Samoa

SAMOA, KNOWN UNTIL 1997 as Western Samoa, has a land area of 1,093 sq. mi. (2,831 sq. km.), with a population of 187,000 (2006 est.) and a population density of 169 people per sq. mi. (65 people per sq. km.). With the economy dominated by subsistence agriculture, 19 percent of the country is arable, and 47 percent is forested.

From 1990 until 2003, the per capita carbon dioxide emissions from the country have been fairly stable, at between 0.7 and 0.8 metric tons per person. These emissions come entirely from liquid fuels, which are [Page 882]produced from transportation, electricity generation, and the running of small household and factory generators. Fossil fuels—petroleum—generate 59.2 percent of the electricity, with the remainder coming from hydropower.