Savai‘i

Savai'i: Lano beach

Visit the lava fields and see the ruins on the island of Savai‘i, SamoaSee all videos for this article

Savai‘i, westernmost and largest island of Samoa, in the South Pacific Ocean. It is separated from Upolu to the east by the Apolima Strait. Savai‘i is about 50 miles (80 km) long and 25 miles (40 km) across at its widest point. The island is extremely mountainous, reaching 6,095 feet (1,858 metres) at Mount Silisili, its highest point. A string of volcanic craters extends from the east coast at Tuasivi to Samoa’s westernmost point at Cape Mulinu‘u. Eruptions in the early 1900s ruined many plantations on Savai‘i, but the volcanoes have been quiescent since 1911.

Visit a traditional fale (open-sided house) on the island of Savai‘i, SamoaSee all videos for this article

Savai‘i is less developed than neighbouring Upolu, and its cultural life is considered more traditional. The chief settlement is Tuasivi, on the eastern coast. The island’s products include coconuts, copra, bananas, cacao, and taro. Some cattle are raised, and wild pigs are plentiful. A government-sponsored reforestation program began at Asau in the northwest in 1970, but wildfires destroyed nearly one-fourth of the island’s forests in 1998. Savai‘i is occasionally struck by devastating tropical cyclones, as occurred in 1990–91. Area 654 square miles (1,694 square km). Pop. (2011) 44,402.