Upolu
Encyclopedia
Island
An island or isle is any piece of sub-continental land that is surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, cays or keys. An island in a river or lake may be called an eyot , or holm...
in Samoa
Samoa
Samoa , officially the Independent State of Samoa, formerly known as Western Samoa is a country encompassing the western part of the Samoan Islands in the South Pacific Ocean. It became independent from New Zealand in 1962. The two main islands of Samoa are Upolu and one of the biggest islands in...
, formed by a massive basalt
Basalt
Basalt is a common extrusive volcanic rock. It is usually grey to black and fine-grained due to rapid cooling of lava at the surface of a planet. It may be porphyritic containing larger crystals in a fine matrix, or vesicular, or frothy scoria. Unweathered basalt is black or grey...
ic shield volcano
Shield volcano
A shield volcano is a type of volcano usually built almost entirely of fluid lava flows. They are named for their large size and low profile, resembling a warrior's shield. This is caused by the highly fluid lava they erupt, which travels farther than lava erupted from more explosive volcanoes...
which rises from the seafloor of the western Pacific Ocean. The island is 75 kilometres (47 mi) long, 1125 km² (434 sq mi) in area, and is the second largest in geographic area as well as the most populated of the Samoan Islands
Samoan Islands
The Samoan Islands or Samoa Islands is an archipelago covering in the central South Pacific, forming part of Polynesia and the wider region of Oceania...
. Upolu is situated to the east of the "big island", Savai'i. The capital Apia is in the middle of the north coast with Faleolo International Airport
Faleolo International Airport
Faleolo International Airport is an airport located west of Apia, the capital of Samoa.Until 1984, Faleolo could not accommodate jets larger than a Boeing 737...
at the western end of the island. The island has not had any historically recorded eruptions, although three lava flows date back only a few hundred to a few thousand years.
In the Samoa
Samoa
Samoa , officially the Independent State of Samoa, formerly known as Western Samoa is a country encompassing the western part of the Samoan Islands in the South Pacific Ocean. It became independent from New Zealand in 1962. The two main islands of Samoa are Upolu and one of the biggest islands in...
n branch of Polynesian mythology
Polynesian mythology
Polynesian mythology is the oral traditions of the people of Polynesia, a grouping of Central and South Pacific Ocean island archipelagos in the Polynesian triangle together with the scattered cultures known as the Polynesian outliers...
, Upolu was the first woman on the island of the same name.
In 1841, the island was the site of the Bombardment of Upolu
Bombardment of Upolu
The Bombardment of Upolu, in 1841, was the second engagement with islanders of the Pacific Ocean during the United States exploring expedition. Following the murder of an American sailor on the island of Upolu, Samoa, two United States Navy warships were despatched to protect American lives and...
, an incident during the United States Exploring Expedition
United States Exploring Expedition
The United States Exploring Expedition was an exploring and surveying expedition of the Pacific Ocean and surrounding lands conducted by the United States from 1838 to 1842. The original appointed commanding officer was Commodore Thomas ap Catesby Jones. The voyage was authorized by Congress in...
.
In the late 19th century, Robert Louis Stevenson
Robert Louis Stevenson
Robert Louis Balfour Stevenson was a Scottish novelist, poet, essayist and travel writer. His best-known books include Treasure Island, Kidnapped, and Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde....
owned a four-hundred-acre (1.6 km²) estate at Vailima
Vailima
Vailima may refer to:*Vailima is a village in Samoa, notable as the last residence of Robert Louis Stevenson*Vailima is a genus of jumping spiders*Vailima is a beer brewed in Samoa by Samoa Breweries Limited...
village and died there in 1894. He is buried at the top of Mount Vaea
Mount Vaea
Mount Vaea is a 472m summit overlooking Apia, the capital of Samoa located on the north central coast of Upolu island. The mountain is situated south about 3 km inland from Apia township and harbour...
above his former home. The Vailima estate was purchased in 1900 as official residence for the German governor and, after British/Dominion confiscation, served successively as residence for the New Zealand administrator and for the Samoan head of state after independence.
An extremely small species of spider
Spider
Spiders are air-breathing arthropods that have eight legs, and chelicerae with fangs that inject venom. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species diversity among all other groups of organisms...
lives on Upolu. According to the Guinness Book of World Records 2005, the spider is the size of a full stop
Full stop
A full stop is the punctuation mark commonly placed at the end of sentences. In American English, the term used for this punctuation is period. In the 21st century, it is often also called a dot by young people...
on a printed page.
The island was the filming location for Survivor: Samoa
Survivor: Samoa
Survivor: Samoa is the nineteenth season of the American CBS competitive reality television series Survivor. The season premiered on Thursday, September 17, 2009....
, the nineteenth season of the CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
competitive reality television
Reality television
Reality television is a genre of television programming that presents purportedly unscripted dramatic or humorous situations, documents actual events, and usually features ordinary people instead of professional actors, sometimes in a contest or other situation where a prize is awarded...
series, as well as Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains, the twentieth season of the series, and Survivor: South Pacific
Survivor: South Pacific
Survivor: South Pacific is the twenty-third season of the American CBS competitive reality television series Survivor, which premiered on Wednesday, September 14, 2011. The season was filmed in the vicinity of Upolu, Samoa, which is the same filming location as season 19 and season 20, and it will...
, the twenty-third season of the series.
The island was the location of the WWASP School known as Paradise Cove from 1994 until it was shut down by Samoan authorities in 1999 under allegations of abuse.
2009 Samoa tsunami
The island of Upolu was affected by a tsunami region at 06:48:11 local time on 29 September 2009 (17:48:11 UTCCoordinated Universal Time
Coordinated Universal Time is the primary time standard by which the world regulates clocks and time. It is one of several closely related successors to Greenwich Mean Time. Computer servers, online services and other entities that rely on having a universally accepted time use UTC for that purpose...
). Twenty villages on Upolu's south side were reportedly destroyed, including Lepa
Lepa
Lepa is a small village at the southeastern end of Upolu island in Samoa. The village has a population of 170 . It is also the name of an electoral faipule district, Lepa Electoral Constituency, which consists of 6 villages, including Lepa village, with a total population of 1,429...
, the home of Samoa's Prime Minister Tuilaepa Lupesoliai Sailele Malielegaoi. In Lepa, only the church and the village's welcome sign remained standing following the tsunami.
"Survivor" favorite
Upolu is the location for the American reality show SurvivorSurvivor (U.S. TV series)
Survivor is an American version of the Survivor reality television game show, itself derived from the Swedish television series Expedition Robinson originally created in 1997 by Charlie Parsons. The series premiered on May 31, 2000 on CBS...
in seasons 19
Survivor: Samoa
Survivor: Samoa is the nineteenth season of the American CBS competitive reality television series Survivor. The season premiered on Thursday, September 17, 2009....
, 20, 23
Survivor: South Pacific
Survivor: South Pacific is the twenty-third season of the American CBS competitive reality television series Survivor, which premiered on Wednesday, September 14, 2011. The season was filmed in the vicinity of Upolu, Samoa, which is the same filming location as season 19 and season 20, and it will...
and 24. This makes it the most used location in the show's history.