Ancestries of the people of the United States

The ancestry of the people of the United States is widely varied and includes descendants of populations from around the world, some presumably extint elsewhere. In addition to its variation, the ancestry of Americans is also marked by significant amounts of intermarriage between ethnic and racial groups. While some Americans can trace their ancestry back to a single ethnic group or population in Europe, Africa, or Asia, these are usually first- and second-generation Americans. Generally, degree of mixed heritage increases the longer one's ancestors have lived in the United States (see Melting pot). Recent archaealogical and genetic research posits that Native American populations are also descended from several waves of Pacific Rim migrants.

There are several means available to discover the ancestry of the people residing in the United States, including genealogy, genetics, oral and written history, and analysis of Federal Population Census schedules.

Contents

1 Analysis by 2000 Federal Population Census 1.1 Ancestry maps 1.2 References 2 See also

Analysis by 2000 Federal Population Census

The majority of the 295 million United States people currently living in the United States descend from European immigrants who have arrived since the establishment of the first colonies. Major components of the European segment of the United States population are descended from immigrants from Germany (15.2 percent), Ireland (10.8 percent), England (8.7 percent), Italy (5.6 percent), Scandinavia (3.7 percent) and Poland (3.2 percent) with many immigrants also coming from Slavic countries. Other significant european immigrant populations came from eastern and southern Europe and French Canada; few immigrants came directly from France. A large number of Americans (12.9 percent) are descended from African immigrants, the majority of whom were slaves. These numbers, however, are inaccurate as many citizens listed themselves as "American" on the census (7.2 percent).

Ancestry maps

Note on the images: These maps are self-generated by Wikipedia user Stevey7788 at the U.S. Census Bureau's American Factfinder site ([1]). "West Indian," "Arab," and "Sub-saharan African" ancestries are not listed, though an African American map has been added from another source"

References

• American Factfinder

See also

• United States

See also: Ancestries of the people of the United States, Africa, American, Asia, England, Ethnicity, Europe, France, Genealogy, Genetics