Pago Pago
Pago Pago (/ˈpɑːŋɡɔːˈpɑːŋɡɔː/ PAHNG-gaw-PAHNG-gaw; Samoan: Samoan pronunciation: [ˈpaŋo ˈpaŋo])[3] is the capital of American Samoa. It is in Maoputasi County on Tutuila, which is American Samoa's main island.
Pago Pago is home to one of the deepest natural deepwater harbors in the South Pacific Ocean, sheltered from wind and rough seas, and strategically located.[4][5]: 52 [6]: 12 The harbor is also one of the best protected in the South Pacific,[7]: 11 which gives American Samoa a natural advantage because it makes landing fish for processing easier.[7]: 61 Tourism, entertainment, food, and tuna canning are its main industries. As of 1993, Pago Pago was the world's fourth-largest tuna processor.[8]: 353 The total value of fish landed in Pago Pago — about $200,000,000 annually — is higher than in any other port in any U.S. state or territory.[9]
Pago Pago is the only modern urban center in American Samoa,[6]: 29 [10] and the main port of American Samoa.[11][12][13] It is also home to the territorial government, all the industry, and most of the commerce in American Samoa.[14]: 166 The Greater Pago Pago Metropolitan Area encompasses several villages strung together along Pago Pago Harbor.[15][16] One of the villages is itself named Pago Pago, and in 2010 that village had a population of 3,656. The constituent villages are: Utulei, Fagatogo, Malaloa, Pago Pago, Satala and Atu'u. Fagatogo is the downtown area, referred to as "town", and is home to the legislature, while the executive seat is in Utulei. Also in Fagatogo are the Fono, police department, the Port of Pago Pago, and many shops and hotels. In 2000, the Greater Pago Pago area was home to 8,000 residents;[17] by 2010 the population had increased to 15,000.[18]
Rainmaker Mountain (Mount Pioa), which is located in Pago Pago, contributes to a weather pattern that results in the city having the highest annual rainfall of any harbor in the world.[19][20][21] It stands protectively over the eastern side of Pago Pago, making the harbor one of the most sheltered deepwater anchorages in the Pacific Ocean.[22]: 3
Historically, the strategic location of Pago Pago Bay played a direct role in the political separation of Western and Eastern Samoa. The initial reason that the U.S. was interested in Tutuila was its desire to use Pago Pago Harbor as a coaling station.[23]: 30–31 The town has the distinction of being the southernmost U.S. capital, and the only one located in the Southern Hemisphere.
Pronunciation[edit]
The letter "g" in Samoan sounds like "ng"; thus Pago Pago is pronounced "Pango Pango."[24][25][26][27][28][29]
An early name for Pago Pago was Long Bay (Samoan: O le Fagaloa), which was a name used by the first permanent inhabitants to settle in the Pago Pago area.[23]: 26 [30][31]: 123 It was also called O le Maputasi ("The Single Chief's House") in compliment to the Mauga, who lived at Gagamoe in Pago Pago and was the senior to all the other chiefs in the area.[31]: 123
Education[edit]
The Feleti Barstow Public Library is located in Pago Pago.[121] In 1991, severe tropical cyclone Val hit Pago Pago, destroying the library that existed there. The current Barstow library, constructed in 1998, opened on April 17, 2000.[122]
The American Samoa Community College (ASCC) was founded in July 1970 by the American Samoa Department of Education. The college's first courses were taught in 1971 at the Lands and Survey Building in Fagatogo. At the time, the college had a total enrollment of 131 students. In 1972, the college moved to the former Fialloa High School in Utulei, before ultimately moving to its current location in Mapusaga in 1974.[123]