Upolu is an island in Samoa, formed by a massive basalticshield volcano which rises from the seafloor of the western Pacific Ocean. The island is long, in area, and is the second largest in geographic area as well as with 135,000 people the most populated of the Samoan Islands. Upolu is situated to the southeast of the "big island", Savai'i. The capitalApia 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.