The United States is located in North America, with its territory including the continental United States, Alaska, and Hawaii.
Besides these territories, the United States also possesses many overseas territories, mainly distributed in the Caribbean, the Western Pacific, and the South Pacific regions.
For example, Guam is located in the Western Pacific, and Puerto Rico is in the Caribbean, both of which are U.S. overseas territories.
While most of these overseas territories have no disputes, there are a few exceptions.
For instance, the Independent State of Samoa has demanded the return of land from the United States, but the residents of American Samoa generally oppose such demands and do not wish for the United States to return American Samoa.
So, what exactly is going on here?
Firstly, the United States controls Eastern Samoa. The Samoan Islands are located in the South Pacific, consisting of 12 islands with a total area of approximately 3,144 square kilometers.
The Samoan Islands are divided into eastern and western parts, with Western Samoa becoming an independent country known as the Independent State of Samoa, while Eastern Samoa is controlled by the United States as an overseas territory, called American Samoa.
The Independent State of Samoa possesses the majority of the islands in the Samoan Archipelago, with a population of about 200,000. In contrast, American Samoa is smaller in area, with a population of around 50,000.
The division of the Samoan Islands mainly stems from historical reasons.
The inhabitants of the Samoan Islands are primarily Samoans, belonging to the Polynesian race of the Austronesian language family, speaking the Samoan language.
Before the colonial era, Samoans did not have their own writing system, and their society was relatively undeveloped.
Historically, the Samoan Islands were once conquered by the Kingdom of Tonga.
In 1250 AD, the Malietoa tribe expelled the Tongans and established an independent Samoan kingdom.
Before the colonizers' invasion, Samoa was already an independent country, which is one of the reasons the Independent State of Samoa demands the return of land from the United States.
In 1722, a Dutch navigator discovered the Samoan Islands, but because they were far from the world's major regions, the Dutch did not pay much attention to them and did not carry out colonial activities.
It wasn't until the early 19th century that British colonizers began to enter the Samoan Islands.
The Samoan Islands are about 2,600 kilometers away from New Zealand, and Britain attempted to incorporate the entire Samoan Islands into the British New Zealand colony.
At that time, both Britain and France were expanding in the South Pacific region, with France possessing French Polynesia and Britain having Australia and New Zealand.
Seeing that the South Pacific islands were about to be divided between Britain and France, the United States and Germany also began to intervene in the South Pacific region.
The intervention of the United States and Germany led to the Tripartite Struggle over the Samoan Islands.
To avoid conflicts among the great powers, the three countries mutually compromised and signed a partition agreement in 1899.
Britain, already possessing Australia and New Zealand, directly withdrew from the contest over Samoa.
The United States aimed only to obtain a base in the South Pacific, and ultimately, Germany controlled the western part of the Samoan Islands, while the United States controlled the eastern part of the Samoan Islands.
After the outbreak of World War I in 1914, Britain dispatched forces from New Zealand to defeat the German forces in Samoa, incorporating German Samoa into New Zealand.
After World War I, the former German Samoa was mandated to New Zealand.
In 1962, Western Samoa gained independence from New Zealand, becoming the present-day Independent State of Samoa.
Eastern Samoa, however, has remained under U.S. control.
Secondly, the land dispute between the United States and Samoa. After the establishment of the Independent State of Samoa, it demanded the return of American Samoa, which was met with opposition from the residents of American Samoa.
There are two main reasons for this opposition: first, the reluctance to lose U.S. economic aid.
The economy of American Samoa relies solely on tourism and fishing, with no industrial base, making it heavily dependent on U.S. aid.
Thanks to U.S. economic aid, American Samoa has well-developed infrastructure and an economic development level far superior to that of the Independent State of Samoa.
The second reason is the possession of U.S. passports.
According to U.S. law, U.S. land is classified into four types: incorporated organized territory, incorporated unorganized territory, unincorporated organized territory, and unincorporated unorganized territory.
Incorporated organized territory refers to the incorporated states of the U.S. federation, the actual U.S. territory.
The other three types of land, while under U.S. control and management, are not part of U.S. territory.
For example, Guam and Puerto Rico are U.S. unincorporated organized territories, with organized referring to having established administrative institutions, and unincorporated meaning not incorporated into the United States.
American Samoa is an unincorporated unorganized territory of the United States, initially managed by the U.S. Navy Department and since 1951 by the U.S. Department of the Interior.
Residents of American Samoa hold U.S. passports, making travel to Australia and New Zealand very convenient.
American Samoa's main trading partners are Australia and New Zealand.
Considering these factors, the demand of the Independent State of Samoa for the return of land by the United States has faced opposition from the residents of American Samoa.
The current goal of American Samoa's residents is to join the United States and become true Americans, but this hope seems very slim.
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