AMERICAN SAMOA

officially Territory of American Samoa unincorporated territory of the United States, consisting of the eastern part of the Samoan archipelago. It is located in the central Pacific Ocean, about 1,600 miles (2,600 kilometres) northeast of New Zealand and 2,200 miles southwest of the Hawaiian Islands. The territory, which is part of Polynesia, includes the six Samoan islands east of the 171 W meridian. Samoa (formerly Western Samoa), its closest neighbour and a self-governing nation, consists of the nine Samoan islands west of the meridian. American Samoa, with a total land area of 77 square miles (199 square kilometres), includes the inhabited islands of Tutuila, Tau, Olosega, Ofu, and Aunuu and an uninhabited coral atoll named Rose Island. Swains Island (inhabited), a coral atoll 280 miles northwest of Tutuila and geographically not a part of the archipelago, was made a part of American Samoa in 1925. The capital of American Samoa is Pago Pago, on Tutuila. officially Territory of American Samoa unincorporated territory of the United States in the central Pacific Ocean. It comprises the eastern Samoan islands of Tutuila, Aunuu (Aunu'u), and Rose; three islands (Tau , Olosega, and Ofu) of the Manua (Manu'a) group; and Swains Island. The territorial capital is Pago Pago, located on Tutuila. Area 77 square miles (199 square km). Pop. (1995 est.) 57,000. Additional reading Lowell D. Holmes, Samoan Village (1974); Margaret Mead, Coming of Age in Samoa: A Psychological Study of Primitive Youth for Western Civilization (1928), available also in later editions; and Derek Freeman, Margaret Mead and Samoa: The Making and Unmaking of an Anthropological Myth (1983), explore the traditional heritage and its interpretations. See also Paul T. Baker, Joel M. Hanna, and Thelma S. Baker (eds.), The Changing Samoans: Behavior and Health in Transition (1986); George Turner, Samoa, a Hundred Years Ago and Long Before (1884, reprinted 1984); J.W. Davidson, Samoa mo Samoa: The Emergence of the Independent State of Western Samoa (1967); and R.P. Gilson, Samoa 1830 to 1900: The Politics of a Multi-Cultural Community (1970). A modern survey is offered in Fred Henry, Samoa, an Early History (1980). For further research, see Lowell D. Holmes (comp.), Samoan Islands Bibliography (1984). The best sources for a discussion of the political development of Western Samoa include Malama Meleisea and Penelope Schoeffel Meleisea (ed.), Lagaga: A Short History of Western Samoa (1987); and Malama Meleisea, The Making of Modern Samoa (1987). History The Samoan islands were settled by Polynesians (probably from Tonga) in about 1000 BC. By about AD 200 Samoa had become the centre of much of the settlement of Eastern Polynesia. The Dutch navigator Jacob Roggeveen sighted Samoa in 1722, and other European explorers, beachcombers, and traders followed. The London Missionary Society sent its first missionaries to the islands in the 1830s. More missionaries traveled to the islands as missionary influence spread to Tutuila and later the Manua Islands. In 1878 the United States signed a treaty for the establishment of a naval station in Pago Pago Harbor, and in 1899 eastern Samoa was annexed by the United States. By 1904 the eastern islands had all been ceded to the United States, but the U.S. Congress did not formally accept the deeds of cession until Feb. 20, 1929. Under the administration of the U.S. Navy (190051) American Samoa became a strategic naval base, but the Samoan leaders had little administrative power. In 1951 control of the territory was transferred to the Department of the Interior. The U.S. government appointed a governor who had full powers to administer the territory. He appointed political advisers and senior civil servants from the United States to help him. The Samoans agitated for control of their country's affairs, and in 1977 Peter Coleman, a Samoan, became the territory's first elected governor. Since then, all members of the territory's House of Representatives have been elected by the citizens. Except for defense, the governor and the Fono run American Samoa's affairs. American Samoans are U.S. nationals and can move freely between their country and the United States. Albert Wendt