It take me the great pleasure in presenting the Statistic Division Website of the Department of Commerce here in of American Samoa. The Statistic Division website present official summary of statistics on the social, economic, and political organizations of American Samoa. The information contained in this Yearbook provides a useful source of information for the local community, as well as leaders in government, business and civic organizations. We sincerely hope this publication will stimulate your interest in the social and economic future of our island. Please feel free to contact the Department of Commerce or the listed information contributors if you require additional information.

General Information about American Samoa

LOCATION

American Samoa consists of a group of seven islands located in the South Pacific at about 1700 degrees west and 140south. American Samoa is situated some 2,300 miles southwest of Hawaii and about 1,600 miles northeast of New Zealand. The nearest neighbors are Samoa, (to the west) 80 miles away, Tonga (to south-west) and Tokelau (to the north). Total land area is about 77 sq miles.Tutuila, the largest island in the group, extends 20 miles from east to west and is about 4 miles wide, with a land area of 150 sq km. The capital, Pago Pago, lies at the head of Pago Pago Bay, which almost bisects the island. Pago Pago harbor is the most naturally protected deep-water harbor in the Pacific. The small island of Aunu’u lies off the southeastern tip of Tutuila. The three Manu’a Islands, Ofu, Olosega and Ta’u, with a total land area of some 50 sq km, are situated about 100 km east of Tutuila. Rose Island, 300 km east of Tutuila is uninhabited and is preserved as a national wildlife refuge. Swain’s Island, which is privately owned, lies about 400 km north of Tutuila. Rose Island and Swain’s Island are both atolls.

PEOPLE

Although the exact date will probably never be determined, most archaeologists believed the first Polynesians settled in what is now American Samoa around 600 BC. By that time, Polynesians had established themselves on the eastern tip of Tutuila near the village of Tula. These first inhabitants probably arrived from Tonga and the Samoa’s from the west, perhaps by the way of Indonesia, the New Hebrides and Fiji. Samoa’s long isolation from the western world ended in 1722 when the Dutch explorer, Jacob Roggeveen, came upon the islands. It wasn’t until 1831, however, that European influence had any real impact. In that year, John Williams of the London Missionary Society arrived with eight Tahitian missionaries. Samoans took to Christianity with enthusiasm and remain deeply religious to this day.By the 1900 both Germany and the United States were claiming the Samoan Islands. Germany annexed several islands, which now comprise Western Samoa; the United States took Tutuila to use Pago Pago Bay as a coaling station for naval ships. As Japan began emerging as an international power in the mid-1930s, the United States Naval station on Tutuila began to acquire new strategic importance. By 1940, the American Samoa Islands had become a training and staging area for the United States Marine Corps. It was this massive influx of Americans that – for better or worse – gave American Samoans a sudden taste of the benefits of a modern western society. Fortunately for the islands and for the Samoan people, none of the fighting which scared so many of the Pacific Islands during World War II ever reached Samoa. In 1945, the marines left as suddenly as they arrived, and American Samoa returned to the quiet, peaceful way of life it had enjoyed before the great conflict. American Samoa continued under the naval government until June 30, 1951, when the administration of the territory was transferred to the United States Department of Interior.

ECONOMY

The American Samoa economy although slightly dropped at the turn of the century, has remained fairly stable over the last four years. The newly established American Samoa National Income and Product Account system estimated Gross Domestic Income (GDI) at $460 million in 2000 and Gross Domestic Product (GDP) at $444 million (resulting in a statistical discrepancy of about 4 percent.) The first Economic Census of American Samoa conducted for 2002 provided Sales/Receipts/Shipments of 1,061 Private Sector establishments valued at $994 million and employed 11,618 persons. The 2002 Economic Census will provide up-to-date value added statistics by industry and benchmark census GDP. Canned tuna continues to be the leading manufactured commodity for export. Two major U.S. label canneries – Chicken of the Sea (Samoa Packing) and Star Kist (Samoa) – have been doing business in the Territory for 50 and 40 years, respectively. Combined, they are the Territory’s second largest employer in addition to being the largest consumer of electrical power and potable water. Forming the backbone of the American Samoa economy, the two canneries employed 5,036 in 2003 and 4,866 in 2004, a 3.4% decrease in employment due to decreased fish supplies and production. Local commerce operates mainly to support goods and services directly or indirectly to the two canneries and the American Samoa Government, the largest employer in the Territory. Outside of the canneries and government sectors, the business arena of American Samoa is controlled by small, independently owned retail and service industries selling exclusively to local markets. Many of these businesses struggle with high costs of limited capital and managerial skills, imported supplies, competing regional labor costs, and distance to markets. The year-end 2004 reports a 2.8% increase in the total workforce from 2003, where 17,132 were employed in 2003 and 17,613 were employed in 2004. This is calculated from the two major industries of American Samoa: the two tuna canneries and the American Samoa Government with its authorities, which together constitute 61% of the workforce. Related secondary industries decreased by 5.9%. During the year 2004, the American Samoa Government increased employment by 4.8%, which is attributable to significant increases at American Samoa Power Authority (44%). This increase reflects post-cyclone work that was undertaken to restore utilities; as well as recent management changes away from contractual toward career employees. Total exports in 2004 were valued at $446 million, which consists of canned tuna and by-products such as pet food and fishmeal. Canned tuna production dropped by 10% ($46 million) compared to 2003 figures, reflecting a 10% decrease in cannery production. Value of all exports dropped from about $460 million in FY-2003 to $446 million in FY-2004. Total imports of commodities for resale also dropped from $325 million in 2003 to $309 million in 2004. The United States accounted for almost 50 % of all imports followed by Australia (9%), New Zealand (8%), Korea (7%), Samoa (6%) and Fiji (5%). as of the beginning December 2004, a total of 3,020 business license activities were registered at the Revenue Division, Department of Treasury, which is an increase of 5.8% compared to 2003. However, from 1991 to December 2004, registered business license activities recorded an increase of 63.7% or an average annual increased of 4.9 %.

TOURISM

With the current renovation of part of the once thriving historical Rainmaker Hotel; development of small motel and quality bed-and-breakfasts; the addition of the national four star standard 150 rooms Clarion Hotel; and the highly successful island-wide campaign message “ Tourism is Everybody’s Business” the rejuvenated partnership between government and the private sector have been strengthen to foster, encourage, and promote Tourism, recognizing it as an important contributor to the local economy. Our beautiful national parks in both Tutuila and Manu’a islands offer unique and natural tropical ecosystems that are nothing short of spectacular. Visitors who are eager to see a virgin tropical rainforest are entranced by what they find in American Samoa. Incredible sightseeing of historical landmarks, lush tropical landscape view, and miles of breathtaking sight of scenic shorelines has been the foundation of “ Paradise in the Pacific”, a good atmosphere for relaxation. The integration of village traditions, family values, and the Samoan Culture have been empowered by the booming of Ecotourism and visitors from abroad find it a remarkable attraction thus giving them the opportunity to appreciate and learn about our people. An estimated of a little over 22,000 tourists visited the territory in 2003, and it decreased slightly to 17,762 in 2004. Although, crusie ship traffic was slow in 2004 compared to 2003 (mainly due to Hurricane Heta), the tourist total arrivals appear to be on a rebound with an estimated 17.8% increase in volume mainly due to the improvement in projected cruise ship arrivals expected in 2005. Although it has always been a challenge to ascertain the true value of tourism in the American Samoa economy due to the lack of consistent and accurate visitor data, experts expected the tourism industry to generate revenues of a little over $10.3 million in 2003 and $10.1million in 2004. With the cruise ship sector expected to increase in 2005, there’s a general view that this will tricker a long overdue turnaround for the overall tourism industry. Government, private sector, and the general public are highly supportive and committed to create a more tourist friendly environment thus encouraging inbound travelers to visit our island more often.

AGRICULTURE

Agriculture is still largely a subsistence sector with mostly traditional staple food crops and piggeries. The government is making every effort to improve local agricultural and food production as the needs of the local population exceeded local productions. It was estimated that over 95 percent of local food consumption is imported. Thus, millions of dollars flow out of the economy due to the importation of a vast majority of foodstuffs. This situation coupled with hurricane disasters, lack of financial support from lending institutions, insufficient government funding and lack of marketing knowledge/linkages has resulted in a decline in agriculture production. Hurricane Heta in January 2004 wiped out almost 90 percent of local stable food sources. Recently, local agriculture is gradually recovering from many hurricanes affecting American Samoa. Consequently, the volume of imported staple food products from neighboring islands in the past few years have risen by an average of 50 percent. Local programs implemented by the Department of Agriculture and the ASCC-Land Grant assisted the local farmers in the redevelopment of this sector of the economy. The 1999 Agriculture Census of American Samoa reported that about 41 percent of the territorial land area is being farmed, and close to 6,500 farms were reported with an average farm size of about 3 acres. A farm was defined as any place that raised or produced any agricultural products for sale or consumption. Approximately 75 percent of households in American Samoa fit this definition. Of the 6,500 farms, only about a 1,100 were classified as commercial operations. Commercial farms were defined as those with sales of $100 or more, and noncommercial farms were those with less than $100 in sales. Many of the commercial farms produce more for home consumption than for sale, but by virtue of having sales in excess of $100 are classified as commercial. Agricultural production data from the census was valued at close to $74 million. Commercial production was valued at $44 million while the Noncommercial production was valued at close to $30 million.

CLIMATE

American Samoa’s climate is typically tropical, with temperatures seldom exceeding the mid-80s. Nights are balmy and cooling trade winds blow almost constantly. As in most tropical areas, there are frequent heavy rains but, even during the so-called rainy season (December – March), there are extended periods of bright sunshine on a daily basis. Generally, the weather is sunnier from June through September.

COMUNICATION

American Samoa has made remarkable improvements in the area of communications. Telecommunication systems have expanded into distance learning and telemedicine applications while additional internet service providers have been established to accommodate the demand. The territory is now able to link government agencies, education systems, the Lyndon B. Johnson Tropical Medical Center, as well as private sectors via high-speed fiber-optic networks and satellite feed. American Samoa has two major communication operations, the American Samoa Telecommunication Authority (ASTCA) a semi-autonomous government agency and Blue Sky Communications, a private entity. The ASTCA recently has been included in the North America Plan, which has substantially reduced long distance cost. It services over 10,000 landlines, has become an internet service provider, and offers close to 15 percent of the digital cellular market. Blue Sky Communications is primarily a digital cellular phone provider, and recently operates its own internet service. Both communication systems offer dial up connections or direct links for increased bandwidth. The Distance Education, Learning, and Telehealth Applications (DELTA) Consortium is a non-profit organization that is in partnership with the University of Hawaii and is operated by the American Samoa Power Authority. The DELTA Consortium provides services to the education system, healthcare system, as well as the public and private sectors. The non-profit organization owns and manages two satellites, providing video teleconferencing and internet accessibility. The territory possesses one television station, KVZK TV, and one cable television provider, ASC Cablevision. The KVZK TV is government owned and operates two channels (2 and 5) airing live news broadcasts (courtesy of the Armed Forces Network.) ASC Cablevision offers 41 channels of taped delayed programs via fiber optic lines to over 2,000 subscribers.

TRANSPORTATION

Pago Pago’s commodious harbor is well known through out the Pacific for its deep water and surrounded by miles of high tropical volcanic peaks; providing a natural safe-haven from strong hurricane and frequent bad weather conditions. With ongoing state of the art development of our port, competitive freight and port charges, and hi-tech infrastructure connections with other major ports, the government is marketing Pago Port as a major strategic transshipment hub and trading center for the Pacific. Our local port connects us to the world with multiple links with other major markets in the Pacific Rim as well as the international markets, thus making it easier to operate trade and commerce worldwide. There are several shipping companies that provide stevedoring and full-containerized cargo services connecting American Samoa with our trading partners in the Pacific and abroad. Polynesia Shipping and Samoa Pacific Shipping provide services to multiple routes covering different destinations in the US West Coast, Asia, and other islands in the Pacific region. Harbor Maritime Shipping and KFJ Shipping operate and service routes linking Asian destinations like Hong Kong and Singapore, with Australia, New Zealand, Tahiti, Suva, Apia, and Pago Pago. PMNO Shipping services a monthly route that connects Pago directly to Honolulu and to the west coast of the United States. The MV Manu’atele and the recently acquired MV Sili provided ocean transportation between Tutuila and Manu’a. The Manu’atele transports cargo and can carry minimum passengers every week, and also serving Swains Island about once a month. With the MV Sili capacity to carry high volume of cargo as well as more passengers, inter-island commerce between Tutuila and Manu’a Islands will be eventually realized. The MV Lady Naomi (owned by the Government of Samoa) provides weekly passenger and freight services between the Territory and Western Samoa. Our local international airport can accommodate regular airline services with connecting flights to the US and other Pacific Island destinations. Serving the US route, Hawaiian Airline has two flights a week while Polynesian Airline has a direct flight to Honolulu out of Apia, Samoa. Polynesian Air also provides daily services to and from Pago and providing connecting services to other destinations in the Pacific Region. Inter – Island Air provides daily service between Tutuila and Manu’a Islands. US Office of Homeland Security stepped up security and surveillance system in the Pago Pago International Airport.