Pago Pago, American Samoa

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Pago Pago (pronounced /ˈpɑŋgoʊ ˈpɑŋgoʊ/) is the capital of American Samoa, a territory of the United States of America. Its 1990 population was 10,640. The city is located on Pago Pago Harbor, Tutuila Island. Tourism and tuna canning are important industries. From 1878 to 1951, this was a coaling and repair station for the U.S. Navy.

The city is an interesting mixture of a seedy urban area with infamously smelly tuna canneries (which provide employment for a third of the population of Tutuila), and an harbor surrounded by dramatic mountains which plunge straight into the sea. A steep climb up to Mt Alava provides a magnificent bird's eye view of the harbor and town. Until 1980, one could experience the views from the peak by taking an aerial tramway over the city harbor, but on April 14 of that year a US Navy plane, flying overhead as part of the Flag Day celebrations, crashed into its cable. It remains unreconstructed to this day, though according to the Lonely Planet website, there have been plans to reopen it.

Pago Pago is actually but one of several villages along the shore of the harbor and located at the very back (inside) of the embayment. 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 to the harbor area and the capital. Thus, both the port itself and the legislature of American Samoa—known as the Fono (/ˈfoʊnoʊ/)—are located in Fagatogo, a village that is adjacent to (and for all practical purposes indistinguishable from) Pago Pago. Similarly, the once famous Rainmaker Hotel is located in the village of Utule‘i, adjacent to Fagatogo along the south shore of the long harbor.

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Photos of Pago-Pago - Terra Galleriabg:Паго Паго da:Pago Pago de:Pago Pago fr:Pago Pago pl:Pago Pago pt:Pago Pago fi:Pago Pago sv:Pago Pago