Geography of Samoa

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The state of Samoa consists of the two large islands of Upolu and Savai'i and seven small islets located about halfway between Hawaii and New Zealand in the Polynesian region of the South Pacific. The main island of Upolu is home to nearly three-quarters of Samoa's population and its capital city of Apia. The climate is tropical, with a rainy season from November to April.

To the East is the smaller American Samoa, see also Geography of American Samoa.

Location: Oceania, group of islands in the South Pacific Ocean, about one-half of the way from Hawaii to New Zealand

Geographic coordinates: 13°35′S 172°20′W

Map references: Oceania

Area:
total: 2,944 km²
land: 2,934 km²
water: 10 km²

Area - comparative: slightly smaller than Rhode Island

Land boundaries: 0 km

Coastline: 403 km

Maritime claims:
exclusive economic zone: 200 nautical miles (370 km)
territorial sea: 12 nautical miles (22 km)

Climate: tropical; rainy season (November to April), dry season (May to October)

Terrain: two main islands (Savai'i, Upolu) and several smaller islands and uninhabited islets; narrow coastal plain with volcanic, rocky, rugged mountains in interior

Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m
highest point: Mauga Silisili 1,857 m

Natural resources: hardwood forests, fish, hydropower

Land use:
arable land: 21.2%
permanent crops: 24.38%
other: 54.42%

Irrigated land: NA km²

Natural hazards: occasional cyclones; active volcanism

Environment - current issues: soil erosion, deforestation, invasive species, overfishing

Environment - international agreements:
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Geography - note: occupies an almost central position within Polynesia

Maps of Samoa -14° N -172° E

• MapQuest: out 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 in
• Multimap: out 4M 2M 1M 500k 200k in
• MSN World Atlas: out 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 in
• Google satellite image