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

But he said, "What is impossible with man is possible with God."
readLuke 18:27

Praise God that He is the God of impossible things and that He is able to save even those who seem beyond hope.

Greet also the church in their house. Greet my beloved Epaenetus, who was the first convert to Christ in Asia."
readRomans 16:5

Pray for houses to be meeting places for Christians and that God will advance the gospel and grow His Church through natural familial and community relationships.

Not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
readHebrews 10:25

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will not neglect meeting together but encourage one another as they see the Day approaching.

I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.
readPsalm 139:14

Praise God for His creativity and power, and pray that He will raise up men and women from among them who are in awe of all He has done and want to go share the hope of Christ with others.

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

Strategic Progress Index
All

9 people groups

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