"text":"<p>Tutuila was settled by 1000 B.C. and the island served as a refuge for exiled chiefs and defeated warriors from the other Samoan islands. The Manu’a Islands developed its own traditional chiefdom that maintained its autonomy by controlling oceanic trade. In 1722, Dutch explorer Jacob ROGGEVEEN was the first European to sail through the Manu’a Islands, and he was followed by French explorer Louis Antoine DE BOUGAINVILLE in 1768. Whalers and missionaries arrived in American Samoa in the 1830s, but American and European traders tended to favor the port in Apia - now in independent Samoa - over the smaller and less-developed Pago Pago on Tutuila. In the mid-1800s, a dispute arose in Samoa over control of the Samoan archipelago, with different chiefs gaining support from Germany, the UK, and the US. In 1872, the high chief of Tutuila offered the US exclusive rights to Pago Pago in return for US protection, but the US rejected this offer. As fighting resumed, the US agreed to the chief’s request in 1878 and set up a coaling station at Pago Pago. In 1899, with continued disputes over succession, Germany and the US agreed to divide the Samoan islands, while the UK withdrew its claims in exchange for parts of the Solomon Islands. Local chiefs on Tutuila formally ceded their land to the US in 1900, followed by the chief of Manu’a in 1904. The territory was officially named “American Samoa” in 1911.<br><br>The US administered the territory through the Department of the Navy, and in 1918, the naval governor instituted strict quarantine rules to prevent the spread of the Spanish flu, allowing American Samoa to avoid the deadly infection that ravaged the then-New Zealand administered territory of Samoa. In 1949, there was an attempt to organize the territory, granting it formal self-government, but local chiefs helped defeat the measure in the US Congress. Administration was transferred to the Department of the Interior in 1951, and in 1967, American Samoa adopted a constitution that provides significant protections for traditional Samoan land tenure rules, language, and culture. In 1977, after four attempts, voters approved a measure to directly elect their governor. Nevertheless, American Samoa officially remains an unorganized territory and people born in American Samoa are US nationals instead of US citizens, a status many American Samoans prefer.</p> <p style=\"margin: 0in; margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: 18.0pt; background: white;\"></p>"
"text":"tropical marine, moderated by southeast trade winds; annual rainfall averages about 3 m; rainy season (November to April), dry season (May to October); little seasonal temperature variation"
"text":"<p>cyclones common from December to March</p><p><strong>volcanism:</strong> limited volcanic activity on the Ofu and Olosega Islands; neither has erupted since the 19th century</p>"
"text":"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"
"text":"Samoan 87.9% (closely related to Hawaiian and other Polynesian languages), English 3.3%, Tongan 2.1%, other Pacific Islander 4.1%, Asian languages 2.1%, other 0.5% (2010 est.)",
"text":"limited supply of drinking water; pollution; waste disposal; coastal and stream alteration; soil erosion"
},
"Climate":{
"text":"tropical marine, moderated by southeast trade winds; annual rainfall averages about 3 m; rainy season (November to April), dry season (May to October); little seasonal temperature variation"
"text":"the meaning of Samoa is disputed; some modern explanations are that the \"sa\" connotes \"sacred\" and \"moa\" indicates \"center,\" so the name can mean \"Holy Center\"; alternatively, some assertions state that it can mean \"place of the sacred moa bird\" of Polynesian mythology; the name, however, may go back to Proto-Polynesian (PPn) times (before 1000 B.C.); a plausible PPn reconstruction has the first syllable as \"sa'a\" meaning \"tribe or people\" and \"moa\" meaning \"deep sea or ocean\" to convey the meaning \"people of the deep sea\""
"text":"unincorporated, unorganized Territory of the US with local self-government; republican form of territorial government with separate executive, legislative, and judicial branches"
"text":"none (territory of the US); there are no first-order administrative divisions as defined by the US Government, but there are 3 districts and 2 islands* at the second order; Eastern, Manu'a, Rose Island*, Swains Island*, Western"
},
"Independence":{
"text":"none (territory of the US)"
},
"National holiday":{
"text":"Flag Day, 17 April (1900)"
},
"Constitution":{
"history":{
"text":"adopted 17 October 1960; revised 1 July 1967"
"text":"proposed by either house of the Legislative Assembly; passage requires three-fifths majority vote by the membership of each house, approval by simple majority vote in a referendum, approval by the US Secretary of the Interior, and only by an act of the US Congress; amended several times, last in 2021"
"text":"see United States<br>Note: in accordance with US Code Title 8, Section 1408, persons born in American Samoa are US nationals but not US citizens"
"text":"president and vice president indirectly elected on the same ballot by an Electoral College of 'electors' chosen from each state to serve a 4-year term (eligible for a second term); under the US Constitution, residents of unincorporated territories, such as American Samoa, do not vote in elections for US president and vice president; however, they may vote in Democratic and Republican presidential primary elections; governor and lieutenant governor directly elected on the same ballot by absolute majority popular vote in 2 rounds if needed for a 4-year term (eligible for a second term); election last held on 3 November 2020 (next to be held in November 2024)"
"text":"bicameral Legislature or Fono consists of:<br>Senate (18 seats; members indirectly selected by regional governing councils to serve 4-year terms)<br>House of Representatives (21 seats; 20 members directly elected by simple majority vote and 1 decided by public meeting on Swains Island; members serve 2-year terms)"
},
"elections":{
"text":"<br>Senate - last held on 3 November 2020 (next to be held in November 2024)<br>House of Representatives - last held on 3 November 2020 (next to be held in November 2024)"
"text":"<br>Senate - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - independent 18; composition - men 17, women 1; percent of women 5.6%<br>House of Representatives - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - NA; composition - men 20, women 1; percent of women 4.8%; note total Legislature percent of women 5.1%<br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br>5"
"note":"<strong id=\"tinymce\" class=\"mce-content-body \" style=\"font-size: 18px;\" contenteditable=\"true\" spellcheck=\"false\" data-id=\"field_notes\">note:</strong> American Samoa elects 1 member by simple majority vote to serve a 2-year term as a delegate to the US House of Representatives; the delegate can vote when serving on a committee and when the House meets as the Committee of the Whole House, but not when legislation is submitted for a “full floor” House vote; election of delegate last held on 3 November 2020 (next to be held in November 2022); Amata Coleman RADEWAGEN elected delegate; Amata Coleman RADEWAGEN (Republican Party) 83.5%, Oreta CHRICHTON (Democratic Party) 14.4%, Meleagi SUITONU-CHAPMAN (Democratic Party) 2.1%"
"text":"High Court of American Samoa (consists of the chief justice, associate chief justice, and 6 Samoan associate judges and organized into trial, family, drug, and appellate divisions); note - American Samoa has no US federal courts"
},
"judge selection and term of office":{
"text":"chief justice and associate chief justice appointed by the US Secretary of the Interior to serve for life; Samoan associate judges appointed by the governor to serve for life"
"text":"a large white triangle edged in red that is based on the fly side and extends to the hoist side and is charged with an eagle, all on a blue field; the red, white, and blue colors are those traditionally used by both the United States and Samoa; the brown and white American bald eagle flies toward the hoist side and carries 2 traditional Samoan symbols of authority, a war club known as a \"fa'alaufa'i\" (upper; left talon), and a coconut-fiber fly whisk known as a \"fue\" (lower; right talon); the combination of symbols broadly mimics that seen on the US Great Seal and reflects the relationship between the US and American Samoa"
"text":"a fue (coconut fiber fly whisk; representing wisdom) crossed with a to'oto'o (staff; representing authority); national colors: red, white, blue"
},
"National anthem":{
"name":{
"text":"\"Amerika Samoa\" (American Samoa)"
},
"lyrics/music":{
"text":"Mariota Tiumalu TUIASOSOPO/Napoleon Andrew TUITELELEAPAGA"
"note":"<strong>note:</strong> local anthem adopted 1950; as a territory of the United States, \"The Star-Spangled Banner\" is official (see United States)"
"text":"tourism, tuna, and government services-based territorial economy; sustained economic decline; vulnerable tuna canning industry; large territorial government presence; minimum wage increases to rise to federal standards by 2036"
"text":"American Samoa Telecommunications Authority, ASTCA, supplies telecommunication services to the residents of the American Samoan islands, a territory of the United States, which are found in a remote area of the Pacific Ocean; the primary system between the islands consists of fiber-optic cables and satellite connections; over Independence Day weekend 2021, the undersea fiber-optic cable linking the Tutuila and Manu’a Islands failed, completely stranding the Manu’a Islands from all telecommunication services; telecommunication services were restored to the people of Manu’a islands through microwave link between Tutuila to the Manu’a Islands; the link is now providing a steady 1Gbps backhaul most of the time of the year with 600Mbps at four 9’s availability, over this extremely long distance (2022)"
"text":"country code - 1-684; landing points for the ASH, Southern Cross NEXT and Hawaiki providing connectivity to New Zealand, Australia, American Samoa, Hawaii, California, and SAS connecting American Samoa with Samoa; satellite earth station - 1 (Intelsat-Pacific Ocean) (2019)"
"note":"<strong>note:</strong> paved runways have a concrete or asphalt surface but not all have facilities for refueling, maintenance, or air traffic control; the length of a runway required for aircraft to safely operate depends on a number of factors including the type of aircraft, the takeoff weight (including passengers, cargo, and fuel), engine types, flap settings, landing speed, elevation of the airport, and average maximum daily air temperature; paved runways can reach a length of 5,000 m (16,000 ft.), but the “typical” length of a commercial airline runway is between 2,500-4,000 m (8,000-13,000 ft.)"
