Pago Pago, American Samoa

Pago Pago
Pago Pago Harbor
Pago Pago Harbor
Nicknames: 
O le Maputasi ("The Single Chief's House")
Pago Pago is located in central American Samoa
Pago Pago
Pago Pago
Pago Pago is located in American Samoa
Pago Pago
Pago Pago
Coordinates: 14°16′46″S 170°42′02″W / 14.27944°S 170.70056°W / -14.27944; -170.70056
Country United States
Territory American Samoa
IslandTutuila
DistrictEastern
CountyMaoputasi
Became Capital1899
Government
 • BodyVillage Council
 • MayorPulu Ae Ae
Area
 • Total
8.85 km2 (3.42 sq mi)
Elevation
9 m (30 ft)
Population
 (2020)
 • Total
3,000
 • Density412.5/km2 (1,068/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC−11 (Samoa Time Zone)
ZIP code
96799[1]
Area code+1 684
ClimateAf
GNIS feature ID1389119[2]
Websitewww.pagopago.com

Pago Pago (/ˈpɑːŋɡɔːˈpɑːŋɡɔː/ PAHNG-gaw-PAHNG-gaw; Samoan: Samoan pronunciation: [ˈpaŋo ˈpaŋo])[3] is the capital of American Samoa. It is in Maoputasi County on Tutuila, the main island of American Samoa.

Pago Pago is home to one of the deepest natural deepwater harbors in the South Pacific Ocean, sheltered from wind and rough seas, and strategically located.[4][5]: 52 [6]: 12  The harbor is also one of the best protected in the South Pacific,[7]: 11  which gives American Samoa a natural advantage because it makes landing fish for processing easier.[7]: 61  Tourism, entertainment, food, and tuna canning are its main industries. As of 1993, Pago Pago was the world's fourth-largest tuna processor.[8]: 353  In 2009, the total value of fish landed in Pago Pago — about $200,000,000 annually — is higher than in any other port in any U.S. state or territory.[9] It is home to the largest tuna cannery in the world.[10][11][12]

Pago Pago is the only modern urban center in American Samoa[6]: 29 [13] and the main port of American Samoa.[14][15][16] It is also home to the territorial government, all the industry, and most of the commerce in American Samoa.[17]: 166  The Greater Pago Pago Metropolitan Area encompasses several villages strung together along Pago Pago Harbor.[18][19] One of the villages is itself named Pago Pago, and in 2010, that village had a population of 3,656. The constituent villages are: Utulei, Fagatogo, Malaloa, Pago Pago, Satala and Atu'u. Fagatogo is the downtown area, referred to as "town", and is home to the legislature, while the executive seat is in Utulei. Also in Fagatogo are the Fono, police department, the Port of Pago Pago, and many shops and hotels. In 2000, the Greater Pago Pago area was home to 8,000 residents;[20] by 2010 the population had increased to 15,000.[21]

Rainmaker Mountain (Mount Pioa), located in Pago Pago, contributes to a weather pattern that results in the city having the highest annual rainfall of any harbor in the world.[22][23][24] It stands protectively over the eastern side of Pago Pago, making the harbor one of the most sheltered deepwater anchorages in the Pacific Ocean.[25]: 3 

Historically, the strategic location of Pago Pago Bay played a direct role in the political separation of Western and Eastern Samoa. The initial reason that the U.S. was interested in Tutuila was its desire to use Pago Pago Harbor as a coaling station.[26]: 30–31  The town has the distinction of being the southernmost U.S. capital, and the only one located in the Southern Hemisphere.

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  2. ^ "Geographic Names Information System". United States Geological Survey. Archived from the original on July 14, 2012. Retrieved January 31, 2008.
  3. ^ Harris, Ann G. and Esther Tuttle (2004). Geology of National Parks. Kendall Hunt. Page 604. ISBN 9780787299705.
  4. ^ United States Central Intelligence Agency (2016). The World Factbook 2016–17. Government Printing Office. Page 19. ISBN 9780160933271.
  5. ^ Grabowski, John F. (1992). U.S. Territories and Possessions (State Report Series). Chelsea House Pub. ISBN 9780791010532.
  6. ^ a b Kristen, Katherine (1999). Pacific Islands (Portrait of America). San Val. ISBN 9780613032421.
  7. ^ a b Leonard, Barry (2009). Minimum Wage in American Samoa 2007: Economic Report. Diane Publishing. ISBN 9781437914252.
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  9. ^ "NATURAL HISTORY GUIDE TO AMERICAN SAMOA" (PDF). National Park Service. 2009. p. 48. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-02-24. Retrieved 3 September 2022.
  10. ^ Hamel, Jean-Francois (2018). World Seas: An Environmental Evaluation. Volume II: The Indian Ocean to the Pacific. Academic Press. Page 636. ISBN 9780128052037.
  11. ^ Chi, Sang and Emily Moberg Robinson (2012). Voices of the Asian American and Pacific Islander Experience. ABC-CLIO. Page 54. ISBN 9781598843552.
  12. ^ U.S. Government Printing Office (2010). Impact of Increased Minimum Wage of [i.e. On] American Samoa and CNMI. Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Page 13. ISBN 9780160813726.
  13. ^ United States. Army. Corps of Engineers. Pacific Ocean Division (1975). Water Resources Development by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in American Samoa, 1975. Division Engineer, U.S. Army Engineer Division, Pacific Ocean, Corps of Engineers. Page 36.
  14. ^ Carter, John (1984). Pacific Islands Yearbook 1981. Pacific Publications Pty, Limited. Page 49. ISBN 9780858070493.
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  16. ^ C. Balme (2006). Pacific Performances: Theatrically and Cross-Cultural Encounter in the South Seas. Springer. Page 156. ISBN 9780230599536.
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  18. ^ "Raiders draft Shalom Luani". 30 April 2017.
  19. ^ Mack, Doug (2017). The Not-Quite States of America: Dispatches From the Territories and Other Far-Flung Outposts of the USA. W.W. Norton & Company. Page 62. ISBN 9780393247602.
  20. ^ Lal, Brij V. and Kate Fortune (2000). The Pacific Islands: An Encyclopedia, Volume 1. University of Hawaii Press. Page 101. ISBN 9780824822651.
  21. ^ Sparks, Karen Jacobs (2010). Britannica Book of the Year 2010. Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc. Page 509. ISBN 9781615353668.
  22. ^ Atkinson, Brett and Charles Rawlings-Way (2016). Lonely Planet Rarotonga, Samoa & Tonga (Travel Guide). Lonely Planet. Page 147. ISBN 9781786572172.
  23. ^ "Rainmaker Mountain in Tutuila". Lonely Planet. Archived from the original on October 19, 2017. Retrieved November 28, 2017.
  24. ^ "American Samoa Is The Empty Slice Of Bliss You've Been Craving". huffingtonpost.com. 5 September 2014. Archived from the original on September 10, 2017. Retrieved November 28, 2017.
  25. ^ Sunia, Fofo I.F. (2009). A History of American Samoa. Amerika Samoa Humanities Council. ISBN 9781573062992.
  26. ^ Shaffer, Robert J. (2000). American Samoa: 100 Years Under the United States Flag. Island Heritage. ISBN 9780896103399.