The Samoans of American Samoa

The Samoans of American Samoa, numbering approximately 42,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are a Polynesian ethnic group indigenous to the Samoan Islands, an archipelago in Polynesia that is politically and geographically divided between the Independent State of Samoa and American Samoa, an unincorporated territory of the United States of America. They mostly adhere to Protestantism and Samoan is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite: Samoan

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Pacific Islander Peoples
Country: American Samoa
People Cluster: Polynesian
Primary Language(s): Samoan (smo)
Primary Religion(s): Protestantism
Population: 42,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 10% or Greater Evangelical
People Group ID: PG050229
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Samoans of American Samoa

Join others around the world in praying for the lost to be saved, the gospel to advance, the global Church to grow, and for laborers to be sent out and sustained in the harvest.

Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Protestantism
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

70%
%
Protestantism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Samoan
Language Family: Austronesian

100%
%
Samoan Speakers

Media Resources in Samoan:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Bible Resources in Samoan:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
Bible Society of South Pacific✓✓

1 entry

Or check out the Samoan bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Samoans are No Longer Unreached, which means there are more than 2% evangelical Christian populations and there are churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice. There is still more to be done among them.

Next steps for the Samoans:
Empower local believers to begin praying for their own people
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting
Encourage local leaders to being leading church planting strategy and looking for Unreached and Unengaged groups nearby

Pray specifically for the Samoans of American Samoa

Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.
readMark 10:15

Pray for those who might be trapped in pride, that God will humble them and give them a childlike faith and complete dependence on Him through faith in Christ.

I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.
readDaniel 7:13-14

Pray that the gospel will advance so that all peoples will come to know the Son of Man, who has been given dominion and glory and a kingdom, and that they will bow before Him and serve Him forever.

But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.
readPhilippians 3:20-21

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will remember their citizenship is in heaven.

For the needy shall not always be forgotten, and the hope of the poor shall not perish forever.
readPsalm 9:18

Pray that God will raise up believers who can help meet emotional and physical needs among this people group. Ask Him to open doors for them and give them the courage to walk into difficult situations and share the hope of the gospel boldly.

Samoan Across Countries (ROP3 - 108580) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

9 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion ▼
SamoansSamoansFiji1,300No Longer UnreachedSamoanProtestantism
SamoansSamoansSamoa219,000No Longer UnreachedSamoanProtestantism
SamoansSamoansVanuatu350No Longer UnreachedSamoanProtestantism
SamoansSamoansTokelau150No Longer UnreachedSamoanProtestantism
SamoansSamoansTuvalu50No Longer UnreachedSamoanProtestantism
SamoansSamoansNew Zealand177,000No Longer UnreachedSamoanProtestantism
SamoansSamoansUnited States70,000No Longer UnreachedSamoanProtestantism
SamoansSamoansAmerican Samoa42,000No Longer UnreachedSamoanProtestantism
SamoansSamoansCanada1,200No Longer UnreachedSamoanProtestantism

To download a comprehensive people group list in spreadsheet form, visit our Research Data page.

Peoplegroups.org relies on updates from the field and other organizations for much of our data, so if you have any updates, please contact us. We use various international naming standards. For a list of these standards and fields, visit our Data Standards section.

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