Americans

Americans

George Washington · Sitting Bull · John Wayne · Martin Luther King Elvis Presley · Michael Jordan · Madonna · Mike Huckabee
Regions with significant populations
United States        338,384,000
Mexico	1,000,000
Canada	688,000
United Kingdom	224,000
Liberia	159,697
Australia	118,003
Philippines	105,000
Brazil	est. 25-50,000
Costa Rica	40,000
New Zealand	17,751
Languages
American English, Spanish, Cajun French, Indigenous languages
Religion
Protestantism, Catholicism, Judaism, Agnosticism
Related ethnic groups
Europeans, Africans, Asians, Amerindians

The people of the United States, U.S. Americans, or simply Americans or American people, are citizens or nationals of the United States. The United States is a multi-ethnic nation, home to people of different ethnic and national backgrounds. As a result, some Americans don't take their nationality as an ethnicity, but identify themselves with both their nationality and their ancestral origins. Aside from the indigenous American Indian population, nearly all Americans or their ancestors immigrated within the past five centuries.

Due to the multi-ethnic composition, the United States is a multicultural nation, home to a wide variety of traditions and values. The culture held in common by most Americans is referred to as mainstream American culture, a Western culture largely derived from the traditions of Western European migrants, beginning with the early English and Dutch settlers. German, Irish, and Scottish cultures have also been very influential. Certain cultural attributes of Mandé and Wolof slaves from West Africa were adopted by the American mainstream; based more on the traditions of Central African Bantu slaves, a distinct African American culture developed that would also deeply affect the mainstream. Westward expansion integrated 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 nineteenth and early twentieth centuries from Southern and Eastern Europe introduced many new cultural elements. More recent immigration from Asia, Africa, and especially Latin America has had broad impact. The resulting cultural mix may be described as a homogeneous melting pot, or as a pluralistic salad bowl in which immigrants and their descendants retain distinctive cultural characteristics.

In addition to the United States, Americans and people of American descent can be found internationally such as in Canada, Mexico, Australia, and throughout Europe, South America, and the Caribbean. As many as 4 million Americans are estimated to be living abroad.

See also

• American Australian
• American Brazilian
• American Canadians
• Americo-Liberian
• American New Zealander
• Hyphenated American
• Immigration to the United States
• Melting pot

---