 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (July 2022) |
| Samoan | |
|---|---|
| Gagana faʻa Sāmoa | |
 Map showing Samoa's central place in the Pacific, where the language is most spoken. | |
| Native to | Samoan Islands |
| Region | Asia-Pacific |
| Ethnicity | Samoans |
Native speakers | 430,000 (2020–2022)[1] |
Austronesian
| |
| |
| Official status | |
Official language in |  Samoa American Samoa |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-1 | sm |
| ISO 639-2 | smo |
| ISO 639-3 | smo |
| Glottolog | samo1305 |
| Linguasphere | 39-CAO-a |
Samoan (Gagana faʻa Sāmoa or Gagana Sāmoa, pronounced [ŋaˈŋana ˈsaːmʊa]) is a Polynesian language spoken by Samoans of the Samoan Islands. Administratively, the islands are split between the sovereign country of Samoa and the United States territory of American Samoa. It is an official language, alongside English, in both jurisdictions. It is widely spoken across the Pacific region, heavily so in New Zealand and also in Australia and the United States. Among the Polynesian languages, Samoan is the most widely spoken by number of native speakers.
Samoan is spoken by approximately 260,000 people in the archipelago and with many Samoans living in diaspora in a number of countries, the total number of speakers worldwide was estimated at 510,000 in 2015. It is the third-most widely spoken language in New Zealand, where 2.2% of the population, 101,900 people, were able to speak it as of 2018.[2]
The language is notable for the phonological differences between formal and informal speech as well as a ceremonial form used in Samoan oratory.
- ^ Samoan at Ethnologue (27th ed., 2024)
- ^ "2018 Census totals by topic". Statistics New Zealand. Archived from the original on 22 September 2024. Retrieved 15 November 2024.
