african americans (also referred to as black americans or afro-americans, and formerly as american negroes) are citizens or residents of the united states who have origins in any of the black populations of africa. according to the 2009 american community survey, there were 38,093,725 black and african americans in the united states, representing 12.4% of the population. there were 37,144,530 non-hispanic blacks, which comprised 12.1% of the population. this number increased to 42 million according to the 2010 united states census, when including multiracial african americans, making up 14% of the total u.s. population. black and african americans make up the second largest group in the united states, but the third largest group after white americans and hispanic or latino americans (of any race). the majority of the population (55%) lives in the south; compared to the 2000 census, there has also been a decrease of african americans in the northeast and midwest. the u.s. state/territory with the highest percentage of african-americans is the u.s. virgin islands (76% african-american as of 2010).