Mauga is a village in
Savai'i island in
Samoa
Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands (Manono Island, Manono an ...
. The village is in the Gaga'emauga 1 constituency, a sub-division of the larger
Gaga'emauga district. The population is 162.
The word ''mauga'' means ''mountain'' in the
Samoan language
Samoan ( or ; ) is a Polynesian language spoken by Samoans of the Samoan Islands. Administratively, the islands are split between the sovereign country of Samoa and the United States territory of American Samoa. It is an official language, a ...
. The settlement is built around the crater of a small volcano.
Mauga is in the
Gaga'emauga political district near the central north coast of the island. The large meeting houses of the village are situated in a circle facing each other around the rim of the crater which can be seen in high altitude photography.
The main island road passes by the village which is situated about a 40-minute drive north west from
Salelologa township and ferry terminal. To the southeast is
Samalae'ulu village and to the west
Saleaula where the main road cuts through large areas of black lava fields.
The physical setting of Gaga'emauga I district contains no development along its 10 km coastline, unlike the rest of the island, due to the barren lava cliffs by the sea. Lava from the island's interior flowed in a pathway between Mauga and Samalae'ulu to the ocean, filling the lagoon. The lava fields resulted in the settlement moving inland.
[ There are ruins of a historic ]Catholic
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...
mission site on the coast.
References
Populated places in Gaga'emauga
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