Tutuila, Pago Pago, American Samoa

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Pago Pago is located in American Samoa
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

Pago Pago in English, by native Samoan speakers, Pango Pango, is the
capital of American Samoa. Its 2000 population was 11,500. The village is
located in Pago Pago Harbor, on the island of Tutuila. Tourism,
entertainment, food, and tuna canning are the primary industries here. From
1878 to 1951, this was a coaling and repair station for the U.S. Navy. 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.


A statue of Starkist Tuna mascot Charlie the Tuna at the company cannery in
Atu'u, Pago Pago, American Samoa

Pago Pago is one of the several 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.

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.

Pago Pago is a mixture of colorful 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 (see National Park

of American Samoa) provides a magnificent bird's-eye view of the harbor and
town.

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

Until 1980, one could experience the view from the peak 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. The tram remains unusable,

although according to Lonely Planet, plans have been put forth to reopen it.

Less spectacular, but worth the drive, is the view from the top of the pass
above Aua Village on the road to Afono.

Both the port itself and the legislature of American Samoa — known as the
Fono" 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.
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 damage ranging from moderate to severe to villages,
buildings and vehicles and caused an unknown number of deaths.