News tagged with americans

Primarily English, but also Spanish and others

Christian (Mostly Protestantism and Catholicism) No religion • Jewish • Muslim • Buddhist • Hinduism • New Religious Movements and others.

The people of the United States, also known as simply Americans or American people, are the inhabitants or citizens of the United States. The United States is a multi-ethnic nation, home to people of different ethnic and national backgrounds. As a result, Americans do not consider their nationality as an ethnicity but as a citizenship with various ethnicities comprising the "American people." Aside from the indigenous Native American population, nearly all Americans or their ancestors immigrated within the past five centuries.

Despite its multi-ethnic composition, 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, Scottish, Welsh and Dutch settlers. German and Irish cultures have also been very influential. Certain cultural attributes of Igbo, Mandé, Kongo 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. As many as 4 million Americans are estimated to be living abroad.