Samoa (redirected from Independent State of Western Samoa)

Samoa, island chain, SW Pacific Ocean

Samoa, chain of volcanic islands in the South Pacific, comprising the independent nation of Samoa (formerly Western Samoa), and E of long. 171° W, the islands of American Samoa, under U.S. control. The Samoan islands extend c.350 mi (560 km), with a total land area of c.1,200 sq mi (3,110 sq km), and lie midway between Honolulu, Hawaii, and Sydney, Australia. The major islands are volcanic and mountainous and are surrounded by coral reefs. Soil in the interior is rocky; most cultivation takes place along the coast. Temperatures range from 90°F; (32.2°C;) in December, the hottest month, to 75°F; (23.9°C;) in August; the annual rainfall is 190 in. (483 cm), with the rainy season occurring between December and March.

The natives are Polynesians who may have arrived in the islands as early as 1000 B.C. From Samoa they swept out across the Pacific (c.A.D. 1200), carrying Polynesian civilization to innumerable other islands. The Dutch explorer Jacob Roggeveen was the first European to visit (1722) Samoa. Subsequent European expansion into the islands led to disorder and violence, which was compounded by tribal warfare. The first European missionaries arrived in 1830. Between 1847 and 1861, the United States, Great Britain, and Germany sent representatives to Samoa, and in 1878 the United States and the Samoan kingdom signed a treaty giving the United States certain trade privileges and the right to establish a naval station at Pago Pago. Germany and Great Britain were accorded similar privileges in 1879. A tripartite treaty in 1899 between Great Britain, the United States, and Germany recognized U.S. interests east of long. 171°W; Germany was granted the western islands, and Great Britain withdrew from the area in consideration of rights in Tonga and the Solomon Islands. New Zealand seized the German islands in 1914 during World War I and received a mandate to administer them from the League of Nations in 1920. In 1946 they became a UN trust territory held by New Zealand. In 1962 the independent nation of Western Samoa was created from the New Zealand territory; it was renamed in 1997. The eastern islands remained under U.S. control.

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Samoa, country, SW Pacific Ocean

Samoa, formerly Western Samoa, officially Independent State of Samoa, constitutional monarchy (2005 est. pop. 177,000), South Pacific, comprising the western half of the Samoa island chain. There are nine major islands: Upolu, Savai'i, Apolima, Manono, Fanuatapu, Namua, Nuutele, Nuula, and Nuusafee, with a total land area of 1,097 sq mi (2,842 sq km). Apia, the capital, is on Upolu.

Land, People, and Economy

All the islands are mountainous, fertile, and surrounded by coral reefs; extensive volcanic activity occurred on Savai'i early in the 20th cent. The population, which is predominantly Polynesian and Christian, speaks Samoan (a Polynesian language) and English. The people are engaged largely in subsistence agriculture; the chief exports are copra, cocoa, and bananas. Tourism is also important.

History

All of the Samoan islands west of long. 171°W were awarded to Germany under the terms of an 1899 treaty among Germany, the United States, and Great Britain. New Zealand seized the islands from Germany in 1914 and obtained a mandate over them from the League of Nations in 1921. The United Nations made the islands a trusteeship of New Zealand in 1946. New Zealand rule was unpopular, and in the 1930s a resistance movement (known as mau) emerged among Europeans and native Polynesians. In 1961 a United Nations–supervised plebiscite was held, and on Jan. 1, 1962, the islands became independent as Western Samoa. The nation was renamed Samoa in 1997.

Samoa, a constitutional monarchy, has a 49-member legislative assembly. Since 1991 all of its members have been elected by universal suffrage, but candidates can be chosen only from among the titled heads of families (matai), except for two members elected by non–ethnic Samoans. Executive power rests in the head of state, who is selected by the assembly from among the royal families; the head of state in turn chooses a prime minister and cabinet from among members of the assembly. Chief Susuga Malietoa Tanumafili II became co-chief of state in 1962 and sole chief of state in 1963; Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi has been prime minister since 1998.

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Samoa

 officially Independent State of Samoa formerly Western Samoa

Island country, central South Pacific Ocean, among the westernmost of the island nations of Polynesia. Area: 1,093 sq mi (2,831 sq km). Population (2005 est.): 185,000. Capital: Apia (on Upolu Island). The people are mainly Polynesian, closely akin to Tongans and to New Zealand's Maori. Languages: Samoan, English (both official). Religion: Christianity (mostly Protestant; also Roman Catholic, other Christians). Currency: tala. Samoa is part of the Samoan archipelago and consists of two major islands, Upolu and Savai'i, both of which are volcanic. There are also seven small islands, two of which, Apolima and Manono, are inhabited. Samoa has a developing economy based mainly on agriculture, with some light manufacturing, fishing, lumbering, and tourism. It is a constitutional monarchy with one legislative house; the paramount chief is the head of state, and the head of government is the prime minister. Polynesians inhabited the islands for thousands of years before Europeans arrived there in the 18th century. The islands were contested by the U.S., Britain, and Germany until 1899, when they were divided between the U.S. and Germany. In 1914 Western Samoa was occupied by New Zealand, which received it as a League of Nations mandate in 1920. After World War II it became a UN trust territory administered by New Zealand. It achieved independence in 1962. In 1997 the word Western was dropped from the country's name.

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Samoa

1. an independent state occupying four inhabited islands and five uninhabited islands in the S Pacific archipelago of the Samoa Islands: established as a League of Nations mandate under New Zealand administration in 1920 and a UN trusteeship in 1946; gained independence as Western Samoa in 1962 as the first fully independent Polynesian state; officially changed its name to Samoa in 1997; a member of the Commonwealth. Languages: Samoan and English. Religion: Christian. Currency: tala. Capital: Apia. Pop.: 180 000 (2004 est.). Area 2841 sq. km (1097 sq. miles)

2. a group of islands in the S Pacific, northeast of Fiji: an independent kingdom until the mid 19th century, when it was divided administratively into American Samoa (in the east) and German Samoa (in the west); the latter was mandated to New Zealand in 1919 and gained full independence in 1962 as Western Samoa, now Samoa (sense 1). Area: 3038 sq. km (1173 sq. miles)