Pago Pago StarKist Tuna Plant, American Samoa, US Territories

The StarKist Tuna cannery in the port of Pago Pago, the main town in American Samoa, produces as much as 80% of the revenue for the US Territory of American Samoa. It is also the largest plant owned by the company, and the primary source of its product, which is sold in stores across the rest of the United States. The population of American Samoa is around 55,000, nearly all of whom live on the main island of Tutulia, where Pago Pago is the principal city and harbor. The territory, one of five populated US Territories, is 92% Pacific Islander, and has the lowest per capita income in the USA, as well as one of the highest rates of service in the military. Unlike the other four US Territories with populations and governments (CNMI, Guam, USVI, and Puerto Rico), American Samoans are not US citizens by birth, but “American Nationals,” instead. This gives them more autonomy at home, where 90% of the land is shared in a native communal system, and helps preserve other cultural traditions, but is less convenient when outside the territory, as not being citizens limits the types of work they are allowed to do in the rest of the USA. Though they can have US passports issued to them, they are stamped with a statement that the bearer is not a US citizen. American Samoa is the only populated place in the USA south of the equator.