Western District

Western District occupies the western portion of Tutuila island with 74.8 km² and 29 villages, including Tafuna—American Samoa's largest village and the territory's primary growth zone. While Eastern District hosts employment at the cannery, Western District increasingly captures residential population: housing stock grew 21.7% while Eastern and Manu'a districts declined, reflecting urbanization patterns common to island economies. The flat terrain suitable for construction attracts development that steep volcanic Eastern District cannot accommodate. Pago Pago International Airport sits in the Western District, making it the entry point for goods and people. Yet the district's economy remains derivative—residents commute to Eastern District's cannery jobs or work in the government sector that constitutes one of the territory's two main economic pillars. American Samoa's traditional land system concentrates here: 90% of all land is communally owned under matai authority, with family lineage determining access and usage rights. This creates economic tension between development pressure and customary tenure. Western District's growth represents classic source-sink dynamics in reverse: it absorbs population while depending on economic production located elsewhere. The emerging commercial zone around Tafuna provides retail and service employment, but the fundamental economic engine—tuna processing and federal transfers—flows through other nodes.