American Samoa
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- 1872 League of Tutuila Flag
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- Adopted 17 Apr 1900
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- Adopted 27 Apr 1960
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Map
of American Samoa
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Hear
National Anthem
"The Star Spangled Banner"
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Hear
Local Anthem
"Amerika Sāmoa"
(American Samoa)
Adopted 1950
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Constitution
(1 Jul 1967)
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Capital:
Pago Pago
Seat of Government:
Fagatogo
(from 1 Jul 1967)
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Currency:
U.S. Dollar
(USD)
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National
Holiday: 4 Jul (1776)
U.S. Independence Day
(Aso Tuto'atasi o Amerika)
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Local Holiday: 17
April (1900)
Aso o le Fu'a (Flag Day)
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Population:
43,895
(2024) |
GDP: $871
million (2022)
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Exports:
$409 million (2022)
Imports: $677
million (2022)
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Ethnic Groups:
Pacific Islander 88.7% (includes
Samoan 83.2%, Tongan 2.2%, other
3.3%), Asian 5.8% (includes Filipino
3.4%, other 2.4%), mixed 4.4%, other
1.1% (2020)
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Total Active
Police Forces: 200 (2012)
Defense is the
Responsibility of the U.S.
Merchant Marine:
None (2024)
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Religions:
Christian 98% (incl. Protestant 76.02%,
Roman
Catholic 28.99%, independent 38.95%,
unaffiliated Christian 0.72%),
non-religious 0.88%, Agnostic 0.87%,
Chinese folk-religionist 0.42%, Baha'i
0.37%, Buddhist
0.34%, others 0.01% (2020)
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International
Organizations/Treaties:
AOSIS (observer), Interpol (subbureau),
IOC, PC, PIF (associate), UPU |
American
Samoa Index
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Chronology
13 Jun
1722
Samoa sighted by Dutch Capt. Jacob
Roggeveen,
Rose Atoll is named Vuyle Eilandt
(Foul Island,
often mistranslated as Bird Island).
5 May
1768
Re-visited by French Capt. Louis
Antoine de
Bougainville, named L'Archipel des
Navigateurs
(Archipelago of the Navigators).
6 Dec
1787
French Capt. Jean-François
de Galaup, comte de
Lapérouse visits, Samoans attack a
group of
his men killing 12 in Tutuila.
21 Oct
1819
French Capt. Louis de Freycinet
re-sights, renames
Vuyle
Eylandt as L'Ile
Rose after his wife.
7 Oct - 10 Nov
1839
Samoa Islands visited by U.S. Capt.
Charles Wilkes
and his exploring expedition.
2 Nov
1871
New Zealand government recommends
British
annexation of the Samoa Islands.
2 Mar
1872
U.S. Commander Richard Meade on U.S.S.
Narragansett
signs a treaty ("Commercial
Regulations, etc.")
granting the United States a coaling station
in
Pago
Pago (not ratified by Congress).
13 Feb
1878
U.S. Treaty of Friendship and Commerce
with Tutuila
and Aunu'u Islands
proclaimed (ratified 11 Feb
1878, signed 17 Jan 1878).
7 Nov
1889
Tripartite German-U.K.-U.S.
protectorate over Samoa
(effected 21 May 1890)(see under Samoa).
17 Feb
1900
Occupied
by U.S.
17 Feb 1900 - 30 Jun 1951
Administered by the U.S. Navy.
17 Apr
1900
Tutuila and Aunu'u Islands officially
ceded to
United
States by local chiefs (American
Samoa).
16 Jul
1904
Manu'a Islands (Manu'a, Ofu, Ta'u,
etc.) and
Rose Atoll ceded to United States.
2 Apr
1909
The Tui Manu`a lineage
becomes extinct.
17 Jul
1911
U.S. Naval Station Tutuila renamed
American Samoa.
4 Mar
1925
Swains Island annexed by U.S.
20 Feb
1929
U.S. Congress formally accepts the
cession of
Tutuila and Manu'a by their chiefs,
with
retroactive effect to 16 Jul 1904 (Territory
of
American Samoa).
11 Jul
1942
Japanese submarine I-20 shells U.S.
Naval Station
Tutuila.
1 Jul
1951
Administered by U.S. Department of
Interior.
22 Apr
1960
Autonomy (American Samoa [Amerika
Sāmoa]).
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Swains Island
(1856-1958)
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Paramount chiefs (title Tui
Manu`a)
c.1828
Taalolomana Fanaese
c.1836
Tauveve
c.1888
Tauilima Alalamua
1 Jul 1891 - 29 Oct 1895 Matelita
(f)
(b. 1872? - d. 1895)
1899 - 2 Apr
1909
Elisara
(b. 18.. - d. 1909)
Commandants U.S. Naval Station, Tutuila
17 Feb 1900 - 27 Nov 1901 Benjamin
Franklin
Tilley
(b. 1848 - d. 1907)
27 Nov 1901 - 16 Dec 1902 Uriel
Sebree
(b. 1848 - d. 1922)
16 Dec 1902 - 5 May 1903 Henry
Minett
(acting)
(b. 1857 - d. 1952)
5 May 1903 - 30 Jan 1905 Edmund
Beardsley Underwood (b. 1853
- d. 1928)
Governors
30 Jan 1905 - 21 May 1908 Charles
Brainard Taylor Moore (b.
1853 - d. 1923)
21 May 1908 - 10 Nov 1910 John Frederick
Parker
(b. 1853 - d. 1911)
10 Nov 1910 - 14 Mar 1913 William Michael
Crose
(b. 1867 - d. 1929)
14 Mar 1913 - 14 Jul 1913 Nathan
Woodworth Post (1st time) (b. 1881 - d.
1938)
(acting)
14 Jul 1913 - 2 Oct 1914 Clark
Daniel
Stearns
(b. 1870 - d. 1944)
2 Oct 1914 - 6 Dec 1914
Nathan Woodworth Post (2nd time)
(s.a.)
(acting)
6 Dec 1914 - 1 Mar 1915
Charles Armijo Woodruff (acting) (b. 1884 -
d. 1945)
1 Mar 1915 - 10 Jun 1919 John
Martin
Poyer
(b. 1861 - d. 1922)
10 Jun 1919 - 3 Nov 1920 Warren Jay
Terhune
(b. 1869 - d. 1920)
3 Nov 1920 - 11 Nov 1920 Arthur
Clifton Kail (acting) (b. 1874 - d.
1953)
11 Nov 1920 - 1 Mar 1922 Waldo
Evans
(b.
1869 - d. 1936)
1 Mar 1922 - 4 Sep 1923 Edwin
Taylor
Pollock
(b. 1870 - d. 1943)
4 Sep 1923 - 17 Mar 1925 Edward
Stanley
Kellogg
(b. 1870 - d. 1948)
17 Mar 1925 - 9 Sep 1927 Henry
Francis
Bryan
(b. 1865 - d. 1944)
9 Sep 1927 - 2 Aug 1929
Stephen Victor
Graham
(b. 1874 - d. 1955)
2 Aug 1929 - 3 Apr 1931
Gatewood Sanders
Lincoln
(b. 1875 - d. 1957)
(1st time)
3 Apr 1931 - 22 Apr 1931 James
Sutherland Spore (acting) (b. 1885 -
d. 1937)
23 Apr 1931 - 18 Jul 1931 Arthur Tenney
Emerson (acting) (b. 1893 - d. 1975)
18 Jul 1931 - 8 Jul 1932 Gatewood
Sanders
Lincoln
(s.a.)
(2nd time)
8 Jul 1932 - 10 Apr 1934 George
Bertram
Landenberger
(b. 1879 - d. 1936)
10 Apr 1934 - 14 Apr 1934 Thomas Calloway
Latimore (acting) (b. 1890 - d. 1941)
14 Apr 1934 - 15 Jan 1936 Otto Carl
Dowling
(b. 1881 - d. 1946)
15 Jan 1936 - 20 Jan 1936 Thomas Benjamin
Fitzpatrick
(b. 1896 - d. 1974)
(acting)
20 Jan 1936 - 3 Jun 1938
MacGillivray
Milne
(b. 1882 - d. 1959)
3 Jun 1938 - 6 Jun 1938 Joseph Collins
Van Cleve (acting) (b. 1900 - d. 1941)
6 Jun 1938 - 30 Jul 1940 Edward
William
Hanson
(b. 1889 - d. 1959)
30 Jul 1940 - 9 Aug 1940 Jesse Rink
Wallace
(acting) (b.
1899 - d. 1961)
9 Aug 1940 - 5 Jun 1942
Laurence
Wild
(b. 1890 - d. 1971)
17 Jan 1942 - 25 Apr 1942 Henry Louis
Larsen
(b. 1890 - d. 1962)
(military governor)
28 Apr 1942 - 1 May 1944 Charles
Frederick Berthold Price (b. 1881 - d. 1954)
(military commander Defense Force, Samoan Group)
6 Jun 1942 - 8 Feb 1944 John Gould
Moyer
(b. 1893 - d. 1976)
8 Feb 1944 - 27 Jan 1945 Allen
Hobbs
(b. 1899 - d. 1960)
27 Jan 1945 - 3 Sep 1945 Ralph
Waldo
Hungerford
(b. 1896 - d. 1977)
3 Sep 1945 - 10 Sep 1945 Samuel
Wakefield Canan (acting) (b. 1898 - d.
1964)
10 Sep 1945 - 22 Apr 1947 Harold
Alexander
Houser
(b. 1897 - d. 1981)
22 Apr 1947 - 15 Jun 1949 Vernon
Huber
(b. 1899 - d. 1967)
15 Jun 1949 - 7 Jul 1949 ....
(acting)
7 Jul 1949 - 23 Feb 1951 Thomas Francis
Darden,
Jr. (b.
1900 - d. 1961)
23 Feb 1951 - 30 Jun 1952 Phelps
Phelps
(b. 1897 - d. 1981) Dem
8 Apr 1952 - 1 Dec 1952 John Chauncey
Elliott
(b. 1919 - d. 2001) Dem
(acting [for Phelps to 30 Jun 1952] to 16 Jul 1952)
25 Nov 1952 - 26 Dec 1953 Arthur Albert
Morrow
(b. 1893 - d. 1985) Dem
(acting for Elliott)
26 Dec 1952 - 4 Mar 1953 James
Arthur Ewing
(b. 1916 - d. 1996) Dem
9 Jan 1953 - 1953
James Reeve Dean (acting for
Ewing)(b. 1891 - d. 1960) Rep?
1953 - 17 Apr
1953
Leland "Lee" Park Draney (1st time)(b. 1902 - d.
1988) Rep
(acting [for Ewing to 4 Mar 1953])
17 Apr 1953 - 5 Aug 1953 Lawrence McCully
Judd
(b. 1887 - d. 1968) Rep
23 May 1953 - 12 Nov 1953 Leland "Lee"
Park Draney (2nd time)(s.a.)
Rep
(acting [for Judd to 5 Aug 1953])
12 Nov 1953 - 15 Oct 1956 Richard Barrett
Lowe
(b. 1902 - d. 1972) Rep
17 Oct 1956 - 24 May 1961 Peter Tali
Coleman (1st time) (b.
1919 - d. 1997) Rep
24 May 1961 - 31 Jul 1967 Hyrum Rex Lee
(1st
time)
(b. 1910 - d. 2001) Dem
17 Jul 1967 - 1 Aug 1967 M. Johnson
(acting)
1 Aug 1967 - 31 Jul 1969 Owen Stewart
Aspinall
(b. 1927 - d. 1997) Dem
1 Aug 1969 - 5 Aug 1969 .... (acting)
5 Aug 1969 - 14 Oct 1974 John Morse
Haydon
(b. 1920 - d. 1991) Rep
15 Oct 1974 - 24 Feb 1975 Frank Carpenter
Mockler (acting) (b. 1909 - d. 1993)
Rep
24 Feb 1975 - 30 Sep 1976 Earl
Baker
Ruth
(b. 1916 - d. 1989) Rep
1 Oct 1976 - 27 May 1977 Frank
Elliott Barnett
(b. 1933 - d. 2016) Dem
28 May 1977 - 3 Jan 1978 Hyrum Rex
Lee (2nd
time)
(s.a.)
Dem
3 Jan 1978 - 3 Jan 1985 Peter
Tali Coleman (2nd time)
(s.a.)
Rep
3 Jan 1985 - 2 Jan 1989
Lutali Aifili Paulo
Lauvao
(b. 1919 - d. 2002) Dem
(1st time)
2 Jan 1989 - 3 Jan 1993 Peter
Tali Coleman (3rd time)
(s.a.)
Rep
3 Jan 1993 - 3 Jan 1997
Lutali Aifili Paulo
Lauvao
(s.a.)
Dem
(2nd time)
3 Jan 1997 - 26 Mar 2003 Tauese
Pita Fiti
Sunia
(b. 1941 - d. 2003) Dem
26 Mar 2003 - 3 Jan 2013 Togiola
Talalelei A. Tulafono (b.
1947)
Dem
(acting to 7 Apr 2003)
3 Jan 2013 - 3 Jan 2021 Lolo Letalu
Matalasi Moliga (b. 1949)
Ind;2016 Dem
28 Feb 2019 - 16 Jul 2019 Lemanu Palepoi Sialega
Mauga (b.
1949)
Dem
(acting for Moliga)
3 Jan 2021 -
Lemanu Palepoi Sialega
Mauga
(s.a.)
Dem
Party abbreviations: Dem = Democratic
Party (liberal, center-left, est.1829); Ind =
Independent; Rep = Republican Party
(conservative, center-right, est.1854)
Territorial Dispute:
Tokelau included American Samoa's Swains Island (as
Olosega) in its 19 Feb 2006 draft independence
constitution.
Swains Island
c.1891 - 4 Mar 1925 Flag
Reconstruction
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2 Mar
1606
Discovered by Spanish Capt. Pedro Fernandes de Queirós
(b. 1563?
- d. 1615) who calls the island La
Peregrina (Handsome). The
Mission's historian calls it Isla
de la Gente Hermosa. Later
it is called Quiros Island.
1820
U.S. Capt. Jonathon Swain on ship Independence
from Nantucket,
re-sights what is later called Swains Island.
1 Feb
1841
Re-sighted by U.S. Capt. William H. Hudson aboard the Peacock
of U.S. Exploring Expedition
and named Swains Island.
13 Oct
1856
Semi-independent proprietary settlement founded by the American
Jennings
family on Quiros Island (often called "Jennings
Island").
1860
Swains Island filed under name "Quiros" as part of the
giant
Number 9 group of Alfred G. Benson's U.S.
Guano Company under
the Guano Act, but no evidence of guano ever being taken
from
there, nor that it was ever occupied under that act.
1907
Claimed by British Resident Commissioner of Gilbert and
Ellice
Islands (as part of Union [Tokelau]
Islands).
1909
Britain recognizes the U.S. claim
after a tax dispute (confirmed]
30 Jan 1918).
1913
Eli Jennings Jr. requests Swains be placed under U.S.
Navy.
4 Mar
1925
Annexed to American Samoa. On 13 May 1925, Lt.
Cmdr. C.D. Edgar of
U.S.S. Ontario
raises the U.S. flag on Swains Island.
11 May 1938 -
1945
U.S. maintains weather and plane tracking outpost on
Swains.
1958
American Samoa's
administration appoints the first government
agent (Piatala Afalava) to administer the island.
25 Mar
1981
New Zealand confirms U.S. sovereignty over Swains
Island.
3 Sep
1983
Treaty on the delimitation of the maritime boundary
between
Tokelau and the U.S. (signed 2 Dec 1980)
is ratified.
19 Feb 2006
Tokelau claims Swains in
its draft constitution as Olohega
Island.
Proprietors (managing owners)
13 Oct 1856
- 4 Dec 1878 Eli Hutchinson Jennings
(b. 1814 - d. 1878)
4 Dec 1878
- 25 Oct 1891 Malia Jennings (= Malia Su'a)(f)
(b. 18.. - d. 1891)
25 Oct 1891 - 24
Oct 1920 Eli Hutchinson Jennings,
Jr. (b. 1863 - d.
1920)
"King Jennings"
24 Oct 1920 - 13
Aug 1921 Annie Eliza Jennings Carruthers (f)(b.
1888 - d. 1921)
- jointly with -
24 Oct 1920 - 1958
Alexander Eli Jennings
(b. c.1896 - d. 1958)
© Ben Cahoon
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