Western Samoa, former name of the nation of Samoa.

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

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

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

Land, People, and Economy

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

History

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

Samoa, a constitutional monarchy, has a 49-member legislative assembly. Since 1991 all of its members have been elected by universal suffrage, but candidates can be chosen only from among the titled heads of families (matai), except for two members elected by non-ethnic Samoans. Executive power rests in the head of state, who is selected by the assembly from among the royal families and serves (since 2007) a five-year term. The head of state in turn chooses a prime minister and cabinet from among members of the assembly. Chief Susuga Malietoa Tanumafili II became co-head of state in 1962 and sole head of state in 1963, serving until his death in 2007; Tuiatua Tupea Tamasese Efi, a former prime minister, was elected to succeed him. Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi has been prime minister since 1998.

National Park of American Samoa: see American Samoa; National Parks and Monuments (table).

American Samoa, The National Park of, c.9,000 acres (3,645 hectares), American Samoa, S Pacific Ocean. Comprising areas on the islands of Ofu, Ta'u, and Tutuila, the park features the only paleotropical rain forest in the U.S. national park system, flying foxes and other tropical wildlife, numerous archaeological sites, and a coral reef. It was established in 1988.

American Samoa, officially Territory of American Samoa, unincorporated territory of the United States (2000 pop. 57,291), comprising the eastern half of the Samoa island chain in the South Pacific. The group (76 sq mi/197 sq km) consists of several major islands: Tutuila, the Manu'a group (Ta'u, Ofu, and Olosega), Rose and Sand Islands, and Swains Island. Pago Pago, the capital, is on Tutuila. Most of the islands are mountainous, heavily wooded, and surrounded by coral reefs.

Polynesians account for a large majority of the population. Christian Congregationalism and other Protestant denominations are practiced by 80% of the people; some 20% are Roman Catholic. Most Samoans are bilingual, speaking the native Polynesian tongue and English.

Subsistence agriculture and the export of canned tuna and handicrafts became the mainstays of the economy after the U.S. naval base at Pago Pago closed in 1951. There is also some light industry. Economic activity is strongly linked to the United States; Australia, Indonesia, and India are also important trading partners. Nearly all the land is communally owned by the Polynesian natives, who are considered American nationals, not citizens, and do not vote in U.S. elections. They do, however, send one nonvoting delegate to the U.S. Congress.

American Samoa was defined by a treaty in 1899 between the United States, Great Britain, and Germany, which gave the United States control of all Samoan islands east of 171°W. American Samoa was under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Dept. of the Navy until 1951, at which time administration was transferred to the Dept. of the Interior, which appointed the governor. In 1978 the first popularly elected Samoan governor was inaugurated. Tauese P. F. Sunia, first elected in 1996, died in 2003; Lieutenant Governor Togiola Tulafona succeeded him as acting governor, and was himself elected governor in 2004 for a four-year term. There is a bicameral legislature (Fono), consisting of a senate (18 members chosen by local chiefs) and a house of representatives (20 members elected by popular vote, plus one nonvoting member from Swains Island, which is privately owned). There is also an independent judiciary.

officially Independent State of Samoa formerly Western Samoa

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

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officially Territory of American Samoa

Unincorporated U.S. territory (pop., 2007 est.: 64,400), south-central Pacific Ocean. It includes the islands of Tutuila (the largest, with over two-thirds of the territory's land area and almost all of its population), Aunuu, Rose, Swains, and the Manua group. Area: 77 sq mi (200 sq km). Capital: Fagatogo (legislative and judicial); Utulei (executive) (both part of Pago Pago urban agglom., on Tutuila). Languages: Samoan, English (both official). Religion: Christianity (mostly Protestant; also Roman Catholic, other Christians). Currency: U.S. dollar. Most of the islands are rocky, formed from extinct volcanoes, and are surrounded by coral reefs. Tutuila and the islands of Manua are dominated by central mountain ranges. Fishing and tourism are major industries, but the U.S. administration is the main employer. The great majority of the population is of Samoan ancestry. The islands were probably inhabited by Polynesians 3,000 years ago. Dutch explorers became the first Europeans to visit the islands in 1722. Missionaries began arriving in the islands in the 1830s. The U.S. gained the right to establish a naval station at Pago Pago in 1878, and the U.S., Britain, and Germany administered a tripartite protectorate in 1889–99. In 1899 Britain and Germany renounced their claims over the eastern islands. The high chiefs ceded the eastern islands to the U.S. in 1904. American Samoa was administered by the U.S. Department of the Navy until 1951 and afterward by the Department of the Interior. Its current constitution was approved in 1967, and in 1978 the territory's first elected governor took office.

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