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Despite the
palm-trees-wafting-in-the-trade-winds image, American Samoa is something
of an oddity in the South Pacific. Hastily Americanised in the 1960s, the
islands have all the ugly results of commercial and cultural imperialism
sticking out from behind the fronds. The history of American Samoa over
the last hundred years is a history of the desperate attempts by spent
colonial forces to exert authority over a traditional people. Everyone
from the English, to the Germans, to the Americans have pushed and pulled
at the group of islands, and the shared god of all these Western nations
has almost totally replaced the traditional belief system.
Yet despite all of this, American Samoa still
somehow manages to be a friendly, spectacular destination for travellers.
Cultural practice hasn't entirely disappeared, only a small area of
the islands is disgustingly polluted and the locals' friendliness
has barely been dented. Add to this the trademark Pacific Islands weather
and an astonishingly picturesque landscape, and you've got a recipe for an
intoxicating cocktail of rough liquor and smooth coconut milk.
- Full country name:
Territory of American Samoa
- Population: 62,000
- Capital city: Pago Pago (pronounced
'Pango Pango')
- People: Polynesian (89%), Caucasian
(2%), Tongan (4%), other (5%)
- Languages: Samoan, English
- Religion: Christian (98%)
- Government: Unincorporated and
unorganized territory of the US; administered by the US Department of
Interior, Office of Territorial and International Affairs
- Location:
Oceania,
group of islands in the South Pacific Ocean, about one-half of the way
from Hawaii to New Zealand
- Area:
total
area: 199 kmē land area: 199 kmē comparative area: slightly larger than
Washington, DC Note: includes Rose Island and Swains Island
- Land
boundries: 0
km
- Coastline:
116
km
- Maritime
Claims:
exclusive
economic zone: 200 nm territorial sea: 12 nm
- Internat.
disputes: none
- Environm.: current
issues: limited natural fresh water resources; in many areas of the island
water supplies come from roof catchments natural hazards: typhoons common
from December to March international agreements: NA
- Land
use: arable
land: 10% permanent crops: 5% meadows and pastures: 0% forest and woodland:
75% other: 10%
- Irrigated
land: NA
kmē
- Natural
resources: pumice,
pumicite
- Climate:
tropical
marine, moderated by southeast trade winds; annual rainfall averages 124
inches; rainy season from November to April, dry season from May to
October; little seasonal temperature variation
- Terrain:
five
volcanic islands with rugged peaks and limited coastal plains, two coral
atolls (Rose Island, Swains Island)
Note: Pago Pago has one of
the best natural deepwater harbors in the South Pacific Ocean, sheltered by
shape from rough seas and protected by peripheral mountains from high winds;
strategic location in the South Pacific Ocean.For
more general information
on Samoa, go to: |
