Samoa

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The Lapita people discovered and settled the Samoan Islands around 3,500 years ago. They developed a Samoan language and Samoan cultural identity. Because of the Samoans' seafaring skills, pre-20th-century European explorers referred to the entire island group, including American Samoa, as the "Navigator Islands". 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 bloodlessly occupied the colony at the start of World War I.

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Etymology

Samoa may come from Samoan: Sāmoa, lit. 'holy centre', uniting a compound of Samoan: sā, lit. 'sacred' and Samoan: moa, lit. 'middle'. The name is alternatively derived from a local chieftain named Samoa or an indigenous word meaning 'place of the chicken'.

From independence in 1962, the country was officially known as the Independent State of Western Samoa, commonly known as Western Samoa. From 4 July 1997, the country changed its name to Samoa, drawing protests from nearby American Samoa, although the former name remains in use, especially their .ws top-domain.

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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 volcanic hotspots.

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.

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Government and politics

The 1960 constitution, which formally came into force with independence from New Zealand in 1962, builds on the British pattern of parliamentary democracy, modified to take account of Samoan customs. The national modern Government of Samoa is referred to as the Malo.

The head of state of Samoa is known as the 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.

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Geography

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 and Savaiʻi (which together account for 99% of the total land area) and eight small islets.

The islets are:

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)

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Economy

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. For the same year, the Samoan labour force was estimated at 50,700.

The Central Bank of Samoa issues and regulates Samoa's currency, the Samoan tālā.

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Demographics

Samoa reported a population of 194,320 in its 2016 census. This number increased to 205,557 in its 2021 Census. About three-quarters of the population live on the main island of Upolu.

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) and over 4,460 cases (2.2% of the population) of measles in Samoa, mainly children under four years old, and 10 reported cases in Fiji.

The population is 96% Samoans, 2% dual Samoan New Zealanders and 1.9% other, according to a 2011 estimate in the CIA World Factbook.

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Education

The Samoan government provides eight years of primary and secondary education that is tuition-free and is compulsory through age 16.

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.

Education in Samoa has proved to be effective as a 2012 UNESCO report stated that 99 percent of Samoan adults are literate.

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Culture

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 language. Cultural customs such as the Samoa 'ava ceremony are significant and solemn rituals at important occasions including the bestowal of matai chiefly titles. Items of great cultural value include the finely woven 'ie toga.

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