Region: Oceania

Capital: Pago Pago

Population: 57,496 (July 2008 est.)

Surface area: 199 sq km

Currency: US dollar (USD)

GDP per capita: Purchasing power parity US $5,800 (2005 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:
American Samoa has 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 commerce. 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.
note: as a territory of the US, American Samoa does not treat the US as an external trade partner

Major Export Commodities: canned tuna 93% (2004 est.)

Remittances: Not available

Human Development Index 2007/2008 ranking: Not ranked

Official Development Assistance and Major Development Partners: important financial support from the US, more than $40 million in 1994.

Total External Debt: Not available

Sources:

CIA World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency. www.cia.gov 

World Development Indicators. World Bank www.worldbank.org

Development, Recipient Aid Charts. Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. www.oecd.org

Human Development Report 2007/2008.United Nations Development Programme. www.undp.org

Updated June 2008