Geography of American Samoa

American Samoa, located within the geographical region of Oceania, is one of only two possessions of the United States in the Southern Hemisphere, the other being Jarvis Island. Its total land area is 76.8 square miles (199 km2)—slightly larger than Washington, D.C.—consisting of five rugged, volcanic islands and two coral atolls. The five volcanic islands islands are: Tutuila, Aunu'u, Ofu, Olosega, Tau. The coral atolls are: Swains, and Rose Atoll. Of the seven islands, Rose Atoll is an uninhabited Marine National Monument.

Due to its positioning in the South Pacific Ocean, it is frequently hit by typhoons between December and March. Rose Atoll is the easternmost point of the territory. American Samoa is the southernmost part of the United States. American Samoa is home to the National Park of American Samoa.

American Samoa
Continent Oceania
Subregion Oceania
Geographic coordinates 14°20′S 170°00′W / 14.333°S 170°W / -14.333; -170
Area
- Total
- Water
Ranked 212th
199 km²
0 km²
Coastline 116 km
Land boundaries 0 km
Countries bordered none
Maritime claims 200 nmi (370.4 km)
Highest point Lata Mountain, 964 m
Lowest point Pacific Ocean, 0 m
Longest river
Largest inland body of water
Land Use
- Arable land

- Permanent
crops - Other ||
10 %

15% 75% (2005 est.)
Irrigated Land: n/a
Climate: tropical marine, little seasonal temperature variation
Terrain: volcano, limited coastal plains, two coral atolls
Natural resources pumice, pumicite
Natural hazards typhoons from December to March
Environmental issues limited fresh water

Famous quotes containing the words geography of, geography and/or american:

    Where the heart is, there the muses, there the gods sojourn, and not in any geography of fame. Massachusetts, Connecticut River, and Boston Bay, you think paltry places, and the ear loves names of foreign and classic topography. But here we are; and, if we tarry a little, we may come to learn that here is best. See to it, only, that thyself is here;—and art and nature, hope and fate, friends, angels, and the Supreme Being, shall not absent from the chamber where thou sittest.
    Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)

    The California fever is not likely to take us off.... There is neither romance nor glory in digging for gold after the manner of the pictures in the geography of diamond washing in Brazil.
    Rutherford Birchard Hayes (1822–1893)

    There exists in a great part of the Northern people a gloomy diffidence in the moral character of the government. On the broaching of this question, as general expression of despondency, of disbelief that any good will accrue from a remonstrance on an act of fraud and robbery, appeared in those men to whom we naturally turn for aid and counsel. Will the American government steal? Will it lie? Will it kill?—We ask triumphantly.
    Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)