Education is free and compulsory for all children between the ages of 6 and 18. Economy and Government Agriculture is a principal occupation, and tuna fishing and tourism are major industries. The economy, however, is largely dependent on grants and appropriations from the Congress of the United States. Samoans are U.S. nationals, and their constitution contains most of the guarantees of the U.S. Bill of Rights. The islands are administered by the U.S. Department of the Interior.
Executive authority lies with the governor.
History Ethnologists believe that two waves of immigrants populated Samoa. The first group probably originated in southwestern Asia, and the later migration displaced the original Samoans, who then colonized the more easterly Polynesian islands. In 1722 Dutch navigator Jacob Roggeveen became the first European to visit the islands. During the 19th century, Germany, Great Britain, and the United States established commercial posts on the islands. In 1878 the United States annexed Pago Pago for use as a naval coaling station.