ABSTRACT
Samoa is situated in Oceania about 2,000 kilometres north-east of New Zealand. It is made up of two large islands, Savaii and Upolu, the small islands of Manono and Apolima and six islets lying off the coasts. The total land area is about 2,929 square kilometres of which 1,115 square kilometres comprise Upolu and the rest Savaii (New Zealand Dept of Island Territories 1954). Apia is the only city as well as being the political and commercial capital of Samoa. The Apia urban area is part of a coastal plain extending over five kilometres to the east and covering an area of land to the west some 32 kilometres to the Faleolo International Airport.
