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Samoa joined the Committee for Coordination of Joint Prospecting for Mineral Resources in South Pacific Offshore Areas [CCOP/SOPAC], as a founding member in 1972. CCOP/SOPAC became autonomous in 1984 and later changed its name to the South Pacific Applied Geoscience Commission [SOPAC] in 1989.

Samoa is located at 13° 35° South and 172° 20° West, in the Pacific Ocean. It consists of 2 main islands and 8 smaller islands of volcanic origins. Apia, the capital city is located on the second largest island of Upolu. The total land area of Samoa is 2936 square kilometres and at the last population count in 2001, the total population stood at 176 710 people.

The Islands of Samoa are almost wholly composed of basic volcanic rocks such as olivine basalt, picrite basalt and olivine dolerite of the alkaline basalt suite. “Though not well endowed with coral reefs, they surround the islands for nearly half of the coastline, except where there are steep cliffs and where recent volcanic flows have covered large parts of the coastal areas�. (National Assessment Report, 2002).

The climate is tropical and marked by distinct wet (November – April) and dry (May – October) seasons. The average rainfall is about 3000mm. Samoa is subject to various natural hazards such as cyclones, flooding associated with cyclonic events and heavy downpours, earthquakes, tsunamis, landslides, coastal erosion, and other human induced and biological hazards such as health epidemics, invasive species, oil and chemical spills.

Offshore exploration of Samoa’s seabed indicates the presence of manganese nodules within its EEZ. If fully explored and developed, manganese nodules have the potential to be off economic benefit to the Islands of Samoa.

Approximately 95 per cent of the Samoan population have access to piped water. The volcanic origin of Samoa has resulted in terrains that have abundant streams and waterfalls. In the western part of Upolu and the larger parts of Savai’i, the highly permeable nature of the Mulifauna volcanic rocks result in a lack of any surface water, thus, groundwater and rainwater catchments are the common sources of water in these areas.

Samoa, like other Pacific island countries, still relies on imported fossil fuel for its energy needs. Electricity generation in Samoa in 2002 was 53% diesel with the rest from hydropower. The transport sector at present is totally reliant on fossil fuel as an energy source. There is potential for renewable energy in Samoa, however this has yet to be fully explored. However, known types of renewable energy that exists in Samoa include geothermal, hydropower and solar energy.

Despite the raising global prices of items such as fuel and the impact of natural disasters on Samoa, their economy continues to be resilient and steadily in relation to pacific standards. Agriculture remains a dominant contributor to the overall GDP of the Samoan economy. Recently, the construction and tourism industry was on the rise due to key pacific events to take place or have taken place as well as the low cost of airfares in the airline industry. (http://www.adb.org/documents/books/ado/2005/sam.asp)