Arctic Ocean (2001) | American Samoa (2004) | |
Administrative divisions | - | none (territory of the US); there are no first-order administrative divisions as defined by the US Government, but there are three districts and two islands* at the second order; Eastern, Manu'a, Rose Island*, Swains Island*, Western |
Age structure | - | 0-14 years: 36.6% (male 10,983; female 10,208)
15-64 years: 60.3% (male 18,010; female 16,933) 65 years and over: 3.1% (male 699; female 1,069) (2004 est.) |
Agriculture - products | - | bananas, coconuts, vegetables, taro, breadfruit, yams, copra, pineapples, papayas; dairy products, livestock |
Airports | - | 3 (2003 est.) |
Airports - with paved runways | - | total: 2
2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 under 914 m: 1 (2004 est.) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | - | total: 1
under 914 m: 1 (2004 est.) |
Area | total:
14.056 million sq km note: includes Baffin Bay, Barents Sea, Beaufort Sea, Chukchi Sea, East Siberian Sea, Greenland Sea, Hudson Bay, Hudson Strait, Kara Sea, Laptev Sea, Northwest Passage, and other tributary water bodies |
total: 199 sq km
land: 199 sq km water: 0 sq km note: includes Rose Island and Swains Island |
Area - comparative | slightly less than 1.5 times the size of the US | slightly larger than Washington, DC |
Background | The Arctic Ocean is the smallest of the world's five oceans (after the Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, Indian Ocean, and the recently delimited Southern Ocean). The Northwest Passage (US and Canada) and Northern Sea Route (Norway and Russia) are two important seasonal waterways. A sparse network of air, ocean, river, and land routes circumscribes the Arctic Ocean. | 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. |
Birth rate | - | 24.46 births/1,000 population (2004 est.) |
Budget | - | revenues: $121 million (37% in local revenue and 63% in US grants)
expenditures: $127 million, including capital expenditures of NA (FY96/97) |
Capital | - | Pago Pago |
Climate | polar climate characterized by persistent cold and relatively narrow annual temperature ranges; winters characterized by continuous darkness, cold and stable weather conditions, and clear skies; summers characterized by continuous daylight, damp and foggy weather, and weak cyclones with rain or snow | tropical marine, moderated by southeast trade winds; annual rainfall averages about 3 m; rainy season from November to April, dry season from May to October; little seasonal temperature variation |
Coastline | 45,389 km | 116 km |
Constitution | - | ratified 1966, in effect 1967 |
Country name | - | conventional long form: Territory of American Samoa
conventional short form: American Samoa abbreviation: AS |
Currency | - | US dollar (USD) |
Death rate | - | 3.39 deaths/1,000 population (2004 est.) |
Debt - external | - | NA (2002 est.) |
Dependency status | - | unincorporated and unorganized territory of the US; administered by the Office of Insular Affairs, US Department of the Interior |
Diplomatic representation from the US | - | none (territory of the US) |
Diplomatic representation in the US | - | none (territory of the US) |
Disputes - international | some maritime disputes (see littoral states) | none |
Economic aid - recipient | - | important financial support from the US, more than $40 million in 1994 |
Economy - overview | Economic activity is limited to the exploitation of natural resources, including petroleum, natural gas, fish, and seals. | 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 is a promising developing sector. |
Electricity - consumption | - | 120.9 million kWh (2001) |
Electricity - exports | - | 0 kWh (2001) |
Electricity - imports | - | 0 kWh (2001) |
Electricity - production | - | 130 million kWh (2001) |
Elevation extremes | lowest point:
Fram Basin -4,665 m highest point: sea level 0 m |
lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m
highest point: Lata 966 m |
Environment - current issues | endangered marine species include walruses and whales; fragile ecosystem slow to change and slow to recover from disruptions or damage; thinning polar icepack | limited natural fresh water resources; the water division of the government has spent substantial funds in the past few years to improve water catchments and pipelines |
Ethnic groups | - | Samoan (Polynesian) 89%, Caucasian 2%, Tongan 4%, other 5% |
Exchange rates | - | the US dollar is used |
Executive branch | - | chief of state: President George W. BUSH of the US (since 20 January 2001) and Vice President Richard B. CHENEY (since 20 January 2001)
head of government: Governor Togiola TULAFONO (since 7 April 2003) cabinet: NA elections: US president and vice president elected on the same ticket for four-year terms; governor and lieutenant governor elected on the same ticket by popular vote for four-year terms; election last held 2 and 16 November 2004 (next to be held November 2008) election results: Togiola TULAFONO elected governor; percent of vote: Togiola TULAFONO 55.7%, Afoa Moega LUTU 44.3% |
Exports | - | NA (2001) |
Exports - commodities | - | canned tuna 93% |
Exports - partners | - | Samoa 33.3%, Japan 22.2%, Australia 11.1%, Canada 11.1%, New Zealand 11.1% (2003) |
Fiscal year | - | 1 October - 30 September |
Flag description | - | blue, with a white triangle edged in red that is based on the outer side and extends to the hoist side; a brown and white American bald eagle flying toward the hoist side is carrying two traditional Samoan symbols of authority, a staff and a war club |
GDP | - | purchasing power parity - $500 million (2000 est.) |
GDP - composition by sector | - | agriculture: NA
industry: NA services: NA |
GDP - per capita | - | purchasing power parity - $8,000 (2000 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | - | NA |
Geographic coordinates | 90 00 N, 0 00 E | 14 20 S, 170 00 W |
Geography - note | major chokepoint is the southern Chukchi Sea (northern access to the Pacific Ocean via the Bering Strait); strategic location between North America and Russia; shortest marine link between the extremes of eastern and western Russia; floating research stations operated by the US and Russia; maximum snow cover in March or April about 20 to 50 centimeters over the frozen ocean; snow cover lasts about 10 months | Pago Pago has one of the best natural deepwater harbors in the South Pacific Ocean, sheltered by shape from rough seas and protected by peripheral mountains from high winds; strategic location in the South Pacific Ocean |
Highways | - | total: 350 km
paved: 150 km unpaved: 200 km |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | - | lowest 10%: NA
highest 10%: NA |
Imports | - | NA (2001) |
Imports - commodities | - | materials for canneries 56%, food 8%, petroleum products 7%, machinery and parts 6% |
Imports - partners | - | Australia 33.3%, New Zealand 33.3%, Mauritius 9%, Japan 5.1%, South Korea 5.1%, UK 5.1% (2003) |
Independence | - | none (territory of the US) |
Industrial production growth rate | - | NA |
Industries | - | tuna canneries (largely supplied by foreign fishing vessels), handicrafts |
Infant mortality rate | - | total: 9.48 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 10.06 deaths/1,000 live births female: 8.86 deaths/1,000 live births (2004 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | - | NA (2003 est.) |
International organization participation | - | Interpol (subbureau), IOC, UPU |
Irrigated land | - | NA sq km |
Judicial branch | - | High Court (chief justice and associate justices are appointed by the US Secretary of the Interior) |
Labor force | - | 14,000 (1996) |
Labor force - by occupation | - | tuna canneries 34%, government 33%, other 33% (1990) |
Land boundaries | - | 0 km |
Land use | - | arable land: 10%
permanent crops: 15% other: 75% (2001) |
Languages | - | Samoan (closely related to Hawaiian and other Polynesian languages), English
note: most people are bilingual |
Legal system | - | NA |
Legislative branch | - | bicameral Fono or Legislative Assembly consists of the House of Representatives (21 seats - 20 of which are elected by popular vote and 1 is an appointed, nonvoting delegate from Swains Island; members serve two-year terms) and the Senate (18 seats; members are elected from local chiefs and serve four-year terms)
elections: House of Representatives - last held 7 November 2002 (next to be held 2 November 2004); Senate - last held 7 November 2000 (next to be held 2 November 2004) election results: House of Representatives - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - NA; Senate - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - independents 18 note: American Samoa elects one nonvoting representative to the US House of Representatives; election last held 7 November 2002 (next to be held 2 November 2004); results - Eni F. H. FALEOMAVAEGA (Democrat) reelected as delegate |
Life expectancy at birth | - | total population: 75.62 years
male: 72.05 years female: 79.41 years (2004 est.) |
Literacy | - | definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 97% male: 98% female: 97% (1980 est.) |
Location | body of water between Europe, Asia, and North America, mostly north of the Arctic Circle | Oceania, group of islands in the South Pacific Ocean, about half way between Hawaii and New Zealand |
Map references | Arctic Region | Oceania |
Maritime claims | - | territorial sea: 12 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm |
Merchant marine | - | none |
Military - note | - | defense is the responsibility of the US |
National holiday | - | Flag Day, 17 April (1900) |
Nationality | - | noun: American Samoan(s)
adjective: American Samoan |
Natural hazards | ice islands occasionally break away from northern Ellesmere Island; icebergs calved from glaciers in western Greenland and extreme northeastern Canada; permafrost in islands; virtually ice locked from October to June; ships subject to superstructure icing from October to May | typhoons common from December to March |
Natural resources | sand and gravel aggregates, placer deposits, polymetallic nodules, oil and gas fields, fish, marine mammals (seals and whales) | pumice, pumicite |
Net migration rate | - | -20.71 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2004 est.) |
Political parties and leaders | - | Democratic Party [leader NA]; Republican Party [leader NA] |
Political pressure groups and leaders | - | NA |
Population | - | 57,902 (July 2004 est.) |
Population below poverty line | - | NA |
Population growth rate | - | 0.04% (2004 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Churchill (Canada), Murmansk (Russia), Prudhoe Bay (US) | Aunu'u (new construction), Auasi, Faleosao, Ofu, Pago Pago, Ta'u |
Radio broadcast stations | - | AM 1, FM 1, shortwave 0 (2004) |
Religions | - | Christian Congregationalist 50%, Roman Catholic 20%, Protestant and other 30% |
Sex ratio | - | at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.08 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.06 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.65 male(s)/female total population: 1.05 male(s)/female (2004 est.) |
Suffrage | - | 18 years of age; universal |
Telephone system | - | general assessment: NA
domestic: good telex, telegraph, facsimile and cellular telephone services; domestic satellite system with 1 Comsat earth station international: country code - 1-684; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Pacific Ocean) |
Telephones - main lines in use | - | 15,000 (2001) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | - | 2,377 (1999) |
Television broadcast stations | - | 1 (2004) |
Terrain | central surface covered by a perennial drifting polar icepack that averages about 3 meters in thickness, although pressure ridges may be three times that size; clockwise drift pattern in the Beaufort Gyral Stream, but nearly straight-line movement from the New Siberian Islands (Russia) to Denmark Strait (between Greenland and Iceland); the icepack is surrounded by open seas during the summer, but more than doubles in size during the winter and extends to the encircling landmasses; the ocean floor is about 50% continental shelf (highest percentage of any ocean) with the remainder a central basin interrupted by three submarine ridges (Alpha Cordillera, Nansen Cordillera, and Lomonosov Ridge) | five volcanic islands with rugged peaks and limited coastal plains, two coral atolls (Rose Island, Swains Island) |
Total fertility rate | - | 3.41 children born/woman (2004 est.) |
Unemployment rate | - | 6% (2000) |