Maine's population is primarily Yankee, both in its English and Scotch-Irish origins and in its retention of many of the values and folkways of rural New England. The largest minority group consists of French-Canadians. Among those reporting at least one specific ancestry group in 2000, 274,423 claimed English ancestry; 181,663 French (not counting 110,344 who claimed Canadian or French-Canadian); and 192,901 Irish. There were 36,691 foreign-born residents. The population of Hispanics and Latinos in 2000 was 9,360, less than 1% of the state total.
The most notable ethnic issue in Maine during the 1970s was the legal battle of the Penobscot and Passamaquoddy Indians—living on two reservations covering 27,546 acres (11,148 hectares)—to recover 12,500,000 acres (5,059,000 hectares) of treaty lands. A compromise settlement in 1980 awarded them $81.5 million, two-thirds of which went into a fund enabling the Indians to purchase 300,000 acres (121,000 hectares) of timberland. In 1995, Maine's American Indian population included the following groups living on or near reservations (with population estimates): the Penobscot Tribe (1,206); the Aristook Band of Micmac (1,155); Pleasant Point (878); the Passamaquoddy (722); and the Houlton Band of Maliseets (331). The Indian population as a whole was reported as 7,098 in 2000.
As of 2000, Maine had 6,760 black residents and 9,111 Asians, including 2,034 Chinese, 1,159 Filipinos, and 1,021 Asian Indians. Pacific Islanders numbered 382.