@_Western Samoa
_*_Geography
_#_Total area: 2,860 km2; land area: 2,850 km2

_#_Comparative area: slightly smaller than Rhode Island

_#_Land boundaries: none

_#_Coastline: 403 km

_#_Maritime claims:

Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm;

Territorial sea: 12 nm

_#_Climate: tropical; rainy season (October to March), dry season
(May to October)

_#_Terrain: narrow coastal plain with volcanic, rocky, rugged
mountains in interior

_#_Natural resources: hardwood forests, fish

_#_Land use: arable land 19%; permanent crops 24%; meadows and
pastures NEGL%; forest and woodland 47%; other 10%

_#_Environment: subject to occasional typhoons; active volcanism

_#_Note: located 4,300 km southwest of Honolulu in the South Pacific
Ocean about halfway between Hawaii and New Zealand

_*_People
_#_Population: 190,346 (July 1991), growth rate 2.3% (1991)

_#_Birth rate: 34 births/1,000 population (1991)

_#_Death rate: 6 deaths/1,000 population (1991)

_#_Net migration rate: - 4 migrants/1,000 population (1991)

_#_Infant mortality rate: 47 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)

_#_Life expectancy at birth: 64 years male, 69 years female (1991)

_#_Total fertility rate: 4.5 children born/woman (1991)

_#_Nationality: noun--Western Samoan(s); adjective--Western Samoan

_#_Ethnic divisions: Samoan; Euronesians (persons of European and
Polynesian blood) about 7%, Europeans 0.4%

_#_Religion: Christian 99.7% (about half of population associated with
the London Missionary Society; includes Congregational, Roman Catholic,
Methodist, Latter Day Saints, Seventh-Day Adventist)

_#_Language: Samoan (Polynesian), English

_#_Literacy: 97% (male 97%, female 97%) age 15 and over can
read and write (1971)

_#_Labor force: 38,000; 22,000 employed in agriculture (1987 est.)

_#_Organized labor: Public Service Association (PSA)

_*_Government
_#_Long-form name: Independent State of Western Samoa

_#_Type: constitutional monarchy under native chief

_#_Capital: Apia

_#_Administrative divisions: 11 districts; Aana, Aiga-i-le-Tai,
Atua, Faasaleleaga, Gagaemauga, Gagaifomauga, Palauli, Satupaitea,
Tuamasaga, Vaa-o-Fonoti, Vaisigano

_#_Independence: 1 January 1962 (from UN trusteeship administered
by New Zealand)

_#_Constitution: 1 January 1962

_#_Legal system: based on English common law and local customs;
judicial review of legislative acts with respect t