{ "Introduction": { "Background": { "text": "
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.
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.
" } }, "Geography": { "Location": { "text": "Oceania, group of islands in the South Pacific Ocean, about halfway between Hawaii and New Zealand" }, "Geographic coordinates": { "text": "14 20 S, 170 00 W" }, "Map references": { "text": "Oceania" }, "Area": { "total": { "text": "224 sq km" }, "land": { "text": "224 sq km" }, "water": { "text": "0 sq km" }, "note": "note: includes Rose Atoll and Swains Island" }, "Area - comparative": { "text": "slightly larger than Washington, DC" }, "Land boundaries": { "total": { "text": "0 km" } }, "Coastline": { "text": "116 km" }, "Maritime claims": { "territorial sea": { "text": "12 nm" }, "exclusive economic zone": { "text": "200 nm" } }, "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" }, "Terrain": { "text": "five volcanic islands with rugged peaks and limited coastal plains, two coral atolls (Rose Atoll, Swains Island)" }, "Elevation": { "highest point": { "text": "Lata Mountain 964 m" }, "lowest point": { "text": "Pacific Ocean 0 m" } }, "Natural resources": { "text": "pumice, pumicite" }, "Land use": { "agricultural land": { "text": "24.5% (2018 est.)" }, "agricultural land: arable land": { "text": "arable land: 15% (2018 est.)" }, "agricultural land: permanent crops": { "text": "permanent crops: 9.5% (2018 est.)" }, "agricultural land: permanent pasture": { "text": "permanent pasture: 0% (2018 est.)" }, "forest": { "text": "75.5% (2018 est.)" }, "other": { "text": "0% (2018 est.)" } }, "Irrigated land": { "text": "0 sq km (2022)" }, "Natural hazards": { "text": "
cyclones common from December to March
volcanism: limited volcanic activity on the Ofu and Olosega Islands; neither has erupted since the 19th century
" }, "Geography - note": { "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" } }, "People and Society": { "Population": { "text": "44,620 (2023 est.)" }, "Nationality": { "noun": { "text": "American Samoan(s) (US nationals)" }, "adjective": { "text": "American Samoan" } }, "Ethnic groups": { "text": "Pacific Islander 88.7% (includes Samoan 83.2%, Tongan 2.2%, other 3.3%), Asian 5.8% (includes Filipino 3.4%, other 2.4%), mixed 4.4%, other 1.1% (2020 est.)", "note": "note: data represent population by ethnic origin or race" }, "Languages": { "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.)", "note": "note: most people are bilingual" }, "Religions": { "text": "Christian 98.3%, other <1%, unaffiliated <1% (2020 est.)" }, "Age structure": { "0-14 years": { "text": "25.91% (male 5,963/female 5,600)" }, "15-64 years": { "text": "65.89% (male 14,512/female 14,888)" }, "65 years and over": { "text": "8.2% (2023 est.) (male 1,707/female 1,950)" } }, "Dependency ratios": { "total dependency ratio": { "text": "52.3" }, "youth dependency ratio": { "text": "41.9" }, "elderly dependency ratio": { "text": "10.4" }, "potential support ratio": { "text": "9.6 (2021)" } }, "Median age": { "total": { "text": "27.2 years" }, "male": { "text": "26.7 years" }, "female": { "text": "27.7 years (2020 est.)" } }, "Population growth rate": { "text": "-1.74% (2023 est.)" }, "Birth rate": { "text": "16.18 births/1,000 population (2023 est.)" }, "Death rate": { "text": "6.19 deaths/1,000 population (2023 est.)" }, "Net migration rate": { "text": "-27.36 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2023 est.)" }, "Urbanization": { "urban population": { "text": "87.2% of total population (2023)" }, "rate of urbanization": { "text": "0.26% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)" } }, "Major urban areas - population": { "text": "49,000 PAGO PAGO (capital) (2018)" }, "Sex ratio": { "at birth": { "text": "1.06 male(s)/female" }, "0-14 years": { "text": "1.06 male(s)/female" }, "15-64 years": { "text": "0.97 male(s)/female" }, "65 years and over": { "text": "0.88 male(s)/female" }, "total population": { "text": "0.99 male(s)/female (2023 est.)" } }, "Infant mortality rate": { "total": { "text": "9.87 deaths/1,000 live births" }, "male": { "text": "11.9 deaths/1,000 live births" }, "female": { "text": "7.72 deaths/1,000 live births (2023 est.)" } }, "Life expectancy at birth": { "total population": { "text": "75.58 years" }, "male": { "text": "73.1 years" }, "female": { "text": "78.22 years (2023 est.)" } }, "Total fertility rate": { "text": "2.13 children born/woman (2023 est.)" }, "Gross reproduction rate": { "text": "1.04 (2023 est.)" }, "Contraceptive prevalence rate": { "text": "NA" }, "Drinking water source": { "improved: urban": { "text": "urban: NA" }, "improved: rural": { "text": "rural: NA" }, "improved: total": { "text": "total: 99.8% of population" }, "unimproved: urban": { "text": "urban: NA" }, "unimproved: rural": { "text": "rural: NA" }, "unimproved: total": { "text": "total: 0.2% of population (2020 est.)" } }, "Current health expenditure": { "text": "NA" }, "Physicians density": { "text": "NA" }, "Sanitation facility access": { "improved: urban": { "text": "urban: NA" }, "improved: rural": { "text": "rural: NA" }, "improved: total": { "text": "total: 99% of population" }, "unimproved: urban": { "text": "urban: NA" }, "unimproved: rural": { "text": "rural: NA" }, "unimproved: total": { "text": "total: 1% of population (2020 est.)" } }, "Children under the age of 5 years underweight": { "text": "NA" }, "Currently married women (ages 15-49)": { "text": "53.5% (2023 est.)" }, "Education expenditures": { "text": "NA" }, "Literacy": { "total population": { "text": "NA" }, "male": { "text": "NA" }, "female": { "text": "NA" } } }, "Environment": { "Environment - current issues": { "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" }, "Land use": { "agricultural land": { "text": "24.5% (2018 est.)" }, "agricultural land: arable land": { "text": "arable land: 15% (2018 est.)" }, "agricultural land: permanent crops": { "text": "permanent crops: 9.5% (2018 est.)" }, "agricultural land: permanent pasture": { "text": "permanent pasture: 0% (2018 est.)" }, "forest": { "text": "75.5% (2018 est.)" }, "other": { "text": "0% (2018 est.)" } }, "Urbanization": { "urban population": { "text": "87.2% of total population (2023)" }, "rate of urbanization": { "text": "0.26% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)" } }, "Revenue from forest resources": { "text": "0% of GDP (2018 est.)" }, "Revenue from coal": { "text": "0% of GDP (2018 est.)" }, "Waste and recycling": { "municipal solid waste generated annually": { "text": "18,989 tons (2016 est.)" } } }, "Government": { "Country name": { "conventional long form": { "text": "American Samoa" }, "conventional short form": { "text": "American Samoa" }, "former": { "text": "Eastern Samoa" }, "abbreviation": { "text": "AS" }, "etymology": { "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\"" } }, "Government type": { "text": "unincorporated, unorganized Territory of the US with local self-government; republican form of territorial government with separate executive, legislative, and judicial branches" }, "Dependency status": { "text": "unincorporated, unorganized Territory of the US; administered by the Office of Insular Affairs, US Department of the Interior" }, "Capital": { "name": { "text": "Pago Pago" }, "geographic coordinates": { "text": "14 16 S, 170 42 W" }, "time difference": { "text": "UTC-11 (6 hours behind Washington, DC, during Standard Time)" }, "note": "note: pronounced pahn-go pahn-go" }, "Administrative divisions": { "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" }, "amendments": { "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" } }, "Legal system": { "text": "mixed legal system of US common law and customary law" }, "Citizenship": { "text": "see United StatesNA
" }, "Exchange rates": { "text": "the US dollar is used
" } }, "Energy": { "Electricity access": { "electrification - total population": { "text": "59% (2020)" }, "electrification - urban areas": { "text": "60% (2020)" }, "electrification - rural areas": { "text": "45% (2020)" } }, "Electricity": { "installed generating capacity": { "text": "47,000 kW (2020 est.)" }, "consumption": { "text": "151 million kWh (2019 est.)" }, "exports": { "text": "0 kWh (2020 est.)" }, "imports": { "text": "0 kWh (2020 est.)" }, "transmission/distribution losses": { "text": "12 million kWh (2019 est.)" } }, "Electricity generation sources": { "fossil fuels": { "text": "100% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)" }, "nuclear": { "text": "0% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)" }, "solar": { "text": "0% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)" }, "wind": { "text": "0% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)" }, "hydroelectricity": { "text": "0% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)" }, "tide and wave": { "text": "0% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)" }, "geothermal": { "text": "0% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)" }, "biomass and waste": { "text": "0% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)" } }, "Coal": { "production": { "text": "0 metric tons (2020 est.)" }, "consumption": { "text": "0 metric tons (2020 est.)" }, "exports": { "text": "0 metric tons (2020 est.)" }, "imports": { "text": "0 metric tons (2020 est.)" }, "proven reserves": { "text": "0 metric tons (2019 est.)" } }, "Petroleum": { "total petroleum production": { "text": "0 bbl/day (2021 est.)" }, "refined petroleum consumption": { "text": "2,300 bbl/day (2019 est.)" }, "crude oil and lease condensate exports": { "text": "0 bbl/day (2018 est.)" }, "crude oil and lease condensate imports": { "text": "0 bbl/day (2018 est.)" }, "crude oil estimated reserves": { "text": "0 barrels (2021 est.)" } }, "Refined petroleum products - production": { "text": "0 bbl/day (2015 est.)" }, "Refined petroleum products - exports": { "text": "0 bbl/day (2015 est.)" }, "Refined petroleum products - imports": { "text": "2,346 bbl/day (2015 est.)" }, "Natural gas": { "production": { "text": "0 cubic meters (2021 est.)" }, "consumption": { "text": "0 cubic meters (2021 est.)" }, "exports": { "text": "0 cubic meters (2021 est.)" }, "imports": { "text": "0 cubic meters (2021 est.)" }, "proven reserves": { "text": "0 cubic meters (2021 est.)" } }, "Carbon dioxide emissions": { "total emissions": { "text": "355,000 metric tonnes of CO2 (2019 est.)" }, "from coal and metallurgical coke": { "text": "0 metric tonnes of CO2 (2019 est.)" }, "from petroleum and other liquids": { "text": "355,000 metric tonnes of CO2 (2019 est.)" }, "from consumed natural gas": { "text": "0 metric tonnes of CO2 (2019 est.)" } }, "Energy consumption per capita": { "Total energy consumption per capita 2019": { "text": "88.796 million Btu/person (2019 est.)" } } }, "Communications": { "Telephones - fixed lines": { "total subscriptions": { "text": "10,000 (2021 est.)" }, "subscriptions per 100 inhabitants": { "text": "22 (2021 est.)" } }, "Telephones - mobile cellular": { "total subscriptions": { "text": "2,250 (2009 est.)" }, "subscriptions per 100 inhabitants": { "text": "4 (2009 est.)" } }, "Telecommunication systems": { "general assessment": { "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)" }, "domestic": { "text": "nearly 22 per 100 fixed-line teledensity (2020)" }, "international": { "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)" } }, "Broadcast media": { "text": "3 TV stations; multi-channel pay TV services are available; about a dozen radio stations, some of which are repeater stations" }, "Internet country code": { "text": ".as" }, "Internet users": { "total": { "text": "18,135 (2021 est.)" }, "percent of population": { "text": "40.3% (2021 est.)" } } }, "Transportation": { "Airports": { "text": "3 (2021)" }, "Airports - with paved runways": { "text": "3", "note": "note: 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.)" }, "Roadways": { "total": { "text": "241 km (2016)" } }, "Ports and terminals": { "major seaport(s)": { "text": "Pago Pago" } } }, "Military and Security": { "Military - note": { "text": "defense is the responsibility of the US" } }, "Transnational Issues": { "Disputes - international": { "text": "none identified
" } } }