Region:
Oceania
Capital:
Pago Pago
Population:
57,902 (July
2004 est.)
Surface
area:
199 sq km
Currency:
US dollar (USD)
GDP
per capita:
Purchasing Power
Parity - $8,000
(2000 est.)
Background:
Settled as early
as 1000 B.C.,
Samoa was "discovered"
by European explorers
in the 18th century.
International
rivalries in
the latter half
of the 19th century
were settled
by an 1899 treaty
in which Germany
and the US divided
the Samoan archipelago.
The US formally
occupied its
portion - a smaller
group of eastern
islands with
the excellent
harbor of Pago
Pago - the following
year.
Economy
– overview:
This is a traditional
Polynesian economy
in which more
than 90% of the
land is communally
owned. Economic
activity is strongly
linked to the
US, with which
American Samoa
conducts most
of its foreign
trade. Tuna fishing
and tuna processing
plants are the
backbone of the
private sector,
with canned tuna
the primary export.
Transfers from
the US Government
add substantially
to American Samoa's
economic well-being.
Attempts by the
government to
develop a larger
and broader economy
are restrained
by Samoa's remote
location, its
limited transportation,
and its devastating
hurricanes. Tourism,
a developing
sector, has been
held back by
the recurring
financial difficulties
in East Asia.
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