Category: American Samoa

American Samoa is located in South Pacific Ocean which is the unincorporated territory of United States. The most populous and the largest island of American Samoa is the Tutuila. American Samoa Island consists of Tuituila, Manu’a Islands, Swains Island and Rose Atoll. Settlers came from Tonga inhabited the Islands at around 1000BC and until 18th century, European explorers didn’t come to the islands. During 18th century, there was a battle between the islanders of Tutuila and French explorers and because of this, the islanders were known for their ferocity in the West. The name of the site where the battle took place is Massacre Bay.

The western missionaries brought Christianity to the islands in early 19th century. The Samoan archipelago was divided between US and Germany in 1899 according to the Tripartite Convention. The young men of Samoa from the age of 14 and above served US military in various positions at the time of World War II. American Samoa suffered a tsunami strike on September 29 in the year 2009. American Samoa is a presidential democratic dependency in which head of the government is Governor. Because the islands is an unorganized and unincorporated territory of US, the islands is administered by Office of Insular Affairs, US. Governor is the executive power and the legislative power is executed by two chambers of legislature.

The nationality of American Samoa which includes Swains Island is American, but cannot become American Citizens. Samoans can become American citizens only if one of the parents is a citizen of US. Samoan cannot vote for presidential elections in US, but they can freely enter into US. The economy of American Samoa equally depends on three sectors such as tuna cannery, public sector and private sector. American Samoa’s population is 65,000 and from which 95% of the islanders live in Tutuila. About 91.6% of the people are Samoan origin and others consist of Asian, Caucasian, Mixed and others. Samoan language is spoken by 90% of the people and other languages are Tongan, English, Pacific Islander languages and others. Christianity is the main religion of American Samoa and other religions are Baha’i, Mahanugan, Chinese Universalist, agnostic and Buddhist.

There are lots of thing to see and experience for the tourists in American Samoa. The island consists of pacific bays, beaches, coasts, peaceful reefs and mountain ridges. The villages of American Samoa are worth seeing as they are the best examples of scenic beauty. The most famous tourist spot of the island is Pago Pago situated in Tutuila. Pago Pago is located on the harbor situated in forested mountains which has a calm atmosphere of village and marketplace. Manu’a Islands is great tourist sport consist of three other islands such as Ofu, Ta’u and Olosega. Here the travelers can see inactive volcanic cones, lagoons, sea bird colonies on the cliffs and beaches.

Mount Alava is another picturesque and popular destination where scenic views of harbor are possible. Harbor is the volcanic crater that existed long back. National Park of American Samoa is situated in the Tutuila Island and the tourists are offered with activities like hiking, swimming and diving. The park also consists of coral reef, waterfalls, a serene village known as Vatia, tropical animals and birds. The tropical charm of American Samoa is not lost even after the destruction of tsunami in 2009.