Editing Samoa

{{Short description|Island country in Polynesia, Oceania}}
{{about|the nation of Samoa|the geographical region|Samoan Islands|the territory of the United States|American Samoa|other uses}}
{{pp-move}}
{{Use New Zealand English|date=November 2021}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2023}}
{{Infobox country
| conventional_long_name = Independent State of Samoa
| common_name            = Samoa
| native_name            = {{native name|sm|Malo Sa{{okina}}oloto Tuto{{okina}}atasi o Sāmoa<wbr />}}
| image_flag             = Flag of Samoa.svg
| image_coat             = Coat of arms of Samoa.svg
| symbol_type            = Coat of arms
| national_motto         = ''Faʻavae i le [[Atua]] Sāmoa''<br />"Samoa is founded on God"
| national_anthem        = ''[[The Banner of Freedom|O Le Fuʻa o le Saʻolotoga o Sāmoa]]''<br />"The Banner of Freedom"<div style="padding-top:0.5em;" class="center"></div>
| image_map              = Samoa on the globe (Polynesia centered).svg
| map_caption            = Location of Samoa
| image_map2             = Samoa - Location Map (2013) - WSM - UNOCHA.svg
| map_caption2           = Map of Samoa
| capital                = [[Apia]]
| coordinates            = {{Coord|13|50|00|S|171|45|44|W|type:city}}
| largest_city           = Apia
| official_languages     = [[Samoan language|Samoan]], [[English language|English]]
| religion               = {{unbulleted list|
{{Tree list}}
*97.9% [[Christianity]] ([[State religion|official]])<ref name="Religion"/>
**54.9% [[Protestantism]]
**18.8% [[Catholicism]]
**16.9% [[Mormonism]]
**7.3% other [[Christian]]
{{Tree list/end}}
 |1.7% [[Irreligion|no religion]]
 |0.4% others<ref name=sbs>{{cite web |title=Samoa Population and Housing Census 2021 |url=https://www.sbs.gov.ws/documents/census/2021/Census_2021_Final_Report.pdf?_t=1670528927 |access-date=10 January 2023 |archive-date=3 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190403053500/http://www.sbs.gov.ws/index.php/population-demography-and-vital-statistics |url-status=live }}</ref>
 }}
| religion_year          = 2021
| ethnic_groups          = {{unbulleted list
 |92.6% [[Samoans]]
 |7.0% [[Euronesian]]s
 |0.3% [[Europeans]]
 |0.1% others<ref name=cia>{{cite web |url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/samoa/ |title=Samoa |work=CIA – The World Factbook |date=26 October 2021 |access-date=24 January 2021 |archive-date=28 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211028124346/https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/samoa/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
 }}
| ethnic_groups_year     = 2021
| demonym                = [[Samoans|Samoan]]
| government_type        = [[Unitary parliamentary republic]]<!--- Consensus in the talk page is that Samoa is a Republic.--->
| leader_title1          = [[O le Ao o le Malo]]{{efn|Head of state}}<!-- Per WP:COMMONNAME -->
| leader_name1           = [[Tuimalealiʻifano Vaʻaletoʻa Sualauvi II]]
| leader_title2          = [[Prime Minister of Samoa|Prime Minister]]
| leader_name2           = [[Fiamē Naomi Mataʻafa]]
| leader_title3          = {{nowrap|[[Legislative Assembly of Samoa|Assembly Speaker]]}}
| leader_name3           = [[Papaliʻi Liʻo Taeu Masipau]]
| legislature            = [[Legislative Assembly of Samoa|Legislative Assembly]]
| sovereignty_type       = [[Independence]]
| sovereignty_note       = from [[New Zealand]]
| established_event1     = [[Treaty of Berlin (1889)|Treaty of Berlin]]
| established_date1      = 14 June 1889
| established_event2     = [[Tripartite Convention]]
| established_date2      = 16 February 1900
| established_event3     = [[German Samoa|Colonisation by Germany]]
| established_date3      = 1 March 1900
| established_event4     = [[Western Samoa Trust Territory|Occupied by New Zealand]]
| established_date4      = 30 August 1914
| established_event5     = League mandate
| established_date5      = 17 December 1920
| established_event6     = UN trusteeship
| established_date6      = 13 December 1946
| established_event7     = Western Samoa Act 1961
| established_date7      = 1 January 1962
| area_km2               = 2,831<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/samoa/|title=Samoa|date=27 February 2023|publisher=Central Intelligence Agency|via=CIA.gov|access-date=24 January 2021|archive-date=28 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211028124346/https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/samoa/|url-status=live}}</ref>
| area_rank              = 167th<!-- Area rank should match [[List of countries and dependencies by area]] -->
| area_sq_mi             = 1093
| percent_water          = 0.3
| population_census      = 205,557<ref name=sbs/>
| population_census_year = November 2021
| population_census_rank = 176th
| population_density_km2 = 70
| population_density_sq_mi = 182
| GDP_PPP                = {{increase}}$1.225 billion<ref name=imf2>{{cite web |url=http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2018/01/weodata/weorept.aspx?pr.x=61&pr.y=2&sy=2018&ey=2021&scsm=1&ssd=1&sort=country&ds=.&br=1&c=862&s=NGDPD%2CNGDPDPC%2CPPPGDP%2CPPPPC&grp=0&a= |title=Samoa |publisher=International Monetary Fund |access-date=10 October 2018 |archive-date=10 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181010134944/https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2018/01/weodata/weorept.aspx?pr.x=61&pr.y=2&sy=2018&ey=2021&scsm=1&ssd=1&sort=country&ds=.&br=1&c=862&s=NGDPD%2CNGDPDPC%2CPPPGDP%2CPPPPC&grp=0&a |url-status=live }}</ref>
| GDP_PPP_year           = 2024
| GDP_PPP_rank           = 
| GDP_PPP_per_capita     = $5,962<ref name=imf2/>
| GDP_PPP_per_capita_rank = 
| GDP_nominal            = {{increase}}$908.561 million<ref name=imf2/>
| GDP_nominal_year       = 2024
| GDP_nominal_per_capita = $4,420<ref name=imf2/>
| Gini                   = 38.7 <!--number only-->
| Gini_year              = 2013
| Gini_change            = steady<!--increase/decrease/steady-->
| Gini_ref               = <ref name="wb-gini">{{cite web |url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/field/gini-index-coefficient-distribution-of-family-income/country-comparison/ |title=Gini Index coefficient |publisher=CIA World Factbook |access-date=16 July 2021 |archive-date=17 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210717071854/https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/field/gini-index-coefficient-distribution-of-family-income/country-comparison |url-status=live }}</ref>
| HDI                    = 0.702 <!--number only-->
| HDI_year               = 2022<!-- Please use the year to which the data refers, not the publication year-->
| HDI_change             = decrease<!--increase/decrease/steady-->
| HDI_ref                = <ref>{{Cite web |date=13 March 2024 |title=Human Development Report 2023/2024 |url=https://hdr.undp.org/system/files/documents/global-report-document/hdr2023-24reporten.pdf|url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240313164319/https://hdr.undp.org/system/files/documents/global-report-document/hdr2023-24reporten.pdf |archive-date=13 March 2024 |access-date=13 March 2024 |publisher=[[United Nations Development Programme]] |language=en}}</ref>
| HDI_rank               = 116th
| currency               = [[Samoan tālā|Tālā]] (WS[[Dollar sign|$]]{{efn|Symbols SAT, ST or T are in use as well. The terms {{lang|sm|tālā}} and {{lang|sm|sene}} are translations of the English words ''dollar'' and ''cent'' in the [[Samoan language]].}})
| currency_code          = WST
| time_zone              = [[UTC+13:00|WST]]
| utc_offset             = +13{{efn|Since 31 December 2011.<ref name="Samoa Changes Timezone">{{cite news |title=Samoa skips Friday in time zone change |url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-12-30/samoa-skips-friday-in-time-zone-change/3753350 |access-date=16 January 2012 |newspaper=ABC Australia |date=31 December 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120103071659/http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-12-30/samoa-skips-friday-in-time-zone-change/3753350 |archive-date=3 January 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref>}}
| date_format            = dd/mm/yyyy
| drives_on              = left{{efn|Since 7 September 2009.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://wheels.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/09/08/in-samoa-drivers-switch-to-left-side-of-the-road/ |work=The New York Times |title=In Samoa, Drivers Switch to Left Side of the Road |first=Richard S. |last=Chang |date=8 September 2009 |access-date=23 May 2010 |archive-date=9 July 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170709113806/https://wheels.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/09/08/in-samoa-drivers-switch-to-left-side-of-the-road/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Although driving is on the left side of the roadway centre line, Samoa allows cars with steering wheels on either the left or the right side of the vehicle to use the roads.}}
| calling_code           = [[+685]]
| cctld                  = [[.ws]]
| footnotes              = {{notelist}}
}}
'''Samoa''',{{efn|{{IPAc-en|ˈ|s|aː|m|ɔː|ə}} {{respell|SAH|maw|ə}};<ref>{{cite news |title=The 22 places you're probably pronouncing incorrectly |url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/travel/news/76397895/the-22-places-youre-probably-pronouncing-incorrectly |first=David |last=Whitley |date=29 January 2016 |access-date=8 February 2022 |website=[[Stuff (website)|Stuff]] |archive-date=8 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220208014714/https://www.stuff.co.nz/travel/news/76397895/the-22-places-youre-probably-pronouncing-incorrectly |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Samoa |url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195584516.001.0001/m-en_nz-msdict-00001-0046961?rskey=0FvU7f&result=46966 |access-date=8 February 2022 |website=The New Zealand Oxford Dictionary |doi=10.1093/acref/9780195584516.001.0001 |editor-first1=Tony |editor-last1=Deverson |editor-first2=Graeme |editor-last2=Kennedy |year=2005 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=978-0-19-558451-6 |archive-date=28 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220228215425/https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195584516.001.0001/m-en_nz-msdict-00001-0046961?rskey=0FvU7f&result=46966 |url-status=live }}</ref> British/American pronunciation: {{IPAc-en||s|ə|ˈ|m|oʊ|ə}} {{respell|sə|MOH|ə}}.<ref>{{Cite DPCE |page=1179}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/samoa |title=Definition of 'Samoa' |publisher=Collins |access-date=19 March 2022 |archive-date=31 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190831075311/https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/samoa |url-status=live }}</ref>}} officially the '''Independent State of Samoa'''{{efn|{{langx|sm|Malo Saʻoloto Tutoʻatasi o Sāmoa}}; {{langx|sm|Sāmoa}}, {{IPA|sm|ˈsaːmʊa|}}}} and known until 1997 as '''Western Samoa''',{{efn|{{Langx|sm|Sāmoa i Sisifo}}}} is an [[island country]] in [[Polynesia]], part of [[Oceania]], in the South [[Pacific Ocean]]. It consists of two main islands ([[Savai'i]] and [[Upolu]]), two smaller, inhabited islands ([[Manono Island|Manono]] and [[Apolima]]), and several smaller, uninhabited islands, including the [[Aleipata Islands]] ([[Nuʻutele]], [[Nuʻulua]], [[Fanuatapu]] and [[Namua]]). Samoa is located {{cvt|64|km|mi nmi}} west of [[American Samoa]], {{cvt|889|km|mi nmi}} northeast of [[Tonga]], {{cvt|1152|km|mi nmi}} northeast of [[Fiji]], {{cvt|483|km|mi nmi}} east of [[Wallis and Futuna]], {{cvt|1151|km|mi nmi}} southeast of [[Tuvalu]], {{cvt|519|km|mi nmi}} south of [[Tokelau]], {{cvt|4190|km|mi nmi}} southwest of [[Hawaii]], and {{cvt|610|km|mi nmi}} northwest of [[Niue]]. The capital and largest city is [[Apia]]. The [[Lapita culture|Lapita]] people discovered and settled the [[Samoan Islands]] around 3,500 years ago. They developed a [[Samoan language]] and [[Culture of Samoa|Samoan cultural identity]].

Samoa is a [[Unitary state|unitary]] [[Parliamentary system|parliamentary democracy]] with 11 [[Districts of Samoa|administrative divisions]]. It is a [[sovereign state]] and a member of the [[Commonwealth of Nations]]. Western Samoa was admitted to the [[Member states of the United Nations#Current members|United Nations]] on 15 December 1976.<ref name="UN">{{cite news |title=List of Member States: S |url=https://www.un.org/members/list.shtml |work=United Nations |access-date=27 November 2007 |archive-date=24 October 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071024134907/http://www.un.org/members/list.shtml |url-status=live }}</ref> Because of the Samoans' seafaring skills, pre-20th-century European explorers referred to the entire [[Archipelago|island group]], including American Samoa, as the "Navigator Islands".<ref>{{cite news |title=The Navigator Islands |newspaper=[[The Argus (Melbourne)|The Argus]] |date=2 January 1882 |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article11528257 |access-date=1 May 2017 |archive-date=12 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220112142035/https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/11528257 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="CC">{{cite news |title=Samoa |url=http://www.polynesia.com/samoa/island-map.html |work=Polynesian Culture Center |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110724221341/http://www.polynesia.com/samoa/island-map.html |archive-date=24 July 2011}}</ref> The country became a colony of the [[German Empire]] in 1899 after the [[Tripartite Convention]], and was known as [[German Samoa]]. German administration ended in August 1914 after [[New Zealand]] troops [[Occupation of German Samoa|bloodlessly occupied]] the colony at the start of [[World War I]]. New Zealand officially gained control of the region as a [[League of Nations]] [[League of Nations mandate|mandate]] in 1920, when it became the [[Territory of Western Samoa]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=League of Nations Mandate for German Samoa {{!}} NZHistory, New Zealand history online |url=https://nzhistory.net.nz/media/photo/league-nations-mandate-german-samoa/ |access-date=2024-12-03 |website=nzhistory.net.nz}}</ref> After being converted into a [[United Nations trust territories|United Nations Trust Territory]] in 1946, Samoa gained independence on 1 January 1962.

==History==
{{Main|History of Samoa}}

===Geological history===
The islands of Samoa were formed from the [[Miocene]] period. For the past 2 million years, the Samoan archipelago has experienced activity related to [[Samoa hotspot|volcanic hotspots]].<ref name="HartCoetzee">{{cite journal|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/222556459|last1=Hart|first1=S.R.|last2=Coetzee|first2=M|last3=Workman|first3=R|last4=Blusztajn|first4= Jerzy|title=Genesis of the Western Samoa seamount province: Age, geochemical fingerprint and tectonics|journal=Earth and Planetary Science Letters|year=2004|volume=227 |issue=1–2 |page=38|doi=10.1016/j.epsl.2004.08.005|bibcode=2004E&PSL.227...37H }}</ref>

===Early history===
Samoa was discovered and settled by the [[Lapita people]] (Austronesian people who spoke [[Oceanic languages]]), who travelled from [[Island Melanesia]]. The earliest human remains found in Samoa are dated to between roughly 2,900 and 3,500 years ago. The remains were discovered at a Lapita site at [[Mulifanua]], and the scientists' findings were published in 1974.<ref name=green>{{cite journal |url=http://www.jps.auckland.ac.nz/document/Volume_98_1989/Volume_98,_No._3/New_information_for_the_Ferry_Berth_site,_Mulifanua,_Western_Samoa,_by_H._M._Leach,_p_319-330/p1 |title=New Information for the Ferry Berth Site, Mulifanua, Western Samoa |first1=Roger C. |last1=Green |first2=Helen M. |last2=Leach |journal=Journal of the Polynesian Society |volume=98 |issue=3 |year=1989 |pages=319–330 |access-date=30 January 2011 |archive-date=4 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220704062837/http://www.jps.auckland.ac.nz/document/Volume_98_1989/Volume_98,_No._3/New_information_for_the_Ferry_Berth_site,_Mulifanua,_Western_Samoa,_by_H._M._Leach,_p_319-330/p1?page=0&action=searchresult&target= |url-status=live }}</ref> The Samoans' origins have been studied in modern times through scientific research on Polynesian [[genetics]], [[linguistics]], and [[anthropology]]. Although this research is ongoing, a number of theories have been proposed. One theory is that the original Samoans were [[Austronesian peoples|Austronesians]] who arrived during a final period of eastward expansion of the Lapita peoples out of Southeast Asia and [[Melanesia]] between 2,500 and 1,500 BCE.<ref>The Political Economy of Ancient Samoa: Basalt Adze Production and Linkages to Social Status (Winterhoff 2007)</ref>

Intimate sociocultural and genetic ties were maintained between Samoa, Fiji, and Tonga, and the archaeological record supports oral tradition and native genealogies that indicate interisland voyaging and intermarriage among precolonial Samoans, [[Fijians]], and [[Tongans]]. Notable figures in Samoan history included the [[Tui Manu'a]] line, Queen [[Salamasina]], [[Falefa|King Fonoti]] and the four ''tama a ʻāiga'': [[Malietoa]], [[Tupua Tamasese]], [[Mataʻafa]], and [[Tuimalealiʻifano]]. [[Nafanua]] was a famous woman warrior who was deified in ancient Samoan religion and whose patronage was highly sought after by successive Samoan rulers.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |editor1-last=Suaalii-Sauni |editor1-first=Tamasailau M. |editor2-last=Tuagalu |editor2-first=I'uogafa |editor3-last=Kirifi-Alai |editor3-first=Tofilau Nina |editor4-last=Fuamatu |editor4-first=Naomi |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/1057446674 |title=Su'esu'e manogi in search of fragrance : Tui Atua Tupua Tamasese Ta'isi Efi and the Samoan indigenous reference |date=November 2017 |publisher=Huia Publishers |isbn=978-1-77550-296-8 |oclc=1057446674 |access-date=17 June 2020 |archive-date=18 June 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200618025906/http://worldcat.org/oclc/1057446674 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Today, all of Samoa is united under its two principal royal families: the Sā Malietoa of the ancient Malietoa lineage that defeated the Tongans in the 13th century; and the Sā Tupua, Queen Salamasina's descendants and heirs who ruled Samoa in the centuries that followed her reign. Within these two principal lineages are the four highest titles of Samoa – the elder titles of Malietoa and Tupua Tamasese of antiquity and the newer Mataʻafa and Tuimalealiʻifano titles, which rose to prominence in 19th-century wars that preceded the colonial period.<ref name=":1" /> These four titles form the apex of the Samoan matai system as it stands today.

Contact with Europeans began in the early 18th century. [[Jacob Roggeveen]], a Dutchman, was the first known non-Polynesian to sight the Samoan islands in 1722. This visit was followed by French explorer [[Louis Antoine de Bougainville]], who named them the Navigator Islands in 1768. Contact was limited before the 1830s, which is when British [[missionaries]] of the London Missionary Society, whalers, and traders began arriving.<ref>{{Cite book |title=International Dictionary of Historic Places, Volume 5: Asia and Oceania |publisher=Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers |year=1996 |isbn=1-884964-04-4 |editor-last=Schellinger |editor-first=Paul |location=Chicago |pages=724 |editor-last2=Salkin |editor-first2=Robert}}</ref>

===19th century===
Visits by American trading and [[whaling]] vessels were important in the early economic development of Samoa. The [[Salem, Massachusetts|Salem]] brig ''Roscoe'' (Captain Benjamin Vanderford), in October 1821, was the first American trading vessel known to have called, and the ''Maro'' (Captain Richard Macy) of [[Nantucket]], in 1824, was the first recorded United States whaler at Samoa.<ref>Rhys Richards, (1992), ''Samoa's forgotten whaling heritage; American whaling in Samoan waters 1824-1878'', Wellington, Lithographic Services, pp.18-20.</ref> The whalers came for fresh drinking water, firewood, provisions and, later, for recruiting local men to serve as crewmen on their ships. The last recorded whaler visitor was the ''Governor Morton'' in 1870.<ref>Langdon, Robert (1984) ''Where the whalers went; an index to the Pacific ports and islands visited by American whalers (and some other ships) in the 19th century'', Canberra, Pacific Manuscripts Bureau, p.215. {{ISBN|086784471X}}</ref>

Christian missionary work in Samoa began in 1830 when [[John Williams (missionary)|John Williams]] of the [[London Missionary Society]] arrived in [[Sapapali'i]] from the [[Cook Islands]] and [[Tahiti]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Watson |first=R.M. |title=History of Samoa: THE ADVENT OF THE MISSIONARY. (1830.1839) |year=1919 |pages=Chapter III |url=http://www.samoa.co.uk/books/history-of-samoa/history-of-samoa-3.html |no-pp=true |access-date=27 November 2007 |archive-date=3 May 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110503192826/http://www.samoa.co.uk/books/history-of-samoa/history-of-samoa-3.html |url-status=live }}</ref> According to Barbara A. West, "The Samoans were also known to engage in 'headhunting', a ritual of war in which a warrior took the head of his slain opponent to give to his leader, thus proving his bravery."<ref>West, Barbara A. (2008). ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=pCiNqFj3MQsC Encyclopedia of the Peoples of Asia and Oceania] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170324213507/https://books.google.com/books?id=pCiNqFj3MQsC |date=24 March 2017 }}''. Infobase Publishing. p. 704. {{ISBN|0-8160-7109-8}}</ref>

In ''[[A Footnote to History: Eight Years of Trouble in Samoa]]'' (1892), [[Robert Louis Stevenson]] details the activities of the [[great power]]s battling for influence in Samoa&nbsp;– the United States, Germany and Britain&nbsp;– and the political machinations of the various Samoan factions within their indigenous political system.<ref name="rlssite">{{cite web |url=http://www.robert-louis-stevenson.org/other-writing/22-footnote-to-history |title=A Footnote to History: Eight Years of Trouble in Samoa, 1892 |publisher=RLS website |access-date=January 23, 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150109161424/http://www.robert-louis-stevenson.org/other-writing/22-footnote-to-history |archive-date=January 9, 2015}}</ref><ref name=":0">Stevenson, Robert Louis (1892). ''[http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/536 A Footnote to History: Eight Years of Trouble in Samoa] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210506083402/https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/536 |date=6 May 2021 }}'' at Gutenberg. {{ISBN|978-1847187598}}</ref> Even as they descended into ever greater interclan warfare, what most alarmed Stevenson was the Samoans' economic innocence. In 1894, just months before his death, he addressed the island chiefs:

{{Blockquote|text=There is but one way to defend Samoa. Hear it before it is too late. It is to make roads, and gardens, and care for your trees, and sell their produce wisely, and, in one word, to occupy and use your country&nbsp;... if you do not occupy and use your country, others will. It will not continue to be yours or your children's, if you occupy it for nothing. You and your children will in that case be cast out into outer darkness.}}

He had "seen these judgments of God" in [[Hawaiian Kingdom|Hawaii]], where abandoned native churches stood like tombstones "over a grave, in the midst of the white men's sugar fields".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Lang |first1=Andrew |title=The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson Vol 25, Appendix II |date=1911 |publisher=Chatto and Windnes |location=London |url=https://www.readcentral.com/mobile/chapters/Andrew-Lang/The-Works-of-Robert-Louis-Stevenson-Vol-25/011 |access-date=23 October 2020 |archive-date=27 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201027055506/https://www.readcentral.com/mobile/chapters/Andrew-Lang/The-Works-of-Robert-Louis-Stevenson-Vol-25/011 |url-status=live }}</ref>
[[File:3 Samoan girls making ava 1909.jpg|thumb|left|Studio photo depicting preparation of the [[Samoa 'ava ceremony]] {{Circa|1911}}]]
[[File:Urville-Apia-public.jpg|thumb|left|Interior of Samoan house, Apia, Urville 1842]]
[[File:Robert Louis Stevenson birthday fete, Samoa 1896.jpg|thumb|[[Robert Louis Stevenson]]'s birthday fete at Vailima, 1894]]

The Germans, in particular, began to show great commercial interest in the [[Samoan Islands]], especially on the island of Upolu, where German firms monopolised [[copra]] and [[cocoa bean]] processing. The United States laid its own claim, based on commercial shipping interests in Pearl Harbor in [[Hawaii]] and Pago Pago Bay in eastern Samoa, and forced alliances, most conspicuously on the islands of [[Tutuila]] and [[Manu'a]], which became [[American Samoa]].

Britain also sent troops to protect British business enterprise, harbour rights, and consulate office. This was followed by an [[Samoan Civil War|eight-year civil war]], during which each of the three powers supplied arms, training and in some cases combat troops to the warring Samoan parties. The [[Samoan crisis]] came to a critical juncture in March 1889 when all three colonial contenders sent warships into Apia harbour, and a larger-scale war seemed imminent. A massive storm on 15 March 1889 damaged or destroyed the warships, ending the military conflict.<ref>{{cite book |author=Stevenson, Robert Louis |title=A Footnote to History: Eight Years of Trouble in Samoa |year=1892 |publisher=BiblioBazaar |isbn=978-1-4264-0754-3 |title-link=A Footnote to History: Eight Years of Trouble in Samoa}}</ref>

The [[Second Samoan Civil War]] reached a head in 1898 when [[German Empire|Germany]], the [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|United Kingdom]], and the United States were locked in dispute over who should control the Samoan Islands. The [[Siege of Apia]] occurred in March 1899. Samoan forces loyal to Prince [[Malietoa Tanumafili I|Tanu]] were besieged by a larger force of Samoan rebels loyal to [[Mata'afa Iosefo|Mataʻafa Iosefo]]. Supporting Prince Tanu were landing parties from four British and American warships. After several days of fighting, the Samoan rebels were finally defeated.<ref>Mains, P. John; McCarty, Louis Philippe (1906). The Statistician and Economist: Volume 23. p. 249</ref>
[[File:Samoan Paramount chief Mataafa Iosefa, 1896.jpg|left|thumb|upright|[[Mata'afa Iosefo|Mataʻafa Iosefo]] (1832–1912), paramount chief and rival for the kingship of Samoa]]
[[File:Escorting Tanumafili I.jpg|thumb|The joint commission of [[German Empire|Germany]], the United States and [[British Empire|Great Britain]] abolished the Samoan kingship in June 1899.]]
[[File:Lauaki Namulau'ulu Mamoe (standing 3rd from left with orator's staff) and other chiefs aboard German warship taking them to exile in Saipan, 2909.jpg|right|thumb|Exiled orator Lauaki Namulauʻulu Mamoe (standing third from left with orator's staff) and other chiefs aboard German warship taking them to exile in Saipan, 1909]]

American and British warships shelled Apia on 15 March 1899, including the [[USS Philadelphia (C-4)|USS ''Philadelphia'']]. Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States quickly resolved to end the hostilities and divided the island chain at the [[Tripartite Convention (1899)|Tripartite Convention of 1899]], signed at Washington on 2 December 1899 with ratifications exchanged on 16 February 1900.<ref name=GHR>Ryden, George Herbert. ''The Foreign Policy of the United States in Relation to Samoa''. New York: Octagon Books, 1975. (Reprint by special arrangement with Yale University Press. Originally published at New Haven: Yale University Press, 1928), p. 574</ref><ref name=":022">{{Cite book |last=Pedersen |first=Susan |author-link=Susan Pedersen (historian) |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tu2kCQAAQBAJ |title=The Guardians: The League of Nations and the Crisis of Empire |date=2015 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-957048-5 |pages=169–192 |doi=10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199570485.001.0001 |access-date=19 March 2023 |archive-date=4 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230404151951/https://books.google.com/books?id=tu2kCQAAQBAJ |url-status=live }}</ref>

The eastern island-group became a territory of the United States (the Tutuila Islands in 1900 and officially Manu'a in 1904) and was known as American Samoa. The western islands, by far the greater landmass, became [[German Samoa]]. The United Kingdom had vacated all claims in Samoa and in return received (1) termination of German rights in [[Tonga]], (2) all of the Solomon Islands south of Bougainville, and (3) territorial alignments in West Africa.<ref>Ryden, p. 571</ref>

===German Samoa (1900–1914)===
[[File:Funeral of Tamesese.jpg|thumb|Chiefs from all around Samoa mourning the 1929 death of Mau Movement leader, Tupua Tamesese Lealofi III, after the Black Saturday killings by NZ soldiers]]
{{Main|German Samoa}}
The [[German Empire]] governed the western part of the Samoan archipelago from 1900 to 1914. [[Wilhelm Solf]] was appointed the colony's first governor. In 1908, when the non-violent [[Mau movement|Mau a Pule]] resistance movement arose, Solf did not hesitate to banish the Mau leader [[Lauaki Namulauulu Mamoe|Lauaki Namulau'ulu Mamoe]] to Saipan in the German [[Northern Mariana Islands]].<ref>[http://www.zum.de/whkmla/region/pacific/wsamoa18991918.html World History at KMLA] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131217013354/http://www.zum.de/whkmla/region/pacific/wsamoa18991918.html |date=17 December 2013 }}, zum.de</ref>

The German colonial administration governed on the principle that "there was only one government in the islands."<ref>Lewthwaite, Gordon R. "Life, Land and Agriculture to Mid-Century," in ''Western Samoa''. Edited by James W. Fox and Kenneth Brailey Cumberland. Christchurch, New Zealand: Whitcomb & Tombs Ltd. 1962, p. 148</ref> Thus, there was no Samoan ''Tupu'' (king), nor an ''alii sili'' (similar to a governor), but two ''Fautua'' (advisors) were appointed by the colonial government. ''Tumua'' and ''Pule'' (traditional governments of Upolu and Savai'i) were for a time silent; all decisions on matters affecting lands and titles were under the control of the colonial Governor.

In the first month of [[World War I]], on 29 August 1914, troops of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force landed unopposed on Upolu and [[Occupation of German Samoa|seized control]] from the German authorities, following a request by Great Britain for New Zealand to perform this "great and urgent imperial service."<ref>{{cite news |title=New Zealand goes to war: The Capture of German Samoa |url=http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/war/new-zealand-goes-to-war-first-world-war |work=nzhistory.net.nz |access-date=27 November 2007 |archive-date=14 November 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161114222018/http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/war/new-zealand-goes-to-war-first-world-war |url-status=live }}</ref>

===New Zealand rule (1914–1961)===
{{Main|Western Samoa Trust Territory}}
From the end of [[World War I]] until 1962, New Zealand controlled Western Samoa as a [[Western Samoa Trust Territory|Class C Mandate]] under [[trusteeship]] through the [[League of Nations]],<ref name=":022" /><ref>{{cite news |title=Imperialism as a Vocation: Class C Mandates |url=http://www.jamesrmaclean.com/archives/archive_vocational_imperialism.html |access-date=27 November 2007 |archive-date=25 August 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070825102909/http://www.jamesrmaclean.com/archives/archive_vocational_imperialism.html |url-status=usurped }}</ref> then through the United Nations. Between 1919 and 1962, Samoa was administered by the [[Department of Island Territories (New Zealand)|Department of External Affairs]], a government department which had been specially created to oversee New Zealand's Island Territories and Samoa.<ref name="External Affairs Bill 1919">"External Affairs Bill", in ''New Zealand Parliamentary Debates'', Vol. 185 (3 October–5 November 1919), p.337.</ref> In 1943, this department was renamed the [[Department of Island Territories (New Zealand)|Department of Island Territories]] after a separate [[Ministry of Foreign Affairs (New Zealand)|Department of External Affairs]] was created to conduct New Zealand's foreign affairs.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Templeton |first1=Malcolm |title=An Eye, An Ear, and a Voice: 50 Years in New Zealand's External Relations, 1943–1993 |date=1993 |publisher=Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade |location=Wellington |page=1}}</ref> During the period of New Zealand control, their administrators were responsible for two major incidents.

====Flu pandemic====
In the first incident, approximately one fifth of the Samoan population died in the [[Influenza epidemic of 1918|influenza epidemic of 1918–1919]].<ref>{{cite news |title=The 1918 flu pandemic |url=http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/culture/influenza-pandemic |work=NZHistory.net.nz |access-date=26 November 2007 |archive-date=27 September 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927010718/http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/culture/influenza-pandemic |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=":022" />

In 1918, during the final stages of [[World War I]], the [[Spanish flu]] had taken its toll, spreading rapidly from country to country. On Samoa, there had been no epidemic of pneumonic influenza in Western Samoa before the arrival of the [[SS Talune|SS ''Talune'']] from [[Auckland]] on 7 November 1918. The NZ administration allowed the ship to berth in breach of quarantine; within seven days of this ship's arrival, influenza became epidemic in Upolu and then spread rapidly throughout the rest of the territory.<ref name=Wendt>{{Cite news |title=Guardians and Wards: (A study of the origins, causes, and the first two years of the Mau in Western Samoa.) |url=http://www.nzetc.org/tm/scholarly/tei-WenGua-c2.html |author=Albert Wendt |access-date=20 March 2008 |archive-date=6 July 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080706155117/http://www.nzetc.org/tm/scholarly/tei-WenGua-c2.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Samoa suffered the most of all Pacific islands, with 90% of the population infected; 30% of adult men, 22% of adult women and 10% of children died.<ref>{{cite journal |title=The Influenza Epidemic of 1918-19 in Western Samoa |last1=Tomkins |first1=Sandra M. |journal=Journal of Pacific History |volume=27 |issue=2 |year=1992 |pages=181–197 |doi=10.1080/00223349208572706 |jstor=25169127}}</ref> The cause of the epidemic was confirmed in 1919 by a [[Royal Commission]] of Inquiry into the Epidemic concluded that there had been no epidemic of pneumonic influenza in Western Samoa before the arrival of the ''Talune'' from Auckland on 7 November 1918.<ref name=Wendt/>

The pandemic undermined Samoan confidence in New Zealand's administrative capacity and competence.<ref name=":022" /> Some Samoans asked that the rule of the islands be transferred to the Americans or the British.<ref name=":022" />

====Mau movement====
The second major incident arose out of an initially peaceful protest by the [[Mau movement|Mau]] (which literally translates as "strongly held opinion"), a non-violent popular pro-independence movement which had its beginnings in the early 1900s on Savai'i, led by [[Lauaki Namulauulu Mamoe]], an orator chief deposed by Solf. In 1909, Lauaki was exiled to [[Saipan]] and died en route back to Samoa in 1915.

By 1918, Western Samoa had a population of some 38,000 Samoans and 1,500 Europeans.<ref>{{cite news |title=Wartime administration – capture of German Samoa |url=http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/war/capture-of-samoa/administration |work=NZHistory.net.nz |access-date=18 October 2010 |archive-date=24 May 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100524060134/http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/war/capture-of-samoa/administration |url-status=live }}</ref>

However, native Samoans greatly resented New Zealand's colonial rule, and blamed inflation and the catastrophic 1918 flu epidemic on its misrule.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Hiery |first1=Hermann |year=1992 |title=West Samoans between Germany and New Zealand 1914–1921 |journal=War and Society |volume=10 |issue=1 |pages=53–80 |doi=10.1179/072924792791198986}}</ref> By the late 1920s the resistance movement against colonial rule had gathered widespread support. One of the Mau leaders was [[Olaf Frederick Nelson]], a half Samoan and half Swedish merchant.<ref>{{DNZB|title=Nelson, Olaf Frederick 1883 – 1944|last=Laracy|first=Hugh|id=4N5 |access-date=29 June 2011}}</ref> Nelson was eventually [[exile]]d during the late 1920s and early 1930s, but he continued to assist the organisation financially and politically. In accordance with the Mau's non-violent philosophy, the newly elected leader, High Chief Tupua Tamasese Lealofi, led his fellow uniformed Mau in a peaceful demonstration in downtown Apia on 28 December 1929.<ref>{{cite news |title=The Mau Movement |url=http://www.globaled.org.nz/comm/documents/GlobalBits_Parihaka_000.pdf |access-date=27 November 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071127054637/http://www.globaled.org.nz/comm/documents/GlobalBits_Parihaka_000.pdf |archive-date=27 November 2007}}</ref>

The New Zealand police attempted to arrest one of the leaders in the demonstration. When he resisted, a struggle developed between the police and the Mau. The officers began to fire randomly into the crowd and used a [[Lewis machine gun]], mounted in preparation for the demonstration, to disperse the demonstrators.<ref>{{cite book |author=Field, Michael |title=Black Saturday: New Zealand's tragic blunders in Samoa |publisher=Reed Publishing (NZ) |location=Auckland, N.Z. |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-7900-1103-5}}</ref> Mau leader and paramount chief [[Tupua Tamasese Lealofi III]] was shot from behind and killed while trying to bring calm and order to the Mau demonstrators. Ten others died that day and approximately 50 were injured by gunshot wounds and police batons.<ref>{{cite news |title=History and migration: Who are the Samoans? |url=http://www.teara.govt.nz/NewZealanders/NewZealandPeoples/Samoans/1/en |work=Ministry for Culture and Heritage / Te Manatū Taonga |access-date=27 November 2007 |archive-date=14 June 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090614111823/http://www.teara.govt.nz/NewZealanders/NewZealandPeoples/Samoans/1/en |url-status=live }}</ref> That day would come to be known in Samoa as Black Saturday.

On 13 January 1930, the New Zealand authorities banned the organisation. As many as 1500 Mau men took to the bush, pursued by an armed force of 150 marines and seamen from the [[light cruiser]] [[HMS Dunedin|HMS ''Dunedin'']], and 50 military police. They were supported by a seaplane flown by Flight Lieutenant [[Sidney Wallingford]] of the [[New Zealand Permanent Air Force]]. Villages were raided, often at night and with fixed bayonets. In March, through the mediation of local Europeans and missionaries, Mau leaders met New Zealand's Minister of Defence and agreed to disperse.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |date=2020 |title=New Zealand in Samoa, pp. 7–8 |url=https://nzhistory.govt.nz/politics/samoa |access-date=2022-12-12 |website=nzhistory.govt.nz |language=en |archive-date=12 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221212085257/https://nzhistory.govt.nz/politics/samoa |url-status=live }}</ref>

Supporters of the Mau continued to be arrested, so women came to the fore rallying supporters and staging demonstrations. The political stalemate was broken following the victory of the Labour Party in New Zealand's 1935 general election. A 'goodwill mission' to Apia in June 1936 recognised the Mau as a legitimate political organisation, and Olaf Nelson was allowed to return from exile.<ref name=":2" /> In September 1936, Samoans exercised for the first time the right to elect the members of the advisory ''[[Fono of Faipule]]'',<ref>[https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-312543610/view?partId=nla.obj-312598495#page/n9/mode/1up Restless Samoan Mau] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221214215458/https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-312543610/view?partId=nla.obj-312598495#page/n9/mode/1up |date=14 December 2022 }} ''Pacific Islands Monthly'', October 1936, p8</ref> with representatives of the [[Mau movement]] winning 31 of the 39 seats.<ref name="PIM1">[https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-315282345/view?partId=nla.obj-315297578#page/n30/mode/1up "A Step Towards Self-Government"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221214215454/https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-315282345/view?partId=nla.obj-315297578#page/n30/mode/1up |date=14 December 2022 }} ''Pacific Islands Monthly'', September 1959, p29</ref>

===Independence===
After repeated efforts by the Samoan independence movement, the New Zealand Western Samoa Act of 24 November 1961 terminated the Trusteeship Agreement and granted the country independence as the ''Independent State of Western Samoa'', effective 1 January 1962.<ref>[http://www.nzlii.org/nz/legis/hist_act/wsa19611961n68189/ Western Samoa Act 1961] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160105170711/http://www.nzlii.org/nz/legis/hist_act/wsa19611961n68189/ |date=5 January 2016 }} (24 November 1961; 1961 No 68). [http://www.worldlii.org/int/other/UNGA/1961/33.pdf Resolution 1626 (XVI) of 18 October 1961] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160107121323/http://www.worldlii.org/int/other/UNGA/1961/33.pdf |date=7 January 2016 }} of the [[United Nations General Assembly]].</ref><ref>[https://www.un.org/en/sections/un-charter/chapter-xii/ Chapter XII. International Trusteeship System] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170703122531/http://www.un.org/en/sections/un-charter/chapter-xii/ |date=3 July 2017 }}. Charter of the United Nations. legal.un.org</ref> Western Samoa, the first small-island country in the Pacific to become independent, signed a [[New Zealand–Samoa relations#Treaty of Friendship|Treaty of Friendship]] with New Zealand later in 1962. Western Samoa joined the [[Commonwealth of Nations]] on 28 August 1970. While independence was achieved at the beginning of January, Samoa annually celebrates 1 June as its independence day.<ref>"[http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/4202/celebration-of-samoas-independence-day Celebration of Samoa's Independence Day] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140602200524/http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/4202/celebration-of-samoas-independence-day |date=2 June 2014 }}", ''Te Ara Encyclopedia of New Zealand.'' Retrieved 1 June 2014.</ref><ref>"[http://www.un.int/samoa/event/independence-day Independence Day] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140605052139/http://www.un.int/samoa/event/independence-day |date=5 June 2014 }}", United Nations. Retrieved 1 June 2014.</ref>

At the time of independence, [[Fiamē Mataʻafa Faumuina Mulinuʻu II]], one of the four highest-ranking [[paramount chief]]s in the country, became Samoa's first [[Prime Minister of Samoa|prime minister]]. Another paramount chief, [[Tuiaana Tuimalealiʻifano Suatipatipa II]], was admitted to the [[Council of Deputies]];<ref name="PIM2">[https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-333446652/view?partId=nla.obj-333560905#page/n103/mode/1up T.T. Suatipatipa II] ''Pacific Islands Monthly'', September 1974, p102</ref> the remaining two – [[Tupua Tamasese Meaʻole]] and [[Malietoa Tanumafili II]] – became joint heads of state for life.<ref name="1960 Constitution">{{cite web |title=Constitution of the Independent State of Western Samoa 1960 |url=http://www.paclii.org/ws/legis/consol_act/cotisows1960535/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070708171858/http://www.paclii.org/ws/legis/consol_act/cotisows1960535/ |archive-date=8 July 2007 |access-date=28 December 2007 |publisher=University of the South Pacific |df=dmy-all}}</ref>

On 15 December 1976, Western Samoa was admitted to the [[United Nations]] as the 147th [[Member states of the United Nations|member state]]. It asked to be referred to in the United Nations as the ''Independent State of Samoa''.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://search.archives.un.org/uploads/r/united-nations-archives/a/5/8/a5839a368236c935b63e43f930c35ede5935eec012fbc67f557a810d73b37250/S-0904-0070-0013-00001.PDF |title=General Assembly admits Western Samoa as 147th United Nations member state |date=15 December 1976 |page=2 |publisher=United Nations |access-date=3 June 2022 |archive-date=4 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220704062824/https://search.archives.un.org/uploads/r/united-nations-archives/a/5/8/a5839a368236c935b63e43f930c35ede5935eec012fbc67f557a810d73b37250/S-0904-0070-0013-00001.PDF |url-status=live }}</ref>

Travel writer [[Paul Theroux]] noted marked differences between the societies in Western Samoa and [[American Samoa]] in 1992.<ref>{{cite book |author=Theroux, Paul |title=The Happy Isles of Oceania: Paddling the Pacific |publisher=G.P. Putnam's Sons (NZ) |location=New York, NY |year=1992 |isbn=978-0-618-65898-5}}</ref>

On 4 July 1997 the government amended the constitution to change the name of the country from ''Western Samoa'' to ''Samoa'',<ref>[http://www.paclii.org/ws/legis/num_act/caa21997295/ Constitution Amendment Act (No 2) 1997] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190417083335/http://www.paclii.org/ws/legis/num_act/caa21997295/ |date=17 April 2019 }}. Paclii.org. Retrieved on 9 November 2016.</ref> the name it had been called by in the United Nations since it joined.<ref name="U.S Embassy in Samoa" /> [[American Samoa]] protested against the name change, asserting that it diminished its own identity.<ref name="U.S Embassy in Samoa">{{cite web |title=Samoan History |url=https://ws.usembassy.gov/our-relationship/policy-history/samoan-history/ |website=U.S. Embassy in Samoa |access-date=17 January 2017 |archive-date=14 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210414084415/https://ws.usembassy.gov/our-relationship/policy-history/samoan-history/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 2002, New Zealand prime minister [[Helen Clark]] formally apologised for New Zealand's role in the Spanish influenza outbreak in 1918 that killed over a quarter of Samoa's population and for the Black Saturday killings in 1929.<ref>{{cite news |title=New Zealand's apology to Samoa |url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=2044857 |work=[[The New Zealand Herald]] |date=4 June 2002 |access-date=16 December 2013 |archive-date=30 March 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190330221446/https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=2044857 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://192.54.242.122/details.php?table=doc_primary&id=164 |title=Prime Minister Helen Clark's Historic Apology}}</ref>

On 7 September 2009, the government changed the rule of the road from [[Left- and right-hand traffic|right to left]], in common with most other Commonwealth countries - most notably countries in the region such as Australia and New Zealand, home to large numbers of Samoans.<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/sep/08/samoa-drivers-switch-left Samoa switches smoothly to driving on the left] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201108170757/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/sep/08/samoa-drivers-switch-left |date=8 November 2020 }}, [[Associated Press]], ''[[The Guardian]]'', 8 September 2009</ref> This made Samoa the first country in the 21st century to switch to driving on the left.<ref name="BBC">{{cite news |title=Samoa switches to driving on left |date=7 September 2009 |work=[[BBC News]] |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8243110.stm |access-date=7 September 2009 |archive-date=6 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181006120158/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8243110.stm |url-status=live }}</ref>

At the end of December 2011, Samoa changed its time zone offset from UTC−11 to UTC+13, effectively jumping forward by one day, omitting Friday, 30 December from the local calendar. This also had the effect of changing the shape of the [[International Date Line]], moving it to the east of the territory.<ref name="BBC IDL">{{cite news |title=Samoa to jump forward in time by one day |date=9 May 2011 |work=[[BBC News]] |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-13330592 |access-date=9 May 2011 |archive-date=31 December 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111231024932/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-13330592 |url-status=live }}</ref> This change aimed to help the nation boost its economy in doing business with Australia and New Zealand. Before this change, Samoa was 21 hours behind [[Sydney]], but the change means it is now three hours ahead. The previous time zone, implemented on 4 July 1892, operated in line with American traders based in [[California]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Samoa Sacrifices a Day for Its Future |last=Mydans |first=Seth |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/30/world/asia/samoa-to-skip-friday-and-switch-time-zones.html |newspaper=The New York Times |date=29 December 2011 |access-date=16 February 2017 |archive-date=8 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210508014807/https://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/30/world/asia/samoa-to-skip-friday-and-switch-time-zones.html |url-status=live }}</ref> In October 2021, Samoa ceased [[daylight saving time]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Samoa Scraps Daylight Saving Time (DST) |url=https://www.timeanddate.com/news/time/samoa-removes-dst.html |access-date=2021-10-11 |website=www.timeanddate.com |language=en |archive-date=11 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211011074903/https://www.timeanddate.com/news/time/samoa-removes-dst.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 2017, Samoa signed the UN [[treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://treaties.un.org/Pages/ViewDetails.aspx?src=TREATY&mtdsg_no=XXVI-9&chapter=26&clang=_en |title=Chapter XXVI: Disarmament&nbsp;– No. 9 Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons |publisher=United Nations Treaty Collection |date=7 July 2017 |access-date=15 August 2019 |archive-date=6 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190806220546/https://treaties.un.org/Pages/ViewDetails.aspx?src=TREATY&mtdsg_no=XXVI-9&chapter=26&clang=_en |url-status=live }}</ref>

In June 2017, Parliament amended Article 1 of the Samoan Constitution to make [[Christianity]] the state religion.<ref name="Religion"/><ref>{{cite news |last1=Feagaimaali’i-Luamanu |first1=Joyetter |title=Constitutional Amendment Passes; Samoa Officially Becomes 'Christian State' |url=http://www.pireport.org/articles/2017/06/08/constitutional-amendment-passes-samoa-officially-becomes-christian-state |access-date=16 June 2017 |publisher=Pacific Islands Report |date=8 June 2017 |archive-date=11 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201111223748/http://www.pireport.org/articles/2017/06/08/constitutional-amendment-passes-samoa-officially-becomes-christian-state |url-status=dead}}</ref>

In September 2019, a [[2019 Samoa measles outbreak|measles outbreak]] resulted in the deaths of 83 people. Following the outbreak, the government imposed a curfew in December later during the same year.

In May 2021, [[Fiamē Naomi Mataʻafa]] became Samoa's first female prime minister. Mataʻafa's [[Faʻatuatua i le Atua Samoa ua Tasi|FAST]] party narrowly won the [[2021 Samoan general election|election]], ending the rule of long-term Prime Minister [[Tuilaʻepa Saʻilele Malielegaoi]] of the [[Human Rights Protection Party]] (HRPP),<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/samoa-set-appoint-first-female-prime-minister-2021-05-17/ |title=Samoa set to appoint first female prime minister |work=Reuters |date=17 May 2021 |access-date=27 June 2021 |archive-date=27 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210627231358/https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/samoa-set-appoint-first-female-prime-minister-2021-05-17/ |url-status=live }}</ref> although the [[2021 Samoan constitutional crisis|constitutional crisis]] complicated and delayed this. On 24 May 2021, she was sworn in as the new prime minister, though it was not until July that the Supreme Court ruled that her swearing-in was legal, thus ending the constitutional crisis and bringing an end to Tuilaʻepa's 22-year premiership. The FAST party's success in the 2021 election and subsequent court rulings also ended nearly four decades of HRPP rule.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2021/05/24/asia/samoa-election-uncertainty-intl-hnk/index.html |title=Pacific island swears in its first female PM in a tent after she is locked out of Parliament |work=[[CNN]] |last=Hollingsworth |first=Julia |date=25 May 2021 |access-date=27 June 2021 |archive-date=13 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210613135231/https://edition.cnn.com/2021/05/24/asia/samoa-election-uncertainty-intl-hnk/index.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Government and politics==
{{Main|Politics of Samoa|Faʻamatai}}
[[File:Samoa - Apia Govt buildings.jpg|thumb|Government buildings in [[Apia]]]]
The [[Constitution of Samoa|1960 constitution]], which formally came into force with independence from New Zealand in 1962, builds on the British pattern of [[Parliamentary system|parliamentary democracy]], modified to take account of Samoan customs.<ref name="DS">{{cite web |title=Background Note: Samoa |url=https://2009-2017.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/1842.htm |publisher=U.S. State Department |access-date=26 November 2007 |archive-date=22 January 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170122194546/https://2009-2017.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/1842.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> The national modern Government of Samoa is referred to as the ''Malo''.

The [[head of state]] of Samoa is known as [[O le Ao o le Malo]] in Samoan, and since its establishment only paramount chiefs have held the office. The current head of state is [[Tuimalealiʻifano Vaʻaletoʻa Sualauvi II]], who was elected by the legislature in 2017 and again in 2022.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-08-23 |title=Samoan Parliament re-elects Head of State |url=https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/473339/samoan-parliament-re-elects-head-of-state |access-date=2024-08-30 |website=[[RNZ]] |language=en-nz}}</ref>

The [[Legislative Assembly of Samoa|Legislative Assembly]] or ''Fono'' is the unicameral legislature, consisting of 51 members serving five year terms. Forty-nine are ''[[faʻamatai|matai]]'' title-holders elected from territorial districts by Samoans; the other two are chosen by non-Samoans with no chiefly affiliation on separate electoral rolls. At least ten per cent of the MPs must be women.<ref>{{cite news |title=Samoa: Key Facts: Political |url=http://www.mfat.govt.nz/Countries/Pacific/Samoa.php |work=New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs & Trade |access-date=27 November 2007 |archive-date=29 July 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150729214227/http://www.mfat.govt.nz/Countries/Pacific/Samoa.php |url-status=dead}}</ref> Universal suffrage was adopted in 1990, but only chiefs (''matai'') may stand for election to the Samoan seats. There are more than 25,000 matais in the country, about five per cent of whom are women.<ref>{{cite web |title=Samoa: Country Reports on Human Rights Practices in 2006 |url=https://2001-2009.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2006/78789.htm |work=U.S. Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor |date=6 March 2007 |access-date=27 November 2007 |archive-date=17 January 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200117222021/https://2001-2009.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2006/78789.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> The [[Prime Minister of Samoa|prime minister]], chosen by a majority in the assembly, is appointed by the head of state to form a government. The prime minister's choices for the 12 [[Cabinet of Samoa|cabinet positions]] are appointed by the head of state, subject to the continuing confidence of the legislative assembly.

Prominent women in Samoan politics include the late [[Laʻulu Fetauimalemau Mataʻafa]] (1928–2007) from [[Lotofaga]] constituency, the wife of Samoa's first prime minister. Their daughter [[Fiamē Naomi Mataʻafa]] is a ''matai'' and a long-serving senior member of cabinet, who was elected Prime Minister in 2021. Other women in politics include Samoan scholar and eminent professor [[Aiono Fanaafi Le Tagaloa]], orator-chief [[Matatumua Maimoana]] and [[Safuneituʻuga Paʻaga Neri]] (former Minister of Communication and Technology).

The judicial system incorporates [[English common law]] and local customs. The [[Supreme Court of Samoa]] is the court of highest jurisdiction. The [[Chief Justice of Samoa]] is appointed by the head of state upon the recommendation of the prime minister.

===Administrative divisions===
{{Main|Districts of Samoa|Electoral constituencies of Samoa}}
[[File:Samoa districts numbered2.png|right|thumb|upright=1.45|Political districts of Samoa, including minor islands]]
Samoa comprises eleven ''itūmālō'' (political districts). These are the traditional eleven districts which predate European arrival. Each district has its own constitutional foundation (''faʻavae'') based on the traditional order of title precedence found in each district's ''faalupega'' (traditional salutations).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.samoagovt.ws/about-samoa/ |title=About Samoa |date=15 July 2014 |publisher=Government of Samoa |access-date=30 December 2017 |archive-date=14 May 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180514172830/http://www.samoagovt.ws/about-samoa/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The capital village of each district administers and coordinates the affairs of the district and confers each district's paramount title, amongst other responsibilities.

For example:
* [[Aʻana]] has its capital at [[Leulumoega]]. The paramount ''tama a 'āiga'' (royal lineage) title of Aʻana is [[Tuimalealiʻifano]]. The paramount ''pāpā'' title of Aʻana is the Tui Aʻana. The orator group which confers this title&nbsp;— the ''Faleiva'' (House of Nine)&nbsp;— is based at Leulumoega.
* [[Atua (district)|Ātua]] has its capital at [[Lufilufi]]. The paramount ''tama a ʻāiga'' (royal lineage) titles of Ātua are [[Tupua Tamasese]] (based in [[Falefa]] and Salani) and [[Mataʻafa]] (based in Amaile and Lotofaga). The two main political families who confer the respective titles are [[Falefa|ʻAiga Sā Fenunuivao]] and [[Lotofaga|ʻAiga Sā Levālasi]]. The paramount ''pāpā'' title of Ātua is the Tui Ātua. The orator group which confers this title&nbsp;— the ''Faleono'' (House of Six)&nbsp;— is based at Lufilufi.
* [[Tuamasaga]] has its capital at [[Afega]]. The paramount ''tama a ʻāiga'' (royal lineage) title of Tuamasaga is the [[Malietoa]] title, based in [[Malie]]. The main political family that confers the Malietoa title is ʻAiga Sā Malietoa, with Auimatagi as the main speaker for the family. The paramount ''pāpā'' titles of Tuamasaga are Gatoaitele (conferred by Afega) and Vaetamasoalii (conferred by Safata).<ref name=":0" />

The eleven ''itūmālō'' are identified to be:

On '''[[Upolu]]'''<br />
:1. [[Tuamasaga]] ([[Afega]])<sup>1</sup>
:2. [[Aʻana]] ([[Leulumoega]])
:3. [[Aiga-i-le-Tai]] ([[Mulifanua]])<sup>2</sup>
:4. [[Atua (district)|Atua]] ([[Lufilufi]])<sup>3</sup>
:5. [[Vaʻa-o-Fonoti]] ([[Samamea]])
On '''[[Savaiʻi]]'''<br />
:6. [[Faʻasaleleaga]] ([[Safotulafai]])
:7. [[Gagaʻemauga]] ([[Saleaula]])<sup>4</sup>
:8. [[Gagaʻifomauga]] ([[Safotu]])
:9. [[Vaisigano]] ([[Asau (Samoa)|Asau]])
:10. [[Satupaʻitea]] (Satupaʻitea)
:11. [[Palauli]] ([[Vailoa]])
<sup>1</sup> {{small|including the faipule district of [[Siumu]]}}
<br /><sup>2</sup> {{small|including islands [[Manono Island|Manono]], [[Apolima]] and [[Nuʻulopa]]}}
<br /><sup>3</sup> {{small|including the [[Aleipata Islands]] and [[Nuʻusafeʻe]] Island}}
<br /><sup>4</sup> {{small|smaller parts also on [[Upolu]] (Salamumu, incl. Salamumu-Uta and Leauvaʻa villages)}}

===Human rights===
{{See also|Human rights in Samoa}}
Major areas of concern include the under-representation of women, domestic violence and poor prison conditions. [[LGBT rights in Samoa|Homosexual acts]] are illegal in Samoa.<ref>[http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/international/2011-10-21/417010 "Homosexuality to remain illegal in Samoa, Solomon Islands and PNG"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180514014627/http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/international/2011-10-21/417010 |date=14 May 2018 }}, Radio Australia, 21 October 2011</ref>

===State religion===
In June 2017, an Act was passed changing the country's constitution to include a reference to the [[Trinity]]. As amended, Article 1 of the Samoan Constitution states that "Samoa is a Christian nation founded on God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit".<ref>{{Cite web |title=Constitution of Samoa |author= |work=palemene.ws |date= |access-date=2 June 2022 |url=https://www.palemene.ws/wp-content/uploads/Constitution-Eng.pdf |page=14 |archive-date=23 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220623213749/https://www.palemene.ws/wp-content/uploads/Constitution-Eng.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> According to ''[[The Diplomat (magazine)|The Diplomat]]'', "What Samoa has done is shift references to Christianity into the body of the constitution, giving the text far more potential to be used in legal processes."<ref name="report">{{cite magazine |url=https://thediplomat.com/2017/06/samoa-officially-becomes-a-christian-state/ |title=Samoa Officially Becomes a Christian State |last=Wyeth |first=Grant |date=16 June 2017 |magazine=The Diplomat |access-date=19 June 2017 |archive-date=16 June 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170616153746/https://thediplomat.com/2017/06/samoa-officially-becomes-a-christian-state/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The preamble to the constitution already described the country as "an independent State based on Christian principles and Samoan custom and traditions."<ref name=report/>

===Military and police===
[[Military of Samoa|Samoa has no formal defence structure or regular armed forces]]. It has informal defence ties with [[New Zealand]], which is required to consider any request for assistance from Samoa under the bilateral [[New Zealand–Samoa relations#Treaty of Friendship|Treaty of Friendship]] of 1962.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://treaties.un.org/doc/Publication/UNTS/Volume%20453/volume-453-I-6515-English.pdf |title=New Zealand and Western Samoa: Treaty of Friendship |publisher=United Nations |date=1 August 1962 |access-date=4 September 2021 |archive-date=4 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210904024237/https://treaties.un.org/doc/Publication/UNTS/Volume%20453/volume-453-I-6515-English.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>

Officers of the national police force, the [[Samoa Police Service]], are regularly unarmed, but may be armed in exceptional circumstances with ministerial approval.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.loc.gov/item/global-legal-monitor/2017-03-14/samoa-new-approval-guidelines-for-arming-police-passed/ |title=Samoa: New Approval Guidelines for Arming Police Passed |publisher=Library of Congress |date=14 March 2017 |access-date=4 September 2021 |archive-date=4 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210904024234/https://www.loc.gov/item/global-legal-monitor/2017-03-14/samoa-new-approval-guidelines-for-arming-police-passed/ |url-status=live }}</ref> As of 2022 there are between 900 and 1,100 police officers in Samoa.

==Geography==
[[File:Samoa waterfall scenery.jpg|thumb|upright=1.35|Samoan waterfall]]
{{Main|Geography of Samoa}}
[[File:Samoa Country map.png|thumb|upright=1.35|A map of Samoa]]
[[File:Samoa topography.png|thumb|upright=1.35|Topography of Samoa]]

Samoa lies south of the equator, about halfway between Hawaii and New Zealand, in the [[Polynesia]]n region of the Pacific Ocean. The total land area is {{cvt|2,842|km2|sqmi|}},<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic/products/dyb/dyb2009-2010/Table03.pdf |title=Demographic Yearbook—Table 3: Population by sex, rate of population increase, surface area and density |publisher=United Nations Statistics Division |year=2010 |access-date=7 April 2014 |archive-date=10 November 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141110162214/http://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic/products/dyb/dyb2009-2010/Table03.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> consisting of the two large islands of [[Upolu]] and [[Savaiʻi]] (which together account for 99% of the total land area) and eight small islets.

The islets are:<ref name="DB">{{cite news |title=Samoa an Overview |url=http://www.donbosco.asn.au/Bulletins/2004/mar/overview.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071120020749/http://www.donbosco.asn.au/Bulletins/2004/mar/overview.htm |archive-date=20 November 2007 |work=Salesian Bulletin}}</ref>

*the three islets in the [[Apolima Strait]] ([[Manono Island]], [[Apolima]] and [[Nuʻulopa]])
*the four [[Aleipata Islands]] off the eastern end of Upolu ([[Nuʻutele]], [[Nuʻulua]], [[Namua]], and [[Fanuatapu]])
*[[Nuʻusafeʻe]], which is less than {{cvt|1|ha|acre|frac=2|}} in area and lies about {{cvt|1.4|km|mi nmi}} off the south coast of Upolu at the village of Vaovai

The main island of Upolu is home to nearly three-quarters of Samoa's population, and to the capital city, [[Apia, Samoa|Apia]].

The Samoan islands result geologically from [[volcanism]], originating with the [[Samoa hotspot]], which probably results from a [[mantle plume]].<ref>{{cite journal |author=Koppers, Anthony A.P. |date=June 2008 |title=Samoa reinstated as a primary hotspot trail |journal=[[Geology (journal)|Geology]] |volume=36 |issue=6 |pages=435–438 |doi=10.1130/G24630A.1 |bibcode=2008Geo....36..435K}}
</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.geosociety.org/news/pr/08-23.htm |title=GSA Press Release – GEOLOGY/GSA Today Media Highlights |publisher=Geosociety.org |date=27 May 2008 |access-date=30 June 2010 |archive-date=15 June 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100615233006/http://geosociety.org/news/pr/08-23.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> While all of the islands have volcanic origins, only Savaiʻi, the westernmost island in Samoa, remains volcanically active, with the most recent eruptions at [[Mount Matavanu]] (1905–1911), [[Mata o le Afi]] (1902) and [[Mauga Afi]] (1725). The highest point in Samoa is [[Silisili|Mount Silisili]], at {{cvt|1858|m|ft|}}. The [[Saleaula]] lava fields situated on the central north coast of Savaiʻi result from the Mount Matavanu eruptions, which left {{cvt|50|km2|sqmi|}} of solidified lava.<ref>[http://www.samoa.travel/sightseeing.aspx?sID=9 Savai'i – An Introduction] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402095430/http://www.samoa.travel/sightseeing.aspx?sID=9 |date=2 April 2015 }}, Samoa Tourism Authority.</ref>

Savaiʻi is the largest of the Samoan islands and the sixth-largest Polynesian island (after New Zealand's [[North Island|North]], [[South Island|South]] and [[Stewart Island/Rakiura|Stewart Islands]] and the Hawaiian islands of [[Hawaii (island)|Hawaiʻi]] and [[Maui]]). The population of Savaiʻi is roughly 42 thousand people.

===Climate===
Samoa has an equatorial climate, with an average annual temperature of {{cvt|26.5|°C|°F|}} and a main rainy season from November to April, although heavy rain may fall in any month.<ref>{{cite news |title=Samoa: Climate |url=http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-54101/Samoa |work=Encyclopædia Britannica |access-date=26 November 2007 |archive-date=3 April 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080403205126/http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-54101/Samoa |url-status=live }}</ref>
{{Weather box
|width=auto
|location=Apia
|metric first=yes
|single line=yes
|temperature colour=pastel
|Jan high C=30.4
|Feb high C=30.6
|Mar high C=30.6
|Apr high C=30.7
|May high C=30.4
|Jun high C=30.0
|Jul high C=29.5
|Aug high C=29.6
|Sep high C=29.9
|Oct high C=30.1
|Nov high C=30.3
|Dec high C=30.5
|year high C=
|Jan low C=23.9
|Feb low C=24.2
|Mar low C=24.0
|Apr low C=23.8
|May low C=23.4
|Jun low C=23.2
|Jul low C=22.6
|Aug low C=22.8
|Sep low C=23.1
|Oct low C=23.4
|Nov low C=23.6
|Dec low C=23.8
|year low C=
|rain colour=green
|Jan rain mm=489.0
|Feb rain mm=368.0
|Mar rain mm=352.1
|Apr rain mm=211.2
|May rain mm=192.6
|Jun rain mm=120.8
|Jul rain mm=120.7
|Aug rain mm=113.2
|Sep rain mm=153.9
|Oct rain mm=224.3
|Nov rain mm=261.7
|Dec rain mm=357.5
|year rain mm=
|source 1=[[World Meteorological Organization]] (UN)<ref name=WMO>[http://worldweather.wmo.int/184/c01230.htm World Weather Information Service – Apia] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121015043207/http://worldweather.wmo.int/184/c01230.htm |date=15 October 2012 }}, World Meteorological Organization. Retrieved 15 October 2012.</ref>
|date=August 2010
}}

===Ecology===
{{Further|List of mammals of Samoa|Samoan plant names}}
{{See also|List of birds of Samoa|List of protected areas of Samoa}}

Samoa forms part of the [[Samoan tropical moist forests]] ecoregion.<ref name="DinersteinOlson2017">{{cite journal |last1=Dinerstein |first1=Eric |last2=Olson |first2=David |last3=Joshi |first3=Anup |last4=Vynne |first4=Carly |last5=Burgess |first5=Neil D. |last6=Wikramanayake |first6=Eric |last7=Hahn |first7=Nathan |last8=Palminteri |first8=Suzanne |last9=Hedao |first9=Prashant|last10=Noss|first10=Reed |last11=Hansen |first11=Matt |last12=Locke |first12=Harvey |last13=Ellis |first13=Erle C |last14=Jones |first14=Benjamin |last15=Barber |first15=Charles Victor |last16=Hayes |first16=Randy |last17=Kormos |first17=Cyril |last18=Martin |first18=Vance |last19=Crist |first19=Eileen|last20=Sechrest|first20=Wes |last21=Price |first21=Lori |last22=Baillie |first22=Jonathan E. M. |last23=Weeden |first23=Don |last24=Suckling |first24=Kierán |last25=Davis |first25=Crystal |last26=Sizer |first26=Nigel |last27=Moore |first27=Rebecca |last28=Thau |first28=David |last29=Birch |first29=Tanya|last30=Potapov|first30=Peter |last31=Turubanova |first31=Svetlana |last32=Tyukavina |first32=Alexandra |last33=de Souza |first33=Nadia |last34=Pintea |first34=Lilian |last35=Brito |first35=José C. |last36=Llewellyn |first36=Othman A. |last37=Miller |first37=Anthony G. |last38=Patzelt |first38=Annette |last39=Ghazanfar |first39=Shahina A.|last40=Timberlake|first40=Jonathan |last41=Klöser |first41=Heinz |last42=Shennan-Farpón |first42=Yara |last43=Kindt |first43=Roeland |last44=Lillesø |first44=Jens-Peter Barnekow |last45=van Breugel |first45=Paulo |last46=Graudal |first46=Lars |last47=Voge |first47=Maianna |last48=Al-Shammari |first48=Khalaf F. |last49=Saleem |first49=Muhammad |display-authors=1 |title=An Ecoregion-Based Approach to Protecting Half the Terrestrial Realm |journal=BioScience |volume=67 |issue=6 |year=2017 |pages=534–545 |issn=0006-3568 |doi=10.1093/biosci/bix014 |pmid=28608869 |pmc=5451287 |doi-access=free}}</ref> Since human habitation began, about 80% of the lowland rainforests have disappeared. However, with recent reforestation, about 60.4% or about 171,000 ha of Samoa is forested, of which 32,000 ha is planted forest.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Samoa Forest Information and Data |url=https://worldrainforests.com/deforestation/2000/Samoa.htm |access-date=2025-03-24 |website=worldrainforests.com}}</ref> 

Within the ecoregion about 28% of plants and 84% of land birds are endemic.<ref>
{{WWF ecoregion |id=oc0112 |name=Samoan tropical moist forests |access-date=30 December 2011}}
</ref>

==Economy==
{{Main|Economy of Samoa}}
[[File:Central Bank of Samoa (2009).jpg|thumb|[[Central Bank of Samoa]]]]
[[File:Samoa electricity production.svg|thumb|Samoa electricity production by source]]
[[File:Colocasia esculenta dsc07801.jpg|thumb|[[Taro]], a root crop, traditionally was Samoa's largest export, generating more than half of all export revenue in 1993. A fungal blight devastated the plants, and in each year since 1994 taro exports have accounted for less than 1% of export revenue.]]

The [[United Nations]] has classified Samoa as an [[developing country|economically developing country]] since 2014.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.un.org/ldcportal/samoa-graduates-from-the-ldc-category/ |title=Samoa graduates from the LDC category |publisher=United Nations Committee for Development Policy |date=8 January 2014 |access-date=11 March 2018 |archive-date=12 March 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180312160258/https://www.un.org/ldcportal/samoa-graduates-from-the-ldc-category/ |url-status=live }}</ref> {{As of |2017}} Samoa's gross domestic product in [[purchasing-power parity]] was estimated at $1.13 billion [[United States dollar|U.S. dollars]], ranking the country 204th in the world. The [[tertiary sector of the economy|services sector]] accounted for 66% of GDP, followed by [[Industrial sector|industry]] and [[agriculture]] at 23.6% and 10.4% respectively.<ref name="CIASamoa">{{cite web |url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/samoa/ |title=Samoa |access-date=11 March 2018 |publisher=Central Intelligence Agency |work=CIA World Factbook |archive-date=28 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211028124346/https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/samoa/ |url-status=live }}</ref> For the same year, the Samoan [[workforce|labour force]] was estimated at 50,700.<ref name="CIASamoa"/>

The [[Central Bank of Samoa]] issues and regulates Samoa's currency, the [[Samoan tala|Samoan tālā]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cbs.gov.ws/about/intro/index.html |title=Introduction |work=Central Bank of Samoa website |access-date=19 November 2010 |archive-date=6 December 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101206040241/http://www.cbs.gov.ws/about/intro/index.html |url-status=dead}}</ref>
The economy of Samoa has traditionally depended on agriculture and fishing at the local level. In modern times, [[development aid]], private family [[remittances from overseas]], and agricultural exports have become key factors in the nation's economy. Agriculture employs two-thirds of the labour force and furnishes 90% of exports, featuring [[coconut]] cream, [[coconut oil]], [[noni]] (juice of the ''nonu'' fruit, as it is known in Samoan), and [[copra]].<ref name=cia/>

Sixty percent of Samoa's electricity comes from renewable [[hydroelectricity|hydro]], solar, and wind sources, with the remainder produced by diesel generators. The Electric Power Corporation set a goal of [[100% renewable energy]] by 2021.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.radionz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/358097/samoa-making-progress-on-renewable-energy-goal |title=Samoa making progress on renewable energy goal |date=24 May 2018 |work=[[Radio New Zealand]] |access-date=31 July 2018 |language=en-nz |archive-date=31 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180731115259/http://www.radionz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/358097/samoa-making-progress-on-renewable-energy-goal |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Agriculture===
In the period before German colonisation (from the late 19th century), Samoa produced mostly copra. German merchants and settlers were active in introducing large-scale [[plantation]] operations and in developing new industries, notably cocoa beans and rubber, relying on imported labourers from [[China]] and [[Melanesia]]. When the value of [[natural rubber]] fell drastically, about the end of the Great War ([[World War I]]) in 1918, the New Zealand government encouraged the production of bananas, for which there is a large market in [[New Zealand]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.fao.org/fishery/facp/WSM/en |title=FAO Fisheries & Aquaculture - Country Profile |access-date=14 November 2021 |archive-date=14 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211114063621/https://www.fao.org/fishery/facp/WSM/en |url-status=live }}</ref>

Because of variations in altitude, Samoa can cultivate a large range of tropical and subtropical crops. Land is not generally available to outside interests. Of the total land area of {{cvt|2,934|km2|acre|}}, about 24.4% is in permanent crops and another 21.2% is arable. About 4.4% is Western Samoan Trust Estates Corporation (WSTEC).<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.samoaland.gov.ws/about-us/ |title=About Us |website=samoaland.gov.ws |access-date=9 December 2021 |archive-date=14 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211114075238/https://www.samoaland.gov.ws/about-us/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

The staple products of Samoa are copra (dried coconut meat), [[cocoa bean]]s (for chocolate), rubber, and bananas.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Twining-Ward |first1=Louise |last2=Butler |first2=Richard |date=2002 |title=Implementing STD on a small island: Development and use of sustainable tourism development indicators in Samoa |journal=Journal of Sustainable Tourism |volume=10 |issue=5 |pages=363–387 |doi=10.1080/09669580208667174 |bibcode=2002JSusT..10..363T |s2cid=154442062}}</ref> The annual production of both bananas and copra has been{{when|date=May 2021}} in the range of {{convert|13,000-15,000|tonne}}. If the [[Oryctes rhinoceros|coconut rhinoceros beetle]] in Samoa were eradicated, Samoa could produce in excess of {{convert|40,000|tonne}} of copra. Samoan cocoa beans are of very high quality and are used in fine New Zealand chocolates. Most are [[Criollo (cocoa bean)|Criollo]]-Forastero hybrids. Coffee grows well, but production has been uneven. WESTEC is the biggest coffee producer.

Other agricultural industries have proven less successful. [[Sugarcane]] production was originally established by Germans in the early 20th century. Old train tracks for transporting cane can be seen at some plantations east of [[Apia]]. [[Pineapple]]s grow well in Samoa, but have not moved beyond local consumption to become a major export.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://pacificfarmers.com/pineapples-in-paradise/ |title=Pineapples in Paradise |website=pacificfarmers.com |date=6 February 2019 |access-date=9 December 2021 |archive-date=21 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210421012216/https://pacificfarmers.com/pineapples-in-paradise/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://asiapacificfarmersforum.net/samoa-pifon-pineapples-in-paradise/ |title=Samoa: Pineapples in Paradise |website=asiapacificfarmersforum.net |date=12 October 2018 |access-date=9 December 2021 |archive-date=14 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211114060730/https://asiapacificfarmersforum.net/samoa-pifon-pineapples-in-paradise/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Transport===
Samoa's transportation infrastructure effectively connects its two main islands, [[Upolu]] and [[Savaiʻi|Savai'i]], and facilitates travel to and from neighboring regions.

==== Air travel ====
[[Faleolo International Airport]], located about 25 miles (40 kilometers) west of the capital [[Apia]] on Upolu Island, serves as Samoa's primary gateway for international flights. The airport is managed by the [[Airport authority|Airports Authority]] and handles flights from various international carriers.

==== Inter-island ferries ====
The [[Samoa Shipping Corporation]], established in 1974, operates regular ferry services between Upolu and Savai'i islands.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Designs |first=Capital |title=Samoa Shipping Corporation • Ministry for Public Enterprises |url=https://www.mpe.gov.ws/links/public-bodies/trading/samoa-shipping-corporation/ |access-date=2025-03-28 |website=Ministry for Public Enterprises |language=en-US}}</ref> The main ferry route connects [[Mulifanua|Mulifanua Wharf]] on Upolu with [[Salelologa|Salelologa Wharf]] on Savai'i, with a crossing time of approximately 60 to 90 minutes. Ferries operate daily, providing both passenger and vehicle transport services. The corporation also offers services to neighboring territories, including [[American Samoa]] and [[Tokelau]].<ref name=":3">{{cite web | url=https://www.samoa.travel/plan-book/getting-around-samoa/ferry-information/ | title=Catching the Ferry &#124; Samoa Plan and Book &#124; Pacific Island }}</ref><ref name=":4">{{Cite web |title=SAMOA WHARF PROJECT BRINGS PROMISE OF TRADE {{!}} Pacific Islands Report |url=http://www.pireport.org/articles/2008/07/10/samoa-wharf-project-brings-promise-trade |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210919054522/http://www.pireport.org/articles/2008/07/10/samoa-wharf-project-brings-promise-trade |archive-date=19 September 2021 |access-date=2025-03-28 |website=www.pireport.org |language=en |url-status=live }}</ref>

==== Public transportation ====
Public transportation within Samoa primarily consists of buses and taxis. Buses are a popular mode of travel, with terminals located in Apia behind the [[Fugalei|Fugalei Food Market]] and in Savalalo next to the Fish Market. On Savai'i, bus terminals are situated at the market and main wharf in [[Salelologa]]. Fares are generally affordable, with the most one should expect to pay being SAT$12 per person.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Taking a Bus {{!}} Samoa {{!}} Transport {{!}} Pacific Island Holiday |url=https://www.samoa.travel/plan-book/getting-around-samoa/taking-a-bus/ |access-date=2025-03-28 |website=www.samoa.travel |language=en}}</ref> Taxis are readily available and can be hired for both short trips and day-long excursions. Renting a scooter is another option, offering flexibility to explore at one's own pace; however, wearing helmets is mandatory.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Transport Options {{!}} Getting Around Samoa {{!}} Samoa Tourism |url=https://www.samoa.travel/plan-book/getting-around-samoa/ |access-date=2025-03-28 |website=www.samoa.travel |language=en}}</ref>

==== Road infrastructure ====
Samoa's road network consists mainly of paved highways connecting key towns and villages on both Upolu and Savai'i islands. Driving is on the left-hand side of the road, a practice adopted in 2009 to align with neighboring countries.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2011-08-05 |title=BBC News - Samoa switches to driving on left |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8243110.stm |access-date=2025-03-28 |website=web.archive.org |archive-date=5 August 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110805202826/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8243110.stm |url-status=bot: unknown }}</ref> The roads are generally well-maintained, facilitating efficient travel across the islands.

==== Ports ====
The main port in Apia serves as the primary hub for international shipping, handling containerized cargo and fuel shipments. The port also accommodates ferries traveling to American Samoa and other [[List of islands in the Pacific Ocean|Pacific islands]]. Additional ports, such as those in Salelologa on Savai'i, support inter-island ferry services and local maritime activities.<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":4" />

==== Cycling and walking ====
While less common, some visitors and locals opt for cycling or walking, especially in rural areas. However, due to limited infrastructure for non-motorized transport, these modes are less prevalent for long-distance travel.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Biking in Samoa {{!}} Book Transport {{!}} Pacific Island Holiday |url=https://www.samoa.travel/plan-book/getting-around-samoa/biking/ |access-date=2025-03-28 |website=www.samoa.travel |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Samoa Travel & Cycling Information |url=https://www.social-cycles.com/samoa-holiday-cycling-information/ |access-date=2025-03-28 |website=Social Cycles |language=en-AU}}</ref>

==Demographics==
[[File:Samoa Familie.JPG|thumb|A Samoan family]]
{{Main|Demographics of Samoa}}

Samoa reported a population of 194,320 in its 2016 census.<ref name="census">{{cite web |url= https://www.sbs.gov.ws/documents/census/2021/Census_2021_Final_Report.pdf?_t=1670528927 |title=Population & Demography Indicator Summary |publisher=Samoa Bureau of Statistics |access-date=25 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190403053500/http://www.sbs.gov.ws/index.php/population-demography-and-vital-statistics |archive-date=3 April 2019 |url-status=dead}}</ref> This number increased to 205,557 in its 2021 Census.<ref name=sbs/> About three-quarters of the population live on the main island of [[Upolu]].<ref name="DS"/>

===Health===
{{Main|2019 Samoa measles outbreak}}
A measles outbreak began in October 2019. By the time the outbreak subsided in early January, the number of deaths reached 83 (0.31 per 1,000, based on a population of 201,316<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/samoa/ |title=Australia - Oceania :: Samoa — The World Factbook - Central Intelligence Agency (July 2018 est.) |website=www.cia.gov |access-date=6 December 2019 |archive-date=28 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211028124346/https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/samoa/ |url-status=live }}</ref>) and over 4,460 cases (2.2% of the population) of measles in Samoa,<ref name="DeathToll">{{cite web |title=Measles death toll rises to 68 in Samoa |url=https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/405090/measles-death-toll-rises-to-68-in-samoa |website=[[RNZ]] |access-date=8 December 2019 |date=8 December 2019 |archive-date=27 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210827231229/https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/405090/measles-death-toll-rises-to-68-in-samoa |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://twitter.com/samoagovt/status/1202707973048418304 |title=Latest update: 4,357 measles cases have been reported since the outbreak with 140 recorded in the last 24 hours. To date, 63 measles related deaths have been recorded. |last=Samoa |first=Government of |date=5 December 2019 |website=Twitter |language=en |access-date=6 December 2019 |archive-date=28 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211028192753/https://twitter.com/samoagovt/status/1202707973048418304|url-status=live }}</ref> mainly children under four years old, and 10 reported cases in [[Fiji]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/406802/two-more-deaths-from-measles-in-samoa-over-new-year-period|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200107105921/https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/406802/two-more-deaths-from-measles-in-samoa-over-new-year-period|url-status=live|title=Two more deaths from measles in Samoa over New Year period|archive-date=7 January 2020}}</ref>

===Ethnic groups===
The population is 96% [[Samoans]], 2% dual Samoan-[[New Zealanders|New Zealander]] and 1.9% other, according to a 2011 estimate in the [[The World Factbook|CIA World Factbook]].<ref name="CIASamoa"/>

===Languages===
{{Further|Polynesian languages}}

Samoan (''Gagana Fa'asāmoa'') and English are the official languages. Including second-language speakers, there are more speakers of Samoan than English in Samoa.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ethnologue.com/country/ws/languages/ |title=Samoa |work=Ethnologue |access-date=4 September 2016 |archive-date=10 September 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160910063129/http://www.ethnologue.com/country/WS/languages |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Samoan Sign Language]] is also commonly used among the [[Hearing loss|deaf]] population of Samoa. To emphasize the importance of full inclusion with sign language, elementary Samoan Sign Language was taught to members of the Samoa Police Service, Red Cross Society, and public during the 2017 International Week of the Deaf.<ref>{{cite news |title=Historic training for Samoa Police on International Week of the Deaf |url=http://www.samoaplanet.com/historic-training-samoa-police-international-week-deaf/ |access-date=21 June 2018 |work=Samoa Planet |date=25 September 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180621221307/http://www.samoaplanet.com/historic-training-samoa-police-international-week-deaf/ |archive-date=21 June 2018 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

===Religion===
[[File:Catholic church in Samoa-2.jpg|thumb|Roman Catholic [[Immaculate Conception]] of Mary cathedral]]
{{Main|Religion in Samoa}}
Since 2017, Article 1 of the Samoan Constitution states that "Samoa is a Christian nation founded of God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit".<ref name="Religion">{{cite magazine |magazine=[[The Diplomat (magazine)|The Diplomat]] |title=Samoa Officially Becomes a Christian State |first=Grant |last=Wyeth |url=https://thediplomat.com/2017/06/samoa-officially-becomes-a-christian-state/ |date=16 June 2017 |access-date=16 June 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170616153746/https://thediplomat.com/2017/06/samoa-officially-becomes-a-christian-state/ |archive-date=16 June 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref>

According to the 2021 Census, [[Religion in Samoa|the distribution of religious groups]] are as follows: [[Christian Congregational Church of Samoa]] 27%, [[Catholic Church|Roman Catholic]] 19%, [[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Samoa|The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]] 18%, [[Methodist]] 12%, [[Samoan Assemblies of God|Assembly of God]] 10%, and the remaining religious groups accounting for 16% of the population.<ref name=sbs/> In addition, Samoa hosts the seventh (of nine current) [[Baháʼí House of Worship|Baháʼí Houses of Worship]] in the world; completed in 1984 and dedicated by [[Malietoa Tanumafili II]], a convert to the Baháʼí Faith, it is located in Tiapapata, {{cvt|8|km|mi|}} from [[Apia]].

==Education==
The Samoan government provides eight years of primary and secondary education that is tuition-free and is compulsory through age 16.<ref>{{cite web |title=Samoa |url=http://www.dol.gov/ilab/media/reports/iclp/tda2001/samoa.htm |work=2001 Findings on the Worst Forms of Child Labor |publisher=[[Bureau of International Labor Affairs|U.S. Bureau of International Labor Affairs]] |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081105225107/http://www.dol.gov/ilab/media/reports/iclp/tda2001/samoa.htm |archive-date=5 November 2008 |access-date=27 February 2018}}</ref>

Samoa's main post-secondary educational institution is the [[National University of Samoa]], established in 1984. The country is also home to several branches of the multi-national [[University of the South Pacific]] and the [[Oceania University of Medicine]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Education in Samoa |url=http://www.commonwealthofnations.org/sectors-samoa/education/ |publisher=Nexus Commonwealth Network |access-date=27 February 2018 |archive-date=28 February 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180228161800/http://www.commonwealthofnations.org/sectors-samoa/education/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

Education in Samoa has proved to be effective as a 2012 [[UNESCO]] report stated that 99 percent of Samoan adults are literate.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://uis.unesco.org/sites/default/files/documents/pacific-education-for-all-2015-review-en_1.pdf |title=Pacific Education for All 2015 Review |last=UNESCO |date=2015 |website=UNESCO |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180406041009/http://uis.unesco.org/sites/default/files/documents/pacific-education-for-all-2015-review-en_1.pdf |archive-date=6 April 2018}}</ref>

The Human Rights Measurement Initiative (HRMI)<ref>{{Cite web |title=Human Rights Measurement Initiative – The first global initiative to track the human rights performance of countries |url=https://humanrightsmeasurement.org/ |access-date=2022-03-26 |website=humanrightsmeasurement.org |archive-date=8 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220308173546/https://humanrightsmeasurement.org/ |url-status=live }}</ref> finds that Samoa is fulfilling only 88.0% of what it should be fulfilling for the right to education based on the country's level of income.<ref name="auto">{{Cite web |title=Samoa - HRMI Rights Tracker |url=https://rightstracker.org/ |access-date=2022-03-26 |website=rightstracker.org |language=en |archive-date=15 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220315171721/https://rightstracker.org/ |url-status=live }}</ref> HRMI breaks down the right to education by looking at the rights to both primary education and secondary education. While taking into consideration Samoa's income level, the nation is achieving 97.7% of what should be possible based on its resources (income) for primary education but only 78.3% for secondary education.<ref name="auto"/>

==Culture==
{{Main|Culture of Samoa}}
{{See also|Music of Samoa}}
[[File:Samoa upolu.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|A view of [[Falefa Valley]] from Le Mafa Pass, east [[Upolu]]]]
[[File:Young man in 'ie toga lavalava, photograph by Thomas Andrew.jpg|thumb|A young man in {{lang|sm|'ie toga}}]]
[[Faʻa Sāmoa]], or the traditional Samoan way, remains a strong force in Samoan life and politics. As one of the oldest Polynesian cultures, the fa'a Samoa developed over a period of 3,000 years, withstanding centuries of European influence to maintain its historical customs, social and political systems, and [[Samoan language|language]]. Cultural customs such as the [[Samoa 'ava ceremony]] are significant and solemn rituals at important occasions including the bestowal of ''[[fa'amatai|matai]]'' chiefly titles. Items of great cultural value include the finely woven ''[['ie toga]]''.<ref>{{Cite journal |date=June 1999 |title=KIE HINGOA 'NAMED MATS', 'IE TŌGA 'FINE MATS' AND OTHER TREASURED TEXTILES OF SAMOA AND TONGA |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/i20706862 |journal=The Journal of the Polynesian Society |volume=108 |issue=2 |access-date=22 April 2022 |archive-date=22 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220422081323/https://www.jstor.org/stable/i20706862 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title='Ie Toga (Fine Mat): Samoan Traditions of Weaving - Teachers (U.S. National Park Service) |url=https://www.nps.gov/teachers/classrooms/-ie-toga-fine-mat-samoan-traditions-of-weaving.htm |access-date=2022-04-22 |website=www.nps.gov |language=en |archive-date=28 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210728131710/https://www.nps.gov/teachers/classrooms/-ie-toga-fine-mat-samoan-traditions-of-weaving.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[Samoan mythology]] includes many gods with creation stories and figures of legend such as [[Tagaloa]] and the goddess of war [[Nafanua]], the daughter of [[Saveasi'uleo]], ruler of the spirit realm [[Pulotu]]. Other legends include the well known story of [[Sina and the Eel]] which explains the origins of the first coconut tree.

Some Samoans are spiritual and religious, and have subtly adapted the dominant religion of Christianity to 'fit in' with fa'a Samoa and vice versa. Ancient beliefs continue to co-exist side by side with Christianity, particularly in regard to the traditional customs and rituals of fa'a Samoa. The Samoan culture is centred on the principle of vāfealoa'i, the relationships between people. These relationships are based on respect, or fa'aaloalo. When Christianity was introduced in Samoa, most Samoan people converted. Currently 98% of the population identify themselves as Christian.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Wyeth |first=Grant |title=Samoa Officially Becomes a Christian State |url=https://thediplomat.com/2017/06/samoa-officially-becomes-a-christian-state/ |access-date=2021-09-06 |website=thediplomat.com |language=en-US |archive-date=16 June 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170616153746/https://thediplomat.com/2017/06/samoa-officially-becomes-a-christian-state/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

Some Samoans live a communal way of life, participating in activities collectively. Examples of this are the traditional Samoan ''[[Architecture of Samoa|fale]]'' (houses) which are open with no walls, using blinds made of coconut palm fronds during the night or bad weather.

The Samoan ''[[siva Samoa|siva]]'' dance has unique gentle movements of the body in time to music and tells a story, although the Samoan male dances can be more snappy.<ref>{{cite news |title=Dance: Siva |url=http://www.samoa.co.uk/dance.html |work=Samoa.co.uk |access-date=27 November 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071117045520/http://www.samoa.co.uk/dance.html |archive-date=17 November 2007 |url-status=dead}}</ref> The ''[[sasa (dance)|sasa]]'' is also a traditional dance where rows of dancers perform rapid [[synchronization|synchronised]] movements in time to the rhythm of wooden drums ''([[pate (musical instrument)|pate]])'' or rolled mats. Another dance performed by males is called the ''[[fa'ataupati]]'' or the slap dance, creating rhythmic sounds by slapping different parts of the body. This is believed to have been derived from slapping insects on the body.{{citation needed|date=November 2017}}

The form and construction of traditional [[architecture of Samoa]] was a specialised skill by ''Tufuga fai fale'' that was also linked to other cultural artforms.
<gallery mode="packed">
File:Siva Afi - Fire spinning.jpg|A Samoan fire dancer.
File:Fale on Manono Island.jpg|A [[Architecture of Samoa|fale]] on [[Manono Island]]
</gallery>

===Media===
{{Main|List of newspapers in Samoa|List of television stations in Samoa}}

===Tattooing===
[[File:Samoan Malu.jpg|thumb|A Samoan woman with a traditional [[malu]]]]

As with other Polynesian cultures ([[Hawaiian culture|Hawaiian]], [[Tahitians|Tahitian]] and [[Māori culture|Māori]]) with significant and unique tattoos, Samoans have two gender specific and culturally significant tattoos. For males, it is called the [[Pe'a]] and consists of intricate and geometrical patterns [[tattoo]]ed that cover areas from the knees up towards the ribs. A male who possesses such a tatau is called a [[soga'imiti]]. A Samoan girl or ''teine'' is given a [[malu]], which covers the area from just below her knees to her upper thighs.<ref>{{cite news |title=Worn With Pride – Tatau (Tatoo) |url=http://www.oma-online.org/worn_with_pride_04.html |work=Oceanside Museum of Art |access-date=26 November 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090330024149/http://www.oma-online.org/worn_with_pride_04.html |archive-date=30 March 2009 |df=dmy-all}}</ref>

===Contemporary culture===
[[Albert Wendt]] is a significant Samoan writer whose novels and stories tell the Samoan experience. In 1989, his novel ''[[Flying Fox in a Freedom Tree]]'' was made into a feature film in New Zealand, directed by [[Martyn Sanderson]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.filmarchive.org.nz/feature-project/pages/Flying-Fox.php |title=NZ Feature Project: Flying Fox in a Freedom Tree – The New Zealand Film Archive |access-date=30 June 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100525162414/http://www.filmarchive.org.nz/feature-project/pages/Flying-Fox.php |archive-date=25 May 2010}}</ref> Another novel ''[[Sons for the Return Home]]'' had also been made into a feature film in 1979, directed by [[Paul Maunder]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.filmarchive.org.nz/feature-project/pages/SFTRH.php |title=NZ Feature Project: Sons For the Return Home – The New Zealand Film Archive |access-date=30 June 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100525170130/http://www.filmarchive.org.nz/feature-project/pages/SFTRH.php |archive-date=25 May 2010}}</ref>

The late [[John Kneubuhl]], born in American Samoa, was an accomplished playwright and screenwriter and writer. His play ''Think of Garden'' premiered in Auckland in 1993 a year after his death, it was directed by [[Nathaniel Lees]], is set in 1929 and is about Samoa's struggle for independence.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Think of a Garden |url=https://tadb.otago.ac.nz/theatre/Web/WebSearch.php?Session=Guest-X-196495610 |access-date=2022-01-27 |website=Theatre Aotearoa Data Base |archive-date=27 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220127092723/https://tadb.otago.ac.nz/theatre/Web/WebSearch.php?Session=Guest-X-196495610 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2018-01-17 |title=Samoan history play 'Think of a Garden' to be staged, literally, in a garden |url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/100505127/samoan-history-play-think-of-a-garden-to-be-staged-literally-in-a-garden |access-date=2022-01-27 |website=[[Stuff (website)|Stuff]] |language=en |archive-date=27 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220127092717/https://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/100505127/samoan-history-play-think-of-a-garden-to-be-staged-literally-in-a-garden |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[Sia Figiel]] won the 1997 [[Commonwealth Writers' Prize]] for fiction in the south-east Asia/South Pacific region with her novel "Where We Once Belonged".

[[Momoe Malietoa Von Reiche]] is an internationally recognised poet and artist.

[[Tusiata Avia]] is a performance poet. Her first book of poetry ''Wild Dogs Under My Skirt'' was published by Victoria University Press in 2004.
[[Dan Taulapapa McMullin]] is an artist and writer.

Other Samoan poets and writers include [[Sapa'u Ruperake Petaia]], [[Eti Sa'aga]] and [[Savea Sano Malifa]], the editor of the [[Samoa Observer]].

In music, popular local bands include [[The Five Stars]], Penina o Tiafau and Punialava'a.
[[The Yandall Sisters]]' cover of the song ''Sweet Inspiration'' reached number one on the New Zealand charts in 1974.

[[King Kapisi]] was the first hip hop artist to receive the prestigious New Zealand [[Australasian Performing Right Association|APRA]] Silver Scroll Award in 1999 for his song ''Reverse Resistance''. The music video for ''Reverse Resistance'' was filmed in Savai'i at his villages.

Other successful Samoan hip hop artists include rapper [[Scribe (rapper)|Scribe]], [[Dei Hamo]], [[Savage (rapper)|Savage]] and [[Tha Feelstyle]] whose music video ''Suamalie'' was filmed in Samoa.

[[Lemi Ponifasio]] is a director and choreographer who is prominent internationally with his dance Company MAU.<ref>[http://www.mau.co.nz/ Home] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110512013259/http://www.mau.co.nz/ |date=12 May 2011 }}. Mau.co.nz. Retrieved on 9 November 2016.</ref>
[[Neil Ieremia]]'s company [[Black Grace]] has also received international acclaim with tours to Europe and New York.

[[Hip hop]] has had a significant impact on Samoan culture. According to Katerina Martina Teaiwa, PhD from the University of Hawaii at Manoa, "Hip hop culture in particular is popular amongst Samoan youth."<ref name="Dances">[https://web.archive.org/web/20080308172004/http://www.piccom.org/dancesoflife/samoa.html Dances of Life |American Samoa]. piccom.org</ref> As in many other countries, hip hop music is popular. In addition, the integration of hip hop elements into Samoan tradition also "testifies to the transferability of the dance forms themselves," and to the "circuits through which people and all their embodied knowledge travel."<ref>Henderson, April K. "Dancing Between Islands: Hip Hop and the Samoan Diaspora." In The Vinyl Ain't Final: Hip Hop and the Globalization of Black Popular Culture, ed. by Dipannita Basu and Sidney J. Lemelle, 180–199. London; Ann Arbor, MI: Pluto Press, 2000</ref> Dance both in its traditional form and its more modern forms has remained a central cultural currency to Samoans, especially youths.<ref name="Dances" />

The arts organisation ''[[Tautai Pacific Arts Trust]]'' was an informal collective of visual artists including [[Fatu Feu'u]], [[Johnny Penisula]], [[Shigeyuki Kihara]], [[Michel Tuffery]], and [[Lily Laita]] in the 1980s and formalised into a trust in 1995 and is now a leading Pacific arts organisation directed by [[Aanoalii Rowena Fuluifaga]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Appointment of new Tautai Director, Aanoalii Rowena Fuluifaga {{!}} New Zealand Society of Authors (PEN NZ Inc) Te Puni Kaituhi O Aotearoa |url=https://authors.org.nz/appointment-of-new-tautai-director-aanoalii-rowena-fuluifaga/ |access-date=2023-12-02 |language=en-US |archive-date=2 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231202220026/https://authors.org.nz/appointment-of-new-tautai-director-aanoalii-rowena-fuluifaga/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>Yamauchi, C. (2014). Talking Story about Art and Life: Narratives of Contemporary Oceanic Artists and Their Work.</ref> [[Marilyn Kohlhase]] ran a Pacific focused gallery called ''[[Okaioceanikart]]'' from 2007 to 2013.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kohlhase |first=Marilyn |title=The Okaioceanikart Story |url=https://pantograph-punch.com//posts/the-okaioceanikart-story,%20https://pantograph-punch.com//posts/the-okaioceanikart-story |access-date=2022-01-27 |website=Pantograph Punch }}{{Dead link|date=February 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> Other important Samoan contemporary artists include [[Andy Leleisi'uao]], and [[Raymond Sagapolutele]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-12-07 |title=Andy Leleisi'uao wins 2017 Wallace Art Award |url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/andy-leleisiuao-wins-2017-wallace-art-award/4BJ5JCAJP7RS576EXDIEY7NRG4/ |access-date=2023-12-07 |website=[[The New Zealand Herald]] |language=en-NZ |archive-date=7 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231207184925/https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/andy-leleisiuao-wins-2017-wallace-art-award/4BJ5JCAJP7RS576EXDIEY7NRG4/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-10-12 |title=Aua e te fefe: Art exhibition challenges audience 'Don't be afraid' |url=https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/476517/aua-e-te-fefe-art-exhibition-challenges-audience-don-t-be-afraid |access-date=2023-12-07 |website=[[RNZ]] |language=en-nz |archive-date=9 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240209054510/https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/476517/aua-e-te-fefe-art-exhibition-challenges-audience-don-t-be-afraid |url-status=live }}</ref>

Director [[Sima Urale]] is a filmmaker. Urale's short film ''O Tamaiti'' won the prestigious Best Short Film at the [[Venice Film Festival]] in 1996. Her first feature film ''Apron Strings'' opened the 2008 [[New Zealand International Film Festivals|NZ International Film Festival]]. The feature film ''[[Siones Wedding]]'', co-written by [[Oscar Kightley]], was financially successful following premieres in Auckland and Apia. The 2011 film [[The Orator (film)|The Orator]] was the first ever fully Samoan film, shot in Samoa in the Samoan language with a Samoan cast telling a uniquely Samoan story. Written and directed by [[Tusi Tamasese]], it received much critical acclaim and attention at film festivals throughout the world.

===Sport===
{{See also|Sport in Samoa}}
[[File:Percy Montgomery against Samoa.jpg|thumb|Samoa (blue) vs. South Africa in June 2007]]
The main sports played in Samoa are [[rugby union]], [[Samoan cricket]] and [[netball]]. Rugby union is the national football code of Samoa. In Samoan villages, volleyball is also popular.

Rugby union is the national sport in Samoa and the [[Samoa national rugby union team|national team]], nicknamed the Manu Samoa, is consistently competitive against teams from vastly more populous nations. Samoa has competed at every [[Rugby World Cup]] since [[1991 Rugby World Cup|1991]], and made the quarter finals in 1991, [[1995 Rugby World Cup|1995]] and the second round of the [[1999 Rugby World Cup|1999]] World Cup.<ref>{{cite news |title=Rugby in Samoa |url=http://www.manusamoa.net/history.htm |work=ManuSamoa.net |access-date=26 November 2007 |archive-date=19 February 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120219202744/http://www.manusamoa.net/history.htm |url-status=usurped}}</ref> At the 2003 world cup, Manu Samoa came close to beating eventual world champions, England. Samoa also played in the [[Pacific Nations Cup]] and the [[Pacific Tri-Nations]]. The sport is governed by the [[Samoa Rugby Football Union]], who are members of the [[Pacific Islands Rugby Alliance]], and thus, also contribute to the international [[Pacific Islanders rugby union team]].

At club level, there is the [[Samoa National Provincial Championship|National Provincial Championship]] and [[Pacific Rugby Cup]]. They also took home the cup at Wellington and the Hong Kong Rugby Sevens in 2007—for which the Prime Minister of Samoa, also chairman of the national rugby union, Tuila’epa Sa’ilele Malielegaoi, declared a national holiday. They were also the [[IRB World Sevens Series]] Champions in 2010 capping a year of achievement for the Samoans, following wins in the US, Australia, Hong Kong and Scotland Sevens tournaments.

Prominent Samoan players include [[Pat Lam]] and [[Brian Lima]]. In addition, many Samoans have played for or are playing for [[New Zealand national rugby union team|New Zealand]].

[[Samoa national rugby league team|The national rugby league team]] reached the quarter finals of the [[2013 Rugby League World Cup]], the team comprising players from the [[NRL]] and [[Super League]] plus domestic players. Many Samoans and New Zealanders or Australians of Samoan descent play in the Super League and National Leagues in Britain, including Francis Meli, Ta'ane Lavulavu of Workington Town, Maurie Fa'asavalu of St Helens, David Fatialofa of Whitehaven and Setaimata Sa, who signed with London Irish rugby club. Other noteworthy players from [[New Zealand|NZ]] and [[Australia]] have represented the [[Samoa national rugby league team|Samoan National team]]. The 2011 domestic Samoan rugby league competition contained 10 teams with plans to expand to 12 in 2012.<ref name="Rugby League Planet">{{cite web |work=rugbyleagueplanet.com |title=Samoa |url=http://rugbyleagueplanet.com/rugby-league-rlp/rlp-nations/samoa |access-date=20 September 2012 |archive-date=20 September 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120920134235/http://rugbyleagueplanet.com/rugby-league-rlp/rlp-nations/samoa |url-status=live }}</ref>{{Failed verification|date=February 2020}}<ref>[https://www.rugbyleagueplanet.com/table/international-rugby-league-news/samoa 2019 Oceania Cup Preview - Toa Samoa] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200213190555/https://www.rugbyleagueplanet.com/table/international-rugby-league-news/samoa/ |date=13 February 2020 }} ''www.rugbyleagueplanet.com'', accessed 13 February 2020</ref> Samoa reached the final of the [[2021 Rugby League World Cup]] to face Australia.

Samoans have been very visible in [[boxing]], [[kickboxing]], [[Professional wrestling|wrestling]], and [[sumo]]; some Samoan sumo wrestlers, most famously [[Musashimaru]] and [[Konishiki]], have reached the highest rank of ''[[Oozeki|Ozeki]]'' and ''[[Yokozuna (sumo)|yokozuna]]''.

[[American football]] is occasionally played in Samoa, reflecting its wide popularity in [[American Samoa]], where the sport is played under high school sanction. About 30 ethnic Samoans, many from American Samoa, currently play in the [[National Football League]]. A 2002 article from ''[[ESPN]]'' estimated that a Samoan male (either an American Samoan or a Samoan living in the mainland United States) is 40 times more likely to play in the NFL than a non-Samoan American.<ref>{{cite news |title=American football, Samoan style |url=https://www.espn.com/gen/s/2002/0527/1387562.html |work=ESPN |access-date=26 November 2007 |archive-date=16 November 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071116125406/http://espn.go.com/gen/s/2002/0527/1387562.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal bar|Geography|Islands|Oceania}}
*[[Outline of Samoa]]{{Clear}}

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
{{Refbegin}}
*Watson, R M, ''History of Samoa'' (Wellington, 1918)
*Meleisea, Malama. ''The Making of Modern Samoa: Traditional Authority and Colonial Administration in the Modern History of Western Samoa''. (Suva, 1987) Institute of Pacific Studies, University of the South Pacific.
*Schnee, Dr. Heinrich (former Deputy Governor of [[German Samoa]] and last Governor of [[German East Africa]]). 1926. ''German Colonization, Past and Future: The Truth about the German Colonies.'' London: [[Allen & Unwin|George Allen & Unwin]].
*Eustis, Nelson. [1979] 1980. ''[[Aggie Grey]] of Samoa.'' Adelaide, South Australia: Hobby Investments. {{ISBN|0-9595609-0-4}}.
*{{Cite book |author=Stevenson, Robert Louis |title=A Footnote to History: Eight Years of Trouble in Samoa |date=August 2008 |publisher=BiblioBazaar |isbn=978-1-4264-0754-3}}
*Mead, Margaret. 1928, ''Coming of Age in Samoa: A Study of Adolescence and Sex in Primitive Societies''. 
*Freeman, Derek. 1983. ''Margaret Mead in Samoa: the Making and Unmaking of an Anthropological Myth''.
*Urmenyhazi Attila. 2013 ''Samoan & Marquesan Life in Oceania: a probing travelogue''. {{ISBN|9780646909127}} – {{NLA|6377055}}.
*Mallon, Sean. 2002. ''Samoan Art and Artists''. O Measina a Samoa. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. {{ISBN|0-8248-2675-2}}
*{{cite journal |last=Gill |first=B.J. |year=1993 |title=The land reptiles of Western Samoa |journal=Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand |volume=23 |number=2 |pages=79–89 |doi=10.1080/03036758.1993.10721219 |doi-access=free|bibcode=1993JRSNZ..23...79G }}
{{Refend}}

==External links==
*{{cite web |url=http://www.nzlii.org/nz/legis/hist_act/wsa19611961n68189/ |title=Western Samoa Act, 1961 |publisher=New Zealand Law online |date=1961}}

{{Sister project links|voy=Samoa|d=Q683}}

'''Government'''
*[http://www.samoagovt.ws/ Government of Samoa]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20150905064548/https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/resources/world-leaders-1/WS.html Chief of State and Cabinet Members]

'''General information'''
*[https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/samoa/ Samoa]. ''[[The World Factbook]]''. [[Central Intelligence Agency]].
*[http://ucblibraries.colorado.edu/govpubs/for/samoa.htm University of Colorado] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101119072610/http://ucblibraries.colorado.edu/govpubs/for/samoa.htm |date=19 November 2010 }} from ''UCB Libraries GovPubs''
*[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-15655855 Samoa] from the [[BBC News]]
*{{wikiatlas|Samoa}}
*[http://www.samoa.travel Samoa Tourism Authority]
*[http://www.ifs.du.edu/ifs/frm_CountryProfile.aspx?Country=WS Key Development Forecasts for Samoa] from [[International Futures]]
*{{OSM relation|1872673}}

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{{Samoa topics}}
{{Polynesia}}
{{The Commonwealth}}
{{Countries and territories of Oceania}}
{{Pacific Islands Forum (PIF)}}
{{Authority control}}

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