Do you know about Samoa?
The American Samoa flag is blue, with a white
triangle edged in red, based on the outer side, extending to the hoist
side. A brown and white American bald eagle facing the hoist side
carries a staff and a war club, traditional Samoan symbols of authority.
American Samoa, unincorporated territory of the United States, formed by
a group of seven islands in the southern Pacific Ocean. Most of the
islands are mountainous and of volcanic origin. The total area is 200 sq
km (77 sq mi). Pago Pago is the seat of government. Population and
Education American Samoa's population is 55,223 (1994 estimate). The
Samoans are a branch of the Polynesian people. They speak one of the
oldest forms of Polynesian used today, and most people also speak
English.
The majority of Samoans are Christians. Education is free and compulsory
for all children between the ages of 6 and 18. Economy and Government
Agriculture is a principal occupation, and tuna fishing and tourism are
major industries. The economy, however, is largely dependent on grants
and appropriations from the Congress of the United States. Samoans are
U.S. nationals, and their constitution contains most of the guarantees
of the U.S. Bill of Rights. The islands are administered by the U.S.
Department of the Interior. Executive authority lies with the governor.
The legislature consists of an 18-member senate and a 20-member house of
representatives.
History Ethnologists believe that two waves of immigrants populated
Samoa. The first group probably originated in southwestern Asia, and the
later migration displaced the original Samoans, who then colonized the
more easterly Polynesian islands. In 1722 Dutch navigator Jacob
Roggeveen became the first European to visit the islands. During the
19th century, Germany, Great Britain, and the United States established
commercial posts on the islands.
In
1878 the United States annexed Pago Pago for use as a naval coaling
station. In 1899, during a civil war on the islands, the United States
and Great Britain formed an alliance against Germany, and a treaty later
that year divided the islands among the three powers. Germany received
the islands that eventually became the independent nation of Samoa
(formerly Western Samoa). Great Britain received the Solomon Islands and
Tonga. Other islands fell under U.S. sovereignty. In the early 20th
century, the United States annexed other islands to American Samoa.
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