What are the largest cities in Samoa?

Answer 1

Samoa has 2 major cities if you call them that; Apia and Salelologa. They are more like towns.

There is Apia, the capital in the island of Upolu. Apia the capital is not to be confused with Apia the village. There is a village called Apia within Apia the capital. For the purposes of this answer, we are talking about Apia the capital. Population is around 50,000 according to wikipedia.

Interestingly, Apia the capital, does not have a central adminstrating council / municipal government. It is composed of a mixture of freehold land and traditional villages on traditionally owned land.

Freehold land is land which you buy and sell. It the same as the concept of land ownership in Western countries. You can take freehold land to the bank as collateral to make a loan. Traditionally owned land is another thing altogether. Traditionally owned can not be sold or purchased. So it cannot be used for collateral. Traditionally owned land is under the authority of chiefs and village councils of that village.

The combination of freehold and traditionally owned land makes it very difficult to do any town planning in Apia. Although recently, the government with assistance from the Australian Government is looking at the issues of managing Apia as a city.

Then there is Salelologa in the island of Savaii. Salelologa is the biggest commercial center in Savaii. It is much smaller than Apia.