FAO Forestry country profiles - natural woody vegetation

Forest cover map

The designations employed and the presentation of material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.

Map source: Global Forest Resources Assessment 2000, base map: ESRI

The above map is an extract from the Global Forest Cover map produced as part of FRA 2000. Please refer to FRA Working Paper 19 for a background to the production of the map.

Part of the Samoan archipelago, the Independent State of Samoa is comprised politically of the largest two islands in the group (which also includes six islands that comprise American Samoa): Savai´i is 1 820 km2 and 1 860 m high; ´Upolu is 1 110 km2, 1 100 m high. The islands are in the south-east tradewind belt and receive much rainfall. Savai´i is still active volcanically, while ´Upolu is extinct or at least dormant. Vegetation types include littoral, mangrove, and swamp forests, and a range of rain forest types. The following description of vegetation types is derived from Mueller-Dombois and Fosberg (1998).