Pago Pago

Pago Pago

A portion of the docks at Fagatogo in Pago Pago Harbor. In the background is the Rainmaker (Pioa) Mountain. Fagatogo was struck by a tsunami on 29 September 2009, causing moderate damage and rock slides.[1]
Pago Pago
Coordinates: 14°16′46″S 170°42′02″W / 14.27944°S 170.70056°W / -14.27944; -170.70056
Country  United States
Territory  American Samoa
Elevation 9 m (30 ft)
Population (2010)
 • Total 3,656
Time zone Samoa Time Zone (UTC-11)
ZIP code 96799[2]
Area code(s) +1 684
GNIS feature ID 1389119[3]
Website www.pagopago.com

Pago Pago (/ˈpɑːŋɡoʊˈpɑːŋɡoʊ/; Samoan: [ˈpaŋo ˈpaŋo]) is the territorial capital of American Samoa. In 2010, its population was 3,656. The city is served by Pago Pago International Airport. Tourism, entertainment, food, and tuna canning are its main industries. It is on the island of Tutuila.

History

From 1878 to 1951, the area was the site of a coaling and repair station for the U.S. Navy, known then as United States Naval Station Tutuila.

In January 1942 Pago Pago Harbor was shelled by a Japanese submarine, but this remained the only battle action on the islands during World War II.

On September 29, 2009, an earthquake struck in the South Pacific, near Samoa and American Samoa, sending a tsunami into Pago Pago and surrounding areas. The tsunami caused moderate to severe damage to villages, buildings and vehicles and caused an unknown number of deaths.[1][4]

Geography

The village is located in Pago Pago Harbor, on the island of Tutuila. Pago Pago is one of the many villages in the Urban agglomeration of Pago Pago along the shore of Pago Pago Harbor located at the very eastern part (inside) of the embayment. The area includes a number of villages, among them Fagatogo, the legislative and judicial area, and Utulei, the executive area.[5]

However, because the name Pago Pago is associated with the harbor itself—the only significant port of call in American Samoa—Pago Pago is now generally applied not only to the village itself, but to the whole harbor area and to the villages in it. It is in this sense that Pago Pago becomes the de facto capital town of American Samoa.

Both the port itself and the legislature of American Samoa—known as the "Fono" (/ˈfono/)—are in Fagatogo, a village adjacent to Pago Pago. Similarly, the once famous Rainmaker Hotel (now closed) is in the village of Utule‘i, adjacent to Fagatogo along the south shore of the long harbor. The canneries are in Atu'u, on the harbor's north shore. It is suggested that one must avoid eating any fish or invertebrate caught in Pago Pago Harbor because they are contaminated with heavy metals and other pollutants.[6]

Pago Pago is a mixture of semi-urban communities, a small town, tuna canneries, which provide employment for a third of the population of Tutuila, and a harbor surrounded by dramatic cliffs, which plunge almost straight into the sea. A climb to the summit of Mt. Alava in the National Park of American Samoa provides a bird's-eye view of the harbor and town.[7]

Climate

Pago Pago has a tropical rainforest (Köppen climate classification Af) climate. All official climate records for American Samoa are at kept at Pago Pago. The hottest temperature ever recorded was 99 °F (37 °C) on February 22, 1958. Conversely, the lowest temperature on record was 59 °F (15 °C) on October 10, 1964.[8]

Climate data for Pago Pago
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °F (°C) 95
(35)		 99
(37)		 95
(35)		 95
(35)		 93
(34)		 95
(35)		 91
(33)		 92
(33)		 92
(33)		 94
(34)		 95
(35)		 94
(34)		 99
(37)
Average high °F (°C) 87.6
(30.9)		 88.0
(31.1)		 88.1
(31.2)		 87.5
(30.8)		 86.2
(30.1)		 85.0
(29.4)		 84.2
(29)		 84.3
(29.1)		 85.3
(29.6)		 85.8
(29.9)		 86.6
(30.3)		 87.4
(30.8)		 86.3
(30.2)
Daily mean °F (°C) 82.6
(28.1)		 82.9
(28.3)		 82.9
(28.3)		 82.5
(28.1)		 81.8
(27.7)		 81.1
(27.3)		 80.4
(26.9)		 80.4
(26.9)		 81.1
(27.3)		 81.5
(27.5)		 82.1
(27.8)		 82.5
(28.1)		 81.82
(27.69)
Average low °F (°C) 77.6
(25.3)		 77.7
(25.4)		 77.8
(25.4)		 77.6
(25.3)		 77.5
(25.3)		 77.1
(25.1)		 76.6
(24.8)		 76.5
(24.7)		 76.9
(24.9)		 77.2
(25.1)		 77.5
(25.3)		 77.6
(25.3)		 77.3
(25.2)
Record low °F (°C) 67
(19)		 65
(18)		 63
(17)		 68
(20)		 65
(18)		 61
(16)		 62
(17)		 60
(16)		 62
(17)		 59
(15)		 60
(16)		 65
(18)		 59
(15)
Average precipitation inches (mm) 14.83
(376.7)		 12.66
(321.6)		 11.66
(296.2)		 11.02
(279.9)		 10.61
(269.5)		 6.01
(152.7)		 6.46
(164.1)		 6.30
(160)		 7.62
(193.5)		 10.11
(256.8)		 11.30
(287)		 14.51
(368.6)		 123.09
(3,126.5)
Average precipitation days (≥ 0.01 in) 24.0 21.4 23.8 22.1 20.1 19.1 19.3 17.8 17.9 20.9 20.8 23.1 250.2
Source: NOAA (normals)[8]

Education

The Feleti Barstow Public Library is located in Pago Pago.[9] 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.[10]

Tourism

Rainmaker Hotel

Until 1980, one could experience the view of Mt. Avala by taking an aerial tramway over the harbor, but on April 17 of that year a U.S. Navy plane, flying overhead as part of the Flag Day celebrations, struck the cable; the plane crashed into a wing of the Rainmaker Hotel.[11] The tramway was repaired, but closed not long after. The tram remains unusable, although according to Lonely Planet, plans have been put forth to reopen it, but in December 2010 the cable was damaged by Tropical Cyclone Wilma, fell into the harbor and has not been repaired. Another noted view is that from the top of the pass above Aua Village on the road to Afono.

The Sadie Thompson Building, on the outskirts of Pago Pago, is a restaurant and inn that is listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 Article on Google News
  2. ↑ United States Postal Service (2012). "USPS - Look Up a ZIP Code". Retrieved 2012-02-15.
  3. ↑ "Geographic Names Information System". United States Geological Survey. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
  4. ↑ "Disaster aid flows to tsunami-hit Samoas". MSNBC.
  5. ↑ "Pago Pago (American Samoa)". Britannica Online Encyclopedia.
  6. ↑ "Natural History Guide To American Samoa". nps.org. Retrieved 2007-02-16.
  7. ↑ Farrell, Jack, "American Samoa American Samoa: A Tropical Delight Hosting the Only U.S. National Park South of the Equator", Frederick News-Post, Sunday, March 16, 2014
  8. 1 2 "NOWData - NOAA Online Weather Data". National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved November 22, 2012.
  9. ↑ "Contact Us". Feleti Barstow Public Library. Retrieved on May 19, 2010.
  10. ↑ "History." Feleti Barstow Public Library. Retrieved on May 19, 2010.
  11. ↑ Moos, Grant. 1980 [1997]. "April 17, 1980: Fiery crash halts Flag Day". Samoa News, April 18, 1980 (reprinted in the Samoa News, January 22, 1997: 4). Cited in Sorensen, Stan, and Joseph Theroux. The Samoan Historical Calendar, 1606–2007. p. 93.

External links

Coordinates: 14°16′46″S 170°42′02″W / 14.27944°S 170.70056°W / -14.27944; -170.70056

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