Well, everybody born in the american continent is technically “american” too, including Central and South America. Is there a specific term in english for these people?
Edit: Thanks for all your answers, especially the wholesome ones and those patient enough to explain it thoroughly. Since we (South Americans) and you (North Americans) use different models/conventions of continent boundaries, it makes sense for you to go by “Americans”, while it doesn’t for us.
A US Citizen.
Not everyone who identifies as American has citizenship, and not everyone with citizenship identifies as American. It’s not synonymous.
US residents are not Americans. They can identify all they want but it doesn’t make it true.
I might relate to Americans on many things but unless I move there and become a citizen I’ll never be American.
I don’t disagree with your second sentence though. Considering that some US citizens inherited their citizenship from their parents but never lived there for prolonged periods of time. For them, being a US citizen is just a technicality.