Upolu : Ask Biography

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Upolu is an island in Samoa, formed by a massive basaltic shield volcano which rises from the seafloor of the western Pacific Ocean. The island is 75 km (46.6 mi) long, 1125 km2 (434.4 sqmi) in area, and is the second largest in geographic area as well as the most populated of the Samoan islands. 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 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 Samoan branch of Polynesian mythology, Upolu was the first woman on the island of the same name.

In the late 19th century Robert Louis Stevenson owned a four-hundred acre (1.6 km2) estate at Vailima village and died there in 1894. He is buried at the top of Mount Vaea 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 lives on Upolu. According to the Guinness Book of World Records 2005, the spider is the size of a fullstop on a printed page.

The island was the filming location for Survivor: Samoa, the nineteenth season of the CBS competitive reality television series, as well as Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains, the twentieth season of the series, and Survivor: South Pacific, the upcoming twenty-third season of the series.

The island was the location of the infamous WWASP School known as Paradise Cove from 1994 until it was shutdown by Samoan authorities in 1999 under allegations of abuse.