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Location of Samoa on the globe

Samoa

WS

Oceania

Samoa is home to 2 documented ethnic groups in Oceania — led by Samoan (~97%), Samoa Other (~4%). This page blends their phenotype and demographic data into one weighted reference: skin tone, facial features, hair texture and build, drawn from published census and ancestry sources.

Demographic Composition

Composition weights are derived from self-identification in published census and demographic surveys. Each row links to the source ethnic-group atlas page.

Ethnic groupWeightSource
SamoanSamoan96.5%Samoa 2021 Census; Samoan (~96.5%, ~205,000+ of ~213,000+ total). Polynesian source population, Samoan language. The substantial Samoan diaspora globally (~250,000+ in New Zealand, ~190,000+ in the United States including American Samoa, ~75,000+ in Australia) substantially exceeds the Samoa-resident population
Samoa OtherSamoa Other3.5%Samoa 2021 Census residual; includes Samoan-European admixed, Tongan-Samoan, Niuean-Samoan, Fijian-Samoan, plus Chinese-Samoan and other smaller groups

Samoa Phenotype Profile

Samoa has a strongly Samoan demographic profile (~96.5%). The country is in the historic central position of the eastward Polynesian colonization. Substantial diaspora globally exceeding the resident population.

A descriptive view, not a claim about individuals

This page shows a weighted aggregate of phenotype observations across the Samoa population, based on demographic composition from published census and ancestry sources. Phenotypes within any country are far more varied than the aggregate suggests; this is a descriptive reference, not a deterministic claim about any individual. For source-level detail on individual ethnic groups, see the constituent atlas pages linked below.

Methodology Notes

Composition weights derived from Samoa 2021 Census.

See full project methodology →

Primary Sources

  1. 1.Samoa Bureau of Statistics. Population and Housing Census 2021. Apia: SBS; 2022.
  2. 2.Meleisea M. The Making of Modern Samoa: Traditional Authority and Colonial Administration in the Modern History of Western Samoa. Institute of Pacific Studies; 1987.
  3. 3.Skoglund P, Posth C, Sirak K, et al. Genomic insights into the peopling of the Southwest Pacific. Nature. 2016;538(7626):510-513.
  4. 4.Tcherkézoff S. First Contacts in Polynesia: The Samoan Case (1722-1848). Australian National University Press; 2008.
  5. 5.Mead M. Coming of Age in Samoa. William Morrow; 1928 (with broader subsequent ethnographic context).

Other countries in Oceania

Aggregate phenotype references for neighbouring Oceania nations, weighted by demographic composition.