News88 Blog Of The Day 04/27/2005: About The US Territory Of The AMERICAN SAMOA

ONE EXTRA NOTE FROM YESTERDAY THAT I FORGOT IN YESTERDAYS BLOG: I NOT ONLY HAVE 29 MEMBERS AND MYSELF (30TH MEMBER) THAT RUN NEWS88, BUT I ALSO RUN IT ON BEHALF OF SIX ADDITIONAL MEMBERS (MEMBERS 31-36) AS OF LATE RIGHT NOW CURRENTLY. SEE PAST BLOGS TO FIND THE LIST OF EVERYONE AS FAR AS EMAIL ADDRESS ACCOUNTS FOR CONTACT. NOW LETS RESUME OUR BLOG IN SMALL LETTERS AGAIN.

Copyright 2005 News88, All Rights Reserved, #117.

Please refer back to the blog of the day for 03/05/2005. Saturday, March 05, 2005 for your information, for more information.

Yesterdays blog: About The US Territory Of The GUAM.
Todays blog: About The US Territory Of The AMERICAN SAMOA.
Tomorrows blog: About The US Territory Of The NORTHERN MARIANA ISLANDS.

American Samoa, a group of five volcanic islands and two coral atolls located some 2,600 mi south of Hawaii in the South Pacific, is an unincorporated, unorganized territory of the U.S. It includes the eastern Samoan islands of Tutuila, Aunu'u, and Rose; three islands (Ta'u, Olosega, and Ofu) of the Manu'a group; and Swains Island. Around 1000 B.C. Protopolynesians established themselves in the islands, and their descendants are one of the few remaining Polynesian societies. The Dutch navigator Jacob Roggeveen sighted the Manu'a Islands in 1722. American Samoa has been a territory of the United States since April 17, 1900, when the High Chiefs of Tutuila signed the first of two Deeds of Cession for the islands to the U.S. (Congress ratified the Deeds in 1929.) Swains Island, which is privately owned, came under U.S. administration in 1925.
Until World War II the United States operated a coaling station and naval base in Pago Pago. During the war, the islands were an important U.S. Marines staging area. In 1960 American Samoa ratified its territorial constitution and has since developed a modern, self-governing political system. American Samoans elect a governor, lieutenant governor, and legislature. The legislature (Fono) consists of two houses: the Senate, selected by village chiefs (matai) for four-year terms, and the House of Representatives, elected by the general population for two-year terms. The people of American Samoa are U.S. nationals, not U.S. citizens, but many have become naturalized American citizens. American Samoa does 80%-90% of its foreign trade with the U.S. Canned tuna is the primary export, earning $300 million annually. Transfers from the U.S. government add substantially to American Samoa's economic well-being. Source: Time Almanac 2005.

Other than that, Free open thread.

P.S. More on the Politics1 and the Chat-Web 2 spinoff sites we are createing as spinoffs not only of them but of News88 too, on or by Sunday, May 01 2005, or 05/01/2005.
P.S.S. For more information on American Samoa, Please feel free to go to at my request and/or submission to http://www.politics1.com/as.htm , http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Samoa , or http://www.congress.org/congressorg/dbq/officials/?lvl=L . Thanks!