Country name:
conventional long form: Territory of American Samoa
conventional short form:
American Samoa
abbreviation:
AS
Dependency status:
unincorporated and unorganized territory of the US; administered by the Office of Insular Affairs, US Department of the Interior
Capital:
name:
Pago Pago
geographic coordinates:
14 16 S, 170 42 W
time difference:
UTC-11 (6 hours behind Washington, DC, during Standard Time)
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
Independence:
none (territory of the US)
National holiday:
Flag Day, 17 April (1900)
Constitution:
ratified 2 June 1966, effective 1 July 1967 (2013)
Legal system:
mixed legal system of US common law and customary law
Suffrage:
18 years of age; universal
[see also: Suffrage country ranks ]
Executive branch:
chief of state:
President Barack H. OBAMA (since 20 January 2009); Vice President Joseph R. BIDEN (since 20 January 2009)
head of government:
Governor Lolo Matalasi MOLIGA (since 3 January 2013)
cabinet:
Cabinet made up of 12 department directors
elections:
under the US Constitution, residents of unincorporated territories, such as American Samoa, do not vote in elections for US president and vice president; however, they may vote in Democratic and Republican presidential primary elections; governor and lieutenant governor elected on the same ticket by popular vote for four-year terms (eligible for a second term); election last held on 6 November 2012 with a runoff held on 20 November 2012 (next to be held in November 2016)
election results:
runoff election percent of vote - Lolo Matalasi MOLIGA 52.9%, Faoa Aitofele SUNIA 47.1%
Legislative branch:
bicameral Fono or Legislative Assembly consists of the Senate (18 seats; members are elected from local chiefs to serve four-year terms) and the House of Representatives (21 seats; 20 members are elected by popular vote and 1 is an appointed, nonvoting delegate from Swains Island; members serve two-year terms)
elections:
House of Representatives - last held on 6 November 2012 (next to be held in November 2014); Senate - last held on 6 November 2012 (next to be held in November 2016)
election results:
Senate - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - independents 18; House of Representatives - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - independents 20
note:
American Samoa elects one nonvoting representative to the US House of Representatives; election last held on 6 November 2012 (next to be held in November 2014); results - Eni F. H. FALEOMAVAEGA reelected as delegate
Judicial branch:
highest court(s):
High Court of American Samoa (consists of the chief justice, associate chief justice, and 6 Samoan associate judges and organized into trial, family, drug, and appellate divisions)
judge selection and term of office: chief justice and associate chief justice appointed by the US Secretary of the Interior to serve for life; Samoan associate judges appointed by the governor to serve for life
subordinate courts: district and village courts
Political parties and leaders:
Democratic Party [Oreta M. TOGAFAU]
Political pressure groups and leaders: Population Pressure LAS (addresses the growing population pressures)
International organization participation:
AOSIS, Interpol (subbureau), IOC, PIF (observer), SPC, UPU
Diplomatic representation in the US: none (territory of the US)
Diplomatic representation from the US: none (territory of the US)
Flag description:
blue, with a white triangle edged in red that is based on the fly 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 war club known as a "Fa'alaufa'i" (upper; left talon), and a coconut fiber fly whisk known as a "Fue" (lower; right talon); the combination of symbols broadly mimics that seen on the US Great Seal and reflects the relationship between the United States and American Samoa
National anthem:
name:
"Amerika Samoa" (American Samoa)
lyrics/music:
Mariota Tiumalu TUIASOSOPO/Napoleon Andrew TUITELELEAPAGA
note:
local anthem adopted 1950; as a territory of the United States, "The Star-Spangled Banner" is official (see United States)
NOTE: 1) The information regarding American Samoa on this page is re-published from the 2015 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of American Samoa Government 2015 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about American Samoa Government 2015 should be addressed to the CIA.
2) The rank that you see is the CIA reported rank, which may habe the following issues:
a) They assign increasing rank number, alphabetically for countries with the same value of the ranked item, whereas we assign them the same rank.
b) The CIA sometimes assignes counterintuitive ranks. For example, it assigns unemployment rates in increasing order, whereas we rank them in decreasing order
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This page was last modified 10-Feb-15