American Samoa, USA
American Samoa is a US territory without an official government. consisting of five islands and a pair of coral atolls.
The biggest and most populous island is Tutuila, and the Manu’agroup of islands comprising 28% of the land area.
The capital, Pago Pago (pronounced “Pango Pango”), is located on the island of Tutuila. There are three official languages in use in American Samoa: English, Samoan, and Tongan.
History of the country
Polynesians (probably from Tonga) settled the Samoan islands around a thousand BCE. Numerous scholars believe that Samoa became the point of origin for voyagers who colonized much of eastern Polynesia around 500 ce.
In 1722, the Dutch navigator Jacob Roggeveen discovered Samoa, and other European explorers, beachcombers, and merchants soon followed. In the 1830s, the London Missionary Society dispatched its first representatives to the islands.
As missionary influence spread from Tutuila to the Manua Islands, more missionaries traveled to the islands.
The United States signed a treaty to establish a naval station at Pago Pago Harbor in 1878.
An agreement between colonial powers in 1899 partitioned Samoa into spheres of influence, with Germany gaining authority over the United States and the western islands gaining control of the eastern islands. Later, formal cession by the local chiefs occurred.
All of the eastern islands had been given to the United States by 1904, but the cession deeds were not formally accepted by the Congress of the United States until February 20, 1929.
American Samoa became a strategic naval base under the administration of the U.S. Navy (1900-1951), but Samoan leaders had little administrative authority.
In 1951, the land was given to the U.S. Department of the Interior. The U.S. government appointed a governor with complete administrative authority over the territory.
The governor appointed American political advisors and senior civil servants to assist him. Peter Coleman, a Samoan, was elected as the territory’s first elected governor in 1977.
Since then, all Fono members have been elected by the local populace.For the first time ever, American Samoans chose a non-voting representative to fill a two-year position in the U.S. House of Representatives in 1981. Eni F.H. Faleomavaega was elected to this position in 1988 and re-elected multiple times.
The Samoan archipelago was devastated on September 29, 2009. jolted by a magnitude 8.3 undersea earthquake centered approximately 190 kilometers (120 miles) to the south in the Pacific Ocean. The earthquake generated a tsunami that inundated the islands of American Samoa in multiple waves and caused extensive damage to Tutuila; Pago Pago was flooded, and villages throughout the islands were obliterated, resulting in the deaths of a large number of people.
Facts of American Samoa
- Tutuila, an island in American Samoa, has the highest concentration of fast food restaurants and is the largest buyer of fast food in the South Pacific.
- Samoa Air, the American Samoa airline, implemented a pay-by-weight system for passengers in 2013.
The system requires passengers to stand on a scale with their luggage, and their individual weights determine how much they will pay for airfare.
- The United Nations granted American Samoa in 1966 a chance to become independent like the Independent States of Samoa. However, most of the people voted to stay a U.S. territory.
- In an effort to improve the living conditions on the islands of American Samoa, the United States spent large sums of money in the 1960s to construct schools, streets, homes, a hospital, and two tuna canneries. Junior Seau was one of the most well-known Americans of Samoan ancestry to ever compete in the NFL.
- American Samoa has earned the moniker “Football Island” due to the fact that the islands produce more American football players than any other nation. A young male from American Samoa is 56 times more likely than a young male from the United States to play in the NFL.
Currently, thirty American Samoans play in the NFL, and over two hundred play Division I NCAA football.
- Tuna canneries employ about 80% of the working population of American Samoa.
On average, a worker at a tuna cannery earns $4,300 per year. The remaining 20% are employed in government or agriculture.
- Approximately 93% of American Samoa’s exports consist of tuna in tins, and all of these exports are sent to the United States.
- Five volcanic islands (Tutuila, Aunu’u, and the Manu’a islands of Ofu, Olosega, and Ta’u) and two coral atolls make up American Samoa (Rose and Swains atolls).
- The total area of American Samoa is 117,500 square miles (30,400 square kilometers), roughly the size of Oregon or New Zealand.
Nonetheless, only 76.1 square miles (197 square kilometers), or 0.1% of the territory, is dry land.
- In 2015, there were 54,343 people living in American Samoa. Pago Pago, the capital city of Tutuila island, is home to approximately 88% of the total population, with 48,000 inhabitants.
Where Is American Samoa Located?
The Samoan archipelago is a chain of volcanic islands that stretches for 301 miles (or 485 kilometers) through the South Pacific Ocean region of Polynesia.
The easternmost part of this archipelago is American Samoa. The distance from American Samoa to both Hawaii and New Zealand is exactly the same.
Culture of American Samoa?
Both the Independent State of Samoa and American Samoa have Samoan culture (a territory of the United States). Traditional homes, called fale, don’t have walls, and up to 20 people can sleep on the floor in the same one. People see family as an important part of their lives.
The ‘ava is a plant used to make a drink drunk all over the western Pacific. Samoan men have always done the fa’ataupati (slap dance), which is usually done in a group without music.
The maulu’ulu is a group dance that women can only do. The village chief or village chiefess dances the taualuga, which is the most important Samoan dance.
The lava-lava sarong is a type of sarong that both men and women can wear. Some men have tattoos on their lower bodies and upper legs that are complicated and made up of geometric shapes.
There are many different kinds of food in the umu, including a whole pig, fresh seaweed, crayfish, baked taro, and rice. 34.8 percent of people are Christians, while 12.7 percent are Mormons, and 6.6 percent are Assemblies of God.
Freedom of religion is written into the constitution; in most cases, the government respects this right.
Except for U.S. citizens from American Samoa, there are no large groups of foreigners or immigrants. Rugby union and Samoan cricket are the most popular sports in Samoa (kilikiti). Samoans are 40 times more likely than non-Samoan Americans to play in the NFL.
Samoa’s most popular sport is rugby union, and the country’s national team is ranked 149th in the world.
Samoans also like to play soccer and Australian rules football. Samoans have been seen a lot in professional wrestling in the United States. The vailolo is a drink with money in it.
The amoamosa is a tray of biscuits and other things. A fine mat or several fine mats are also part of the sua (mats of state – ie o le malo).
It could be anywhere from 5 meters long (16 feet) to 25-30 meters long (82-98 feet) and 10 meters high (33 feet). Adding numbers to each part could make it bigger or smaller, depending on the event and the person’s rank.
How it became part of the USA
Pago Pago Harbor was the subject of the first treaty that the United States of America signed with Samoa.
In the year 1872, a deal was struck, but the Senate never got around to ratifying it. The division of Samoa into two separate states occurred in 1899 as a result of escalating conflict. In the year 1900, the United States Navy assumed responsibility for managing the administration of American Samoa.
Military Governors collaborated closely with matai, or Samoan tribal chiefs, to ensure that the day-to-day niceties of the United States Navy did not interfere with the long-standing rituals and customs practiced by the Samoans.
At the beginning of the South Pacific hostilities, the only existing armed base was located on Tutuila.
Its significance was attributed to the fact that it was situated in a strategic location close to the important sea lanes that ran between Hawaii and New Zealand.
After the attack on Pearl Harbor, a number of ships were ordered to head to Pago Pago instead.
The war effort against Japan was significantly fueled by Samoa, which played an important role in that effort. To fulfill the requirements of the fleet, a large number of Samoans put in long, exhausting hours of work.
At the end of 1942, it became clear that the Japanese had no intention of carrying out their invasion plans for Samoa.
In 1945, as World War II came to a close, the islands’ significance as bases for military operations began to decline.
On June 25, the final naval transport, General R. L. Howe, sailed away from the island, taking a large number of the disbanded Fitafita guard with it to Hawaii.
The cession deeds that the United States of America signed in 1900 when they officially made American Samoa is an American territory.
The Samoans are aware that the modernization of their economy significantly and directly impacts their capacity to maintain their traditional rights, lands, and traditions. The responsibility for the civil administration of the territory was given to the Executive Office by the United States Congress in the year 1929.
What Languages Are Spoken In American Samoa?
Samoan 90.6% (closely related to Hawaiian and other Polynesian languages), English 2.9%, Tongan 2.4%, other Pacific islander 2.1%, other 2% note: most people are bilingual (2000 census)
Ethnicity/race: Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander 91.6%, Asian 2.8%, white 1.1%, mixed 4.2%, other 0.3% (2000 est.)
Conclusion
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