Taū County is a
county
A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...
in the
Manu'a District in
American Samoa
American Samoa is an Territories of the United States, unincorporated and unorganized territory of the United States located in the Polynesia region of the Pacific Ocean, South Pacific Ocean. Centered on , it is southeast of the island count ...
. Taʻū County is home to the villages of
Lumā and
Siʻufaga, which are commonly jointly called Taʻū Village.
Located in the waters just west of the Taʻū County is the Valley of Giants, one of the world's largest and oldest coral colonies. Among its notable features is "Big Momma," also known as "Fale Bommie," a massive coral formation standing 6.4 meters high with a circumference of 41 meters. It is estimated to be over 530 years old. According to the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA ) is an American scientific and regulatory agency charged with Weather forecasting, forecasting weather, monitoring oceanic and atmospheric conditions, Hydrography, charting the seas, ...
(NOAA), it is the largest known
coral head
Corals are colonial marine invertebrates within the subphylum Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact colonies of many identical individual polyps. Coral species include the important reef builders that inhabit tropical oce ...
in the world.
Demographics
Ta'u County was first recorded beginning with the 1912 special census. Regular decennial censuses were taken beginning in 1920.
Its population zenith was in 1950, with 771 residents. It has since declined to its lowest point since the census began recording, just 358 residents. Manu'a District as a whole has similarly declined in population since that time.
Villages
*
Amouli, Ta'u County (now ghost)
*
Lumā
*
Siʻufaga
References
Populated places in American Samoa
Counties of American Samoa
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