Geography

Samoa is located east of the International Dateline between longitudes 171 and 172 degrees west and latitudes 13 and 14 degrees south of the Equator. It is about 2890km from Auckland, 1200km from Suva, 4400km from Sydney and 8400km from Los Angeles.

Samoa is comprised of two relatively large islands, Upolu and Savaii (which account for approximately 96% of the total land area) and eight smaller islands. The capital Apia and Faleolo International Airport are located on the island of Upolu. Total land area is 2934 sq km. The islands are volcanic and dominated by rugged mountain ranges with a fringe of coral reefs and lagoons which surround the islands.

Flora & Fauna

Samoa's tropical climate and fertile soils offer a wide range of flora from tropical rainforests to scrublands, marshes and swamps. Animal species include flying foxes, land and sea birds, skinks and geckos. In the surrounding ocean, dolphins, whales and porpoises migrate through Samoa's waters, while turtles are regular visitors to our islands. The surrounding reefs around the islands are home to some 900 fish species and over 200 varieties of coral.

Lance Polu wrote a critical editorial on Talamua.com late last month about Samoan journalists being invited to a meeting by government officials, where they were asked to not report on the production of an American television show at a meeting. A production representative "asked that the name of the series be kept out of the media until an official announcement in May. Their logistics team is ariving in Samoa in April and they expect none of their activities to be reported by the local media."

The piece doesn't mention Survivor but says it's a CBS show "filmed in different countries [that] is about individuals being tested for their survival skills in various remote locations," and said it will be filmed "a short distance from a couple of luxury hotels and Faleolo International Airport which is just three hours from Auckland."