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Polynesia

American Samoa

American Samoa is a territory of the United States, in Polynesia. UN Tourism counted 19,000 international arrivals there in 2019, rarer than 98% of the 199 places with figures, so its stamp in Globestamp is printed in Mythic.

American Samoa’s stamp in Globestamp
Mythic · fewer than 50,000 visitors a year
International arrivals
19,000in 2019, UN Tourism
Rank by visitors
195th of 199most visited first
Stamp finish
Mythicrarer than 98%
Area
181 km² (70 sq mi)
Population
55,000Natural Earth estimate
Regions
5in Globestamp’s regions layer
Airports
3with scheduled flights

Does American Samoa count as a country?

It depends on the list. American Samoa is a territory of the United States, so it is not one of the UN’s 193 members, but Globestamp’s list of 250 countries and territories counts it on its own. The Travelers’ Century Club counts it as “Samoa, American”.

ListCounts American Samoa?
UN member states (193)No
Globestamp’s countries and territories (250)Yes
Travelers’ Century Club (330)Yes, as Samoa, American
European UnionNo
Schengen areaNo

American Samoa belongs to the United States, but travelers usually count it on its own, because it has its own entry rules, its own flag or its own place on the map. Other places in the same family: Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, United States Minor Outlying Islands and United States Virgin Islands.

The American Samoa stamp

Every country in Globestamp has its own stamp, drawn after a real entry stamp. Its finish shows how few travelers get there. American Samoa’s is Mythic: a living finish taken from the place itself, the finish for places with fewer than 50,000 visitors a year. With 19,000 international arrivals in 2019, American Samoa is rarer than 98% of the 199 places with figures. See every stamp on the stamp wall, or the rarest on the least-visited countries.

What counts as a visit to American Samoa

The common rule among travelers is that you set foot there: an airport layover usually doesn’t count, and a port where you went ashore does. Globestamp counts American Samoa when one of your photos was taken on its ground, or just off its coast; a photo taken from a plane never counts. Photos only at an airport make a transit stamp in lighter ink, counted only if you count layovers. Read more in how to count the countries you’ve visited.

Airports

American Samoa has 3 airports with scheduled flights, 1 of them large. Each is a dot on Globestamp’s airports layer, and every flight you log adds to how far you’ve flown (try the flight distance calculator).

5 regions to fill in

Globestamp goes deeper than countries: its regions layer splits American Samoa into 5 regions (Natural Earth’s first-level divisions), and each one fills in when a photo was taken there.

All 5

Eastern District · Manu'a Islands · Rose Atoll · Swains Island · Western District

Questions people ask

Is American Samoa a country?

It depends on the list. American Samoa is a territory of the United States, so it is not one of the UN’s 193 members, but Globestamp’s list of 250 countries and territories counts it on its own. The Travelers’ Century Club counts it as “Samoa, American”.

How many tourists visit American Samoa a year?

UN Tourism (via the World Bank) counted 19,200 international arrivals in American Samoa in 2019, the 195th most of the 199 places with figures. Countries count arrivals in different ways (some include day-trippers and cruise passengers), so treat it as a rough rank rather than an exact number of tourists.

How rare is a American Samoa stamp in Globestamp?

It is printed in Mythic, the finish for places with fewer than 50,000 visitors a year, rarer than 98% of the places with figures. The fewer travelers a place receives, the rarer its finish, from plain Ink to Mythic.

Does American Samoa count for the Travelers’ Century Club?

Yes. The Travelers’ Century Club counts it as “Samoa, American”, one of its 330 destinations.

Places as rare as American Samoa

Near American Samoa

Sources