![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/09\/Samoa-on-the-Globe-300x300.png\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Samoa is a unitary parliamentary democracy with eleven administrative divisions. The sovereign state is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations<\/a>. Western Samoa was admitted to the United Nations<\/a> on 15 December 1976. Because of the Samoans’ seafaring skills, pre-20th-century European explorers referred to the entire island group (which includes American Samoa) as the “Navigator Islands.\u201d] The country was occupied by the German Empire from 1899 to 1915, and by a joint British and New Zealand colonial administration until 1 January 1962, when it became independent.<\/p>\n Samoa was discovered and settled by the Samoans\u2019 Lapita ancestors (Austronesian people who spoke Oceanic languages). New Zealand scientists have dated the earliest human remains found in Samoa to between roughly 2900 and 3500 years ago.<\/p>\n Contact with Europeans began in the early 18th century. Jacob Roggeveen<\/a>, 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<\/a>, who named them the Navigator Islands in 1768. Contact was limited before the 1830s, which is when English missionaries, whalers and traders began arriving.<\/p>\n Visits by American trading and whaling vessels were important in the early economic development of Samoa.<\/p>\n Christian missionary work in Samoa began in 1830 when John Williams<\/a> of the London Missionary Society<\/a> arrived in Sapapali’i<\/a> from the Cook Islands<\/a> and Tahiti<\/a>.<\/p>\n 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 River in Hawaii and Pago Pago Bay in Eastern Samoa, and forced alliances, most conspicuously on the islands of Tutuila<\/a> and Manu’a<\/a> which became American Samoa.<\/p>\n Britain also sent troops to protect British business enterprise, harbor rights, and consulate office. This was followed by an eight-year civil war<\/a>, 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 harbor, and a larger-scale war seemed imminent. A massive storm on 15 March 1889 damaged or destroyed the warships, ending the military conflict.<\/p>\n The Second Samoan Civil War<\/a> reached a head in 1898 when Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States were locked in dispute over who should control the Samoan Islands. The Siege of Apia<\/a> occurred in March 1899. Samoan forces loyal to Prince Tanu<\/a> were besieged by a larger force of Samoan rebels loyal to Mata’afa Iosefo<\/a>. Supporting Prince Tanu were landing parties from four British and American warships. After several days of fighting, the Samoan rebels were finally defeated.<\/p>\n American and British warships shelled Apia on 15 March 1899, including the USS Philadelphia<\/a>. Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States quickly resolved to end the hostilities and divided the island chain at the Tripartite Convention of 1899<\/a>, signed at Washington on 2 December 1899 with ratifications exchanged on 16 February 1900.<\/p>\n 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<\/a>, (2) all of the Solomon Islands south of Bougainville, and (3) territorial alignments in West Africa.<\/p>\n The German Empire governed the western part of the Samoan archipelago from 1900 to 1914. Wilhelm Solf<\/a> was appointed the colony’s first governor. In 1908, when the non-violent Mau a Pule<\/a> resistance movement arose, Solf did not hesitate to banish the Mau leader Lauaki Namulau’ulu Mamoe<\/a> to Saipan in the German Northern Mariana Islands.<\/a><\/p>\n In the first month of World War I<\/a>, on 29 August 1914, troops of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force landed unopposed on Upolu and seized control<\/a> from the German authorities, following a request by Great Britain for New Zealand to perform this “great and urgent imperial service.”<\/p>\n From the end of World War I until 1962, New Zealand controlled Western Samoa as a Class C Mandate under trusteeship<\/a> through the League of Nations<\/a>, then through the United Nations. Between 1919 and 1962, Samoa was administered by the Department of External Affairs, a government department which had been specially created to oversee New Zealand’s Island Territories and Samoa.<\/p>\n After repeated efforts by the Samoan independence movement, the New Zealand Western Samoa Act 1961 of 24 November 1961 granted Samoa independence, effective on 1 January 1962, upon which the Trusteeship Agreement terminated. Samoa also signed a friendship treaty with New Zealand. Samoa, the first small-island country in the Pacific to become independent, 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.<\/p>\n In 2002, New Zealand’s prime minister Helen Clark<\/a> formally apologized for New Zealand’s role in Spanish Influenza outbreak in 1918 that killed over a quarter of Samoa’s population and for the Black Saturday killings in 1929.<\/p>\n On 4 July 1997 the government amended the constitution to change the country’s name from Western Samoa to Samoa. However, in the United Nations, the country’s name had always been Samoa. American Samoa protested against the move, asserting that the change diminished its own identity.[48]<\/p>\n On 7 September 2009, the government changed the rule of the road, from 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. This made Samoa the first country in the 21st century to switch to driving on the left.<\/p>\n At the end of December 2011, Samoa changed its time zone offset from UTC\u221211 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<\/a>, moving it to the east of the territory. 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<\/a>, 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.<\/p>\n In June 2017, Parliament established an amendment to Article 1 of the Samoan Constitution, thereby making Christianity the state religion.<\/p>\n In May 2021, Fiame Naomi Mata\u02bbafa<\/a> is due to become Samoa’s first female prime minister. Mata\u02bbafa’s FAST party narrowly won the election, ending the rule of long-term Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi<\/a>, although the constitutional crisis complicates this. On 24 May 2021, she was sworn in as the new prime minister.<\/p>\n Samoa lies south of the equator, about halfway between Hawaii and New Zealand, in the Polynesian region of the Pacific Ocean. The total land area is 2,842 km2 (1,097 sq mi), consisting of the two large islands of Upolu<\/a> and Savai’i<\/a> (which together account for 99% of the total land area) and eight small islets.<\/p>\n The main island of Upolu is home to nearly three-quarters of Samoa’s population, and to the capital city, Apia<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Samoan islands result geologically from volcanism, originating with the Samoa hotspot, which probably results from a mantle plume. While all of the islands have volcanic origins, only Savai’i, the westernmost island in Samoa, remains volcanically active, with the most recent eruptions at Mt Matavanu<\/a> (1905\u20131911), Mata o le Afi<\/a> (1902) and Mauga Afi<\/a> (1725).<\/p>\n The highest point in Samoa is Mt Silisili<\/a>, at 1858 m (6,096 ft). The Saleaula lava fields<\/a> situated on the central north coast of Savai’i result from the Mt Matavanu eruptions, which left 50 km2 (20 sq mi) of solidified lava.<\/p>\n The United Nations has classified Samoa as an economically developing country since 2014. As of 2017 Samoa’s gross domestic product in purchasing-power parity was estimated at $1.13 billion U.S. dollars, ranking the country 204th in the world. The services sector accounted for 66% of GDP, followed by industry and agriculture at 23.6% and 10.4% respectively.<\/p>\n The Central Bank of Samoa issues and regulates Samoa’s currency, the Samoan t\u0101l\u0101. 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 labor force and furnishes 90% of exports, featuring coconut cream, coconut oil, noni<\/a> (juice of the nonu fruit, as it is known in Samoan), and copra.<\/p>\n Outside of a large automotive wire harness factory (Yazaki Corporation<\/a> which ended production in August 2017), the manufacturing sector mainly processes agricultural products. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, tourism expanded, accounting for 25% of GDP. Tourist arrivals increased over the years with more than 100,000 tourists visiting the islands in 2005, up from 70,000 in 1996.<\/p>\n The staple products of Samoa are copra (dried coconut meat), cocoa beans (for chocolate), rubber, and bananas. Samoan cocoa beans are of very high quality and are used in fine New Zealand chocolates. Coffee grows well, but production has been uneven.<\/p>\n Other agricultural industries have proven less successful. Sugarcane production, originally established by Germans in the early 20th century, could be successful. Pineapples grow well in Samoa, but have not moved beyond local consumption to become a major export.<\/p>\n Transport in Samoa includes one international airport situated on the north west coast of Upolu island, paved highways reaching most parts of the two main islands, one main port in the capital Apia and two ports servicing mainly inter island ferries for vehicles and passengers between the two main islands, Upolu and Savai’i.<\/p>\n Apia Faleolo International Airport<\/a> is the main point of entry.<\/p>\n The flag of Samoa (Samoan: fu\u2018a o S\u0101moa) was first adopted from February 24, 1949. It consists of a red field with a blue rectangle in the canton. The blue rectangle bears the Southern Cross<\/a>: four large white stars and one smaller star.<\/p>\n The flag of Samoa was first adopted from February 24, 1949. It consists of a red field with a blue rectangle in the canton. The blue rectangle bears the Southern Cross: four large white stars and one smaller star.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9187,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"default","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[59,5,6,7,29,30,44,60],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8409"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8409"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8409\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9187"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8409"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8409"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8409"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}History:<\/h2>\n
Early Samoa:<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/09\/Louis-Antoine-de-Bougainville-225x300.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Samoa in the 1800s:<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/09\/John-Williams-250x300.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/09\/Malietoa-Tanumafili-I-217x300.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/09\/Mataafa-Iosefo-208x300.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>German Samoa (1900\u20131914):<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/09\/Lauaki-Namulauulu-Mamoe-224x300.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>New Zealand rule (1914\u20131962):<\/h3>\n
Independence (1962):<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/09\/Helen-Clark-226x300.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>21st Century:<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/09\/Naomi-Mata\u02bbafa-243x300.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Geography:<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/09\/Map-of-Samoa-300x154.png\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/09\/Topography-of-Samoa-300x161.png\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Economy:<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/09\/Samoa-Exports-Treemap-300x300.png\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/09\/Morinda-citrifolia-207x300.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Transportation:<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/09\/Faleolo-International-Airport-300x200.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Flag of Samoa:<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/09\/Flag-of-Samoa-300x150.png\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>