American Samoa

American Samoa is the only U.S. territory south of the equator, a group of seven islands in the South Pacific roughly halfway between Hawaii and New Zealand. The eastern portion of the Samoan archipelago, it came under U.S. control by treaty around 1900. Its people have a status unique in the United States - they are U.S. nationals rather than citizens by birth - and the territory preserves strong traditional Samoan governance and communal land ownership under the custom known as fa'a Samoa.

The main island, Tutuila, holds the capital, Pago Pago, set on one of the deepest natural harbors in the Pacific. Steep volcanic peaks plunge to coral reefs, much of it protected within the National Park of American Samoa. Tuna canning, service in the U.S. military - the territory has among the highest enlistment rates anywhere - and subsistence fishing and farming anchor an economy of about 50,000 people.

• Hawaii
  A volcanic island chain in the central Pacific related