American Samoa

English

American Samoa highlighted in the Pacific, alongside the rest of the United States of America

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /əˈmɛɹ.ɪ.kən səˈməʊ.ə/
• (US) IPA^(key): /əˈmɛɹ.ɪ.kən səˈmoʊ.ə/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Proper noun

American Samoa

1. An archipelago and overseas territory of the United States in the Pacific Ocean. Official name: Territory of American Samoa. It is distinct from Samoa (formerly: Western Samoa).
   • 1899 April 29, Friends' Intelligencer‎^[1], volume LVI, number 17, Philadelphia, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 329, column 2:

     SECRETARY James G. Blaine, on April 11, 1889, instructed the American Samoa commissioners at Berlin that the plan of governing natives without their consent was "not in harmony with the established policy of this government."

   • 2021 June 16, Jennifer Sinco Kelleher, “American Samoa culture plays role in US citizenship ruling”, in AP News‎^[2], archived from the original on 16 June 2021:

     In a decision citing American Samoa cultural traditions, those born in the U.S. territory shouldn’t have citizenship automatically forced on them, a federal appeals court ruled Wednesday. […]
     American Samoa is the only unincorporated territory of the United States where the inhabitants are not American citizens at birth. […]
     Drawing on the views of the American Samoa people is one of the more gratifying aspects of the ruling, said Michael Williams, an attorney representing the American Samoa government, which intervened to oppose the lawsuit.
     “It is also vindication for the principle that the people of American Samoa should determine their own status in accordance with Samoan culture and traditions,” he said.

   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:American Samoa.

Synonyms

• Am. Sam.

Derived terms

• American Samoan

Translations

US overseas territory in Oceania

• Afrikaans: Amerikaans-Samoa
• Arabic: سَامُوَّا اَلْأَمْرِيكِيَّة f (sāmuwwā l-ʔamrīkiyya)
• Breton: Samoa Amerikan
• Bulgarian: Америка́нски Само́а m (Amerikánski Samóa)
• Catalan: Samoa Nord-americana (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 美屬薩摩亞／美属萨摩亚 (zh) (Měishǔ Sàmóyà)

• Danish: Amerikansk Samoa (da)
• Dutch: Amerikaans-Samoa (nl)
• Esperanto: Samoo Usona, Usona Samoo
• Estonian: Ameerika Samoa (et)
• Finnish: Amerikan Samoa (fi)
• French: Samoa américaines (fr) f pl
• Georgian: ამერიკის სამოა (ameriḳis samoa), აღმოსავლეთი სამოა (aɣmosavleti samoa)
• German: Amerikanisch-Samoa (de) n
• Greek: Αμερικανική Σαμόα (el) (Amerikanikí Samóa), Αμερικανικές Σαμόα (Amerikanikés Samóa)
• Hebrew: סָמוֹאָה הָאָמֶרִיקָנִית (Samoa ha-Americanit)
• Hungarian: Amerikai Szamoa (hu)
• Interlingua: Samoa American
• Irish: Samó Mheiriceá m
• Italian: Samoa americane f pl
• Japanese: アメリカン・サモア (Amerikan-Samoa)
• Korean: 미국령 사모아 (Migungnyeong Samoa)
• Lao: ອາເມຣິກັນຊາມົວ (ʼā mē ri kan sā mūa)
• Latin: Samoa Americana f
• Latvian: Amerikāņu Samoa f
• Macedonian: Амери́канска Само́а f (Ameríkanska Samóa)
• Maltese: ^{(please verify)} Is-Samoa Amerikana
• Norman: Samoa Améthitchain m
• Norwegian: Amerikansk Samoa
• Persian: ساموآی آمریکا
• Polish: Samoa Amerykańskie (pl) n
• Portuguese: Samoa Americana (pt) f
• Romanian: Samoa Americană f
• Russian: Америка́нское Само́а (ru) n (Amerikánskoje Samóa), Восто́чное Само́а n (Vostóčnoje Samóa)
• Samoan: Amerika Sāmoa, Teritori o Amerika Sāmoa
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: ^{(please verify)} Америчка Самоа

  Roman: ^{(please verify)} Američka Samoa

• Spanish: Samoa Americana (es) f
• Swedish: Amerikanska Samoa (sv)
• Thai: อเมริกันซามัว (à-mee-rí-gan-saa-muua)
• Turkish: Amerikan Samoası (tr)
• Ukrainian: Америка́нське Само́а (uk) n (Amerykánsʹke Samóa), Схі́дне Само́а n (Sxídne Samóa)
• Vietnamese: Samoa thuộc Mỹ

See also

• Appendix:Countries and territories of the world

Further reading

• “American Samoa”, in Collins English Dictionary.
• “American Samoa, pn.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
• “American Samoa”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• “American Samoa”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
• “American Samoa” in TheFreeDictionary.com, Huntingdon Valley, Pa.: Farlex, Inc., 2003–2024.