informal defence ties with New Zealand, which is required to consider any request for assistance from Samoa under the bilateral Treaty of Friendship of 1962. Officers of the national police force, the Samoa Police Service, are regularly unarmed, but may be armed in exceptional circumstances with ministerial approval. In 2022 there is about 900–1,100 police officers in Samoa. Geography Samoa lies south of the equator, about halfway between Hawaii and New Zealand, in the Polynesian region of the Pacific Ocean. The total land area is , consisting of the two large islands of Upolu and Savai'i (which together account for 99% of the total land area) and eight small islets. The islets are: the three islets in the Apolima Strait (Manono Island, Apolima and Nu'ulopa) the four Aleipata Islands off the eastern end of Upolu (Nu'utele, Nu'ulua, Namua, and Fanuatapu) Nu'usafe'e, which is less than in area and lies about off the south coast of Upolu at the village of VaovaiThe main island of Upolu is home to nearly three-quarters of Samoa's population, and to the capital city, Apia. The Samoan islands result geologically from volcanism, originating with the Samoa hotspot, which probably results from a mantle plume. While all of the islands have volcanic origins, only Savai'i, the westernmost island in Samoa, remains volcanically active, with the most recent eruptions at Mt Matavanu (1905–1911), Mata o le Afi (1902) and Mauga Afi (1725). The highest point in Samoa is Mt Silisili, at . The Saleaula lava fields situated on the central north coast of Savai'i result from the Mt Matavanu eruptions, which left of solidified lava. Savai'i is the largest of the Samoan islands and the sixth-largest Polynesian island (after New Zealand's North, South and Stewart Islands and the Hawaiian islands of Hawaiʻi and Maui). The population of Savai'i is 42,000 people. Climate Samoa has an equatorial climate, with an average annual temperature of and a main rainy season from November to April, although heavy rain may fall in any month. Ecology Samoa forms part of the Samoan tropical moist forests ecoregion. Since human habitation began, about 80% of the lowland rainforests have disappeared. Within the ecoregion about 28% of plants and 84% of land birds are endemic. Economy The United Nations has classified Samoa as an economically developing country since 2014. Samoa's gross domestic product in purchasing-power parity was estimated at $1.13 billion U.S. dollars, ranking the country