the samaritans were from samaria. we get the story of the good samaritan in the Bible. (a man was ill and all the people, the jews, the pharisees and many others passed this person, but the samaritan did not and took the person in for refuge). samaritans were half jews and half gentiles. but they were always looked at as “unclean” or “gentiles” by the jews.
in the gospel john, jesus comes across a samaritan woman and she is confused because he chooses to
speak to her. “Therefore the Samaritan woman said to him, "How is it that you, being a Jew, ask me for a drink since I am a Samaritan woman?" (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans)”and “"Sir," the woman said, "I can see that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem:" Jesus said, "Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks (John 4:19-23).”
they had their own religions as well. but they couldn’t worship in the temple as jews did.