[Western culture]] largely derived from the traditions of [[Northern Europe|Northern]] and [[Western Europe]]an colonists, settlers, and immigrants.<ref name="DD"/> It also includes significant influences of [[African-American culture]].<ref>Holloway, Joseph E. (2005). ''Africanisms in American Culture'', 2d ed. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, pp. 18–38. {{ISBN|0-253-34479-4}}. Johnson, Fern L. (1999). ''Speaking Culturally: Language Diversity in the United States''. Thousand Oaks, California, London, and New Delhi: Sage, p. 116. {{ISBN|0-8039-5912-5}}.</ref> Westward expansion integrated the [[Louisiana Creole people|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 [[SouthernEastern Europe|SouthernEastern]] and [[EasternSouthern Europe]] introduced a variety of elements. Immigration from [[Africa]], [[History of Asian American immigration|Asia]], [[Africa]], and [[Latin America]] has also had impact. A cultural [[melting pot]], or pluralistic [[Salad bowl (cultural idea)|salad bowl]], describes the way in which generations of Americans have celebrated and exchanged distinctive cultural characteristics.<ref name="DD"/>

The United States currently has 37 [[American ancestries|ancestry groups]] with more than one million individuals.<ref name="An2000">{{cite web|title=Ancestry 2000|url=https://www.census.gov/prod/2004pubs/c2kbr-35.pdf|date=June 2004|publisher=U.S. Census Bureau|url-status=live|archive-url=http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20041204015245/https://www.census.gov/prod/2004pubs/c2kbr-35.pdf|archive-date=December 4, 2004|access-date=December 2, 2016}}</ref> [[Non-Hispanic whites|White Americans]] with ancestry from Europe, the Middle East, or North Africa form the largest [[race (human classification)|racial]] and [[ethnic group]] at 57.8% of the United States population.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2021/08/2020-united-states-population-more-racially-ethnically-diverse-than-2010.html | title=The Chance That Two People Chosen at Random Are of Different Race or Ethnicity Groups Has Increased Since 2010 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Table 52. Population by Selected Ancestry Group and Region: 2009|url=https://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2012/tables/12s0052.pdf|year=2009|publisher=U.S. Census Bureau|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121225031832/https://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2012/tables/12s0052.pdf|archive-date=December 25, 2012|access-date=February 11, 2017}}</ref> [[Hispanic and Latino Americans]] form 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.<ref name="An2000" /> [[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 in the United States|Native Americans]] account for about 1%,<ref name="An2000" /> and some 574 native tribes are recognized by the federal government.<ref>{{Citecite web |title=Federally recognized American Indian tribes and Alaska Native entities {{!}} USAGov |url=https://www.usa.gov/indian-tribes-alaska-native |access-date=April 5, 2024 |website=www.usa.gov |language=en}}</ref> 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]].<ref>{{cite news |title=A Growing Trend of Leaving America |author=Jay Tolson |url=https://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2008/07/28/a-growing-trend-of-leaving-america |newspaper=[[U.S. News & World Report]] |date=July 28, 2008 |access-date=December 17, 2012 |quote=Estimates made by organizations such as the Association of Americans Resident Overseas put the number of nongovernment-employed Americans living abroad anywhere between 4 million and 7 million, a range whose low end is based loosely on the government's trial count in 1999. |archive-date=October 23, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121023170519/http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2008/07/28/a-growing-trend-of-leaving-america |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.aaro.org/about-aaro/6m-americans-abroad |title=6.32 million Americans (excluding military) live in 160-plus countries. |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |publisher=Association of Americans Resident Overseas |access-date=December 17, 2012 |quote=The total is the highest released to date: close to 6.32 million. |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121119013957/http://www.aaro.org/about-aaro/6m-americans-abroad |archive-date=November 19, 2012 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |title=The American Diaspora |journal=[[Esquire (magazine)|Esquire]] |date=September 26, 2008 |publisher=Hurst Communications, Inc. |url=http://www.esquire.com/features/american-diaspora-1008 |access-date=December 17, 2012 |quote=he most frequently cited estimate of nonmilitary U. S. citizens living overseas is between three and six million, based on a very rough State Department calculation in 1999—and never updated. |archive-date=November 3, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121103233148/http://www.esquire.com/features/american-diaspora-1008 |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[File:Largest white alone or in any combination group by county in the United States. US Census 2020.jpg|thumb|275px|European ancestry in the United States by county (self-reported) in 2020|275px]]

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 the United States constituting 62.4% of the population.<ref name="auto2">{{cite web|url= https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2023/09/2020-census-dhc-a-race-overview.html|title= Census Bureau Releases 2020 Census Population for More Than 200 New Detailed Race and Ethnicity Groups|date= September 21, 2023|accessdateaccess-date= October 21, 2023}}</ref> However, the English Americans and [[British Americans]] demography is considered a serious under-count as they tend to self-report and identify as simply "[[American ancestry|Americans]]" (since the introduction of a new "American" category in the [[1990 United States census|1990]] census) due to the length of time they have inhabited America. This is highly over-represented in the [[Upland South]], a region that was settled historically by the British.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=mCopDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA200 Ethnic Landscapes of America] {{Webarchivewebarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230404205908/https://books.google.com/books?id=mCopDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA200 |date=April 4, 2023 }} – By John A. Cross</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=sQOJDBgBFmYC&pg=PA6 Census and you: monthly news from the U.S. Bureau... Volume 28, Issue 2] {{Webarchivewebarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230407094950/https://books.google.com/books?id=sQOJDBgBFmYC&pg=PA6 |date=April 7, 2023 }} – By United States. Bureau of the Census</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=SVoAXh-dNuYC&pg=PA57 Sharing the Dream: White Males in a Multicultural America] {{Webarchivewebarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230116051127/https://books.google.com/books?id=SVoAXh-dNuYC&pg=PA57 |date=January 16, 2023 }} By Dominic J. Pulera.</ref><ref>Reynolds Farley, 'The New Census Question about Ancestry: What Did It Tell Us?', ''Demography'', Vol. 28, No. 3 (August 1991), pp. 414, 421.</ref><ref>Stanley Lieberson and Lawrence Santi, 'The Use of Nativity Data to Estimate Ethnic Characteristics and Patterns', ''Social Science Research'', Vol. 14, No. 1 (1985), pp. 44–6.</ref><ref>Stanley Lieberson and Mary C. Waters, 'Ethnic Groups in Flux: The Changing Ethnic Responses of American Whites', ''Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science'', Vol. 487, No. 79 (September 1986), pp. 82–86.</ref>

Overall, as the largest group, European Americans have the lowest [[Poverty in the United States|poverty rate]]<ref name="Poverty rate">{{Citecite web|url=https://www.census.gov/prod/2005pubs/p60-229.pdf|title=Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2004|access-date=December 9, 2017|archive-date=October 9, 2022|archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://www.census.gov/prod/2005pubs/p60-229.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> and the second highest [[Educational attainment in the United States#Ethnicity and race|educational attainment]] levels, median [[Household income in the United States|household income]],<ref name="Median household income newsbrief, US Census Bureau 2005">{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/income_wealth/005647.html |title=Median household income newsbrief, US Census Bureau 2005 |access-date=September 24, 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060903121511/http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/income_wealth/005647.html |archive-date=September 3, 2006 |url-status=dead |df=mdy }}</ref> and median [[Personal income in the United States|personal income]]<ref name="US Census Bureau, Personal income for Asian Americans, age 25+, 2006">{{cite web|url=http://pubdb3.census.gov/macro/032006/perinc/new03_008.htm |title=US Census Bureau, Personal income for Asian Americans, age 25+, 2006 |access-date=December 17, 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060929074108/http://pubdb3.census.gov/macro/032006/perinc/new03_008.htm |archive-date=September 29, 2006 }}</ref> of any racial demographic in the nation, second only to [[Asian Americans]] in the latter three categories.

Black and African Americans are citizens and residents of the United States with origins in [[sub-Saharan Africa]].<ref name="IOM">{{cite web|title=Race, Ethnicity, and Language data – Standardization for Health Care Quality Improvement|url=http://www.ahrq.gov/sites/default/files/publications/files/iomracereport.pdf|publisher=Institute of Medicine of the National Academies|access-date=May 10, 2016|archive-date=November 29, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201129053700/https://www.ahrq.gov/sites/default/files/publications/files/iomracereport.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> According to 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.<ref name="2010USCBAA">{{cite web |url=https://www.census.gov/prod/cen2010/briefs/c2010br-06.pdf |title=The Black Population: 2010 |author=Sonya Tastogi |author2=Tallese D. Johnson |author3=Elizabeth M. Hoeffel |author4=Malcolm P. Drewery, Jr. |date=September 2011 |work=United States Census Bureau |publisher=United States Department of Commerce |access-date=September 11, 2012 |archive-date=January 8, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210108162929/https://www.census.gov/prod/cen2010/briefs/c2010br-06.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> 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 [[Afroasiatic languages|Hamito-Semitic]] populations in [[East Africa]] and the [[Sahel]], and the [[Afrikaners]] of [[Southern Africa]].<ref name="IOM"/> [[African Americans]] (also referred to as Black Americans or Afro-Americans, and formerly as American [[Negro]]es) are citizens or residents of the United States who have origins in any of the [[Black people|black]] populations of Africa.<ref name="censusblack">{{cite web |url=https://www.census.gov/prod/2001pubs/c2kbr01-5.pdf |first=Jesse |last=McKinnon |publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]] |access-date=October 22, 2007 |title=The Black Population: 2000 United States Census Bureau |archive-date=October 9, 2022 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://www.census.gov/prod/2001pubs/c2kbr01-5.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> According to the 2020 United States census, there were 39,940,338 Black and African Americans in the United States, representing 12.1% of the population.<ref name="factfinder.census.gov">[http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/ADPTable?_bm=y&-geo_id=01000US&-qr_name=ACS_2009_1YR_G00_DP5&-ds_name=&-_lang=en&-redoLog=false&-format= United States – ACS Demographic and Housing Estimates: 2009] {{Webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20200211182353/http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/ADPTable?_bm=y&-geo_id=01000US&-qr_name=ACS_2009_1YR_G00_DP5&-ds_name=&-_lang=en&-redoLog=false&-format= |date=February 11, 2020 }}. Factfinder.census.gov. Retrieved December 9, 2010.</ref>{{efn|Of the foreign-born population from [[Africa]] (1,607 thousand), in 2010, 46.1% were naturalized.<ref name="fbpACS2010"/>}}<ref name="NRC201029SEP11">{{cite web |url=http://2010.census.gov/news/releases/operations/cb11-cn185.html |title=2010 Census Shows Black Population has Highest Concentration in the South |date=September 29, 2011 |work=United States Census Bureau |publisher=United States Department of Commerce |access-date=September 11, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120915180008/http://2010.census.gov/news/releases/operations/cb11-cn185.html |archive-date=September 15, 2012 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all }}</ref> Black and African Americans make up the third largest group in the United States, after White and European Americans, and Hispanic and Latino Americans.<ref name="tthqvu">{{cite web|url=http://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=DEC_10_SF1_QTP3&prodType=table|title=American FactFinder – Results|firstpublisher=U.S. Census|last= Bureau|website=factfinder2.census.gov}}{{Dead link|date=June 2022 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> The majority of the population (55%) lives in the [[Southern United States|South]]; compared to the 2000 United States census, there has also been a decrease of African Americans in the [[Northeastern United States|Northeast]] and [[Midwest United States|Midwest]].<ref name="NRC201029SEP11" />

===== Hispanic and Latino Americans= ====

[[American English|English]] is the de factounofficial [[national language]]. Although there is no [[official language]] at the federal level, some laws—such as [[United States nationality law#Naturalization|U.S. naturalization requirements]]—standardize English. In 2007, about 226&nbsp;million, or 80% of the population aged five years and older, spoke only English at home. [[Spanish in the United States|Spanish]], spoken by 12% of the population at home, is the second most common language and the most widely taught second language.<ref name="USCB Lang">{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2010/tables/10s0053.pdf|publisher=U.S. Census Bureau|work=Statistical Abstract of the United States 2010|title=Table 53—Languages Spoken at Home by Language: 2007|access-date=September 21, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100327063255/http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2010/tables/10s0053.pdf|archive-date=March 27, 2010|url-status=dead|df=mdy-all}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.adfl.org/resources/enrollments.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19991127104400/http://www.adfl.org/resources/enrollments.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=November 27, 1999 |title=Foreign Language Enrollments in United States Institutions of Higher Learning |date=Fall 2002 |publisher=MLA |access-date=October 16, 2006 }}</ref> Some Americans advocate making English the country's official language, as it is in at least twenty-eight states.<ref name=ILW>{{cite web|author=Feder, Jody|url=http://www.ilw.com/immigrationdaily/news/2007,0515-crs.pdf|title=English as the Official Language of the United States—Legal Background and Analysis of Legislation in the 110th Congress|date=January 25, 2007|publisher=Ilw.com (Congressional Research Service)|access-date=June 19, 2007|archive-date=July 24, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130724223647/http://www.ilw.com/immigrationdaily/news/2007,0515-crs.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> Both English and [[Hawaiian language|Hawaiian]] are official languages in Hawaii by state law.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hawaii.gov/lrb/con/conart15.html |title=The Constitution of the State of Hawaii, Article XV, Section 4 |publisher=Hawaii Legislative Reference Bureau |date=November 7, 1978 |access-date=June 19, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070705235552/http://www.hawaii.gov/lrb/con/conart15.html |archive-date=July 5, 2007 |url-status=dead }}</ref>