Samoa Profile

Facts

Samoa has many fine beaches attracting a growing number of tourists

  • Full name: The Independent State of Samoa
  • Population: 185,000 (UN, 2012)
  • Capital: Apia
  • Area: 2,831 sq km (1,093 sq miles)
  • Major languages: Samoan, English
  • Major religion: Christianity
  • Life expectancy: 70 years (men), 76 years (women) (UN)
  • Monetary unit: 1 tala = 100 sene
  • Main exports: Coconut oil and cream, copra, fish, beer
  • GNI per capita: US $3,160 (World Bank, 2011)
  • Internet domain: .ws
  • International dialling code: +685

Overview

The Independent State of Samoa, known as Western Samoa until 1997, is made up of nine volcanic islands, two of which - Savai'i and Upolu - make up more than 99% of the land.

It was governed by New Zealand until its people voted for independence in 1961. It has the world's second-largest Polynesian group, after the Maori.

At-a-glance

  • Politics: The governing Human Rights Protection Party has been the dominant party in the country since 1982
  • Economy: The economy is heavily dependent on agricultural exports, tourism and financial assistance from Samoans living abroad
  • International: Samoa continues to maintain close ties with former colonial power New Zealand, which is still its main trading partner

Samoa's deeply conservative and devoutly Christian society centres around the extended family, which is headed by an elected chief who directs the family's social, economic and political affairs, and the church, which is a focus of recreational and social life. Many Samoan villages hold up to 20 minutes of prayer curfews in the evenings.

The economy revolves around fishing and agriculture, which is vulnerable to cyclones and disease.

Attempts at diversification have met with success. Tourism is growing, thanks to the islands' scenic attractions and fine beaches. Offshore banking spearheads an expanding services sector. Light manufacturing is expanding and has attracted foreign investment.

In a major development for its trading status, Samoa joined the World Trade Organisation in 2012.

Despite this, many younger Samoans are leaving for New Zealand, the US and American Samoa. Money sent home by Samoans living abroad can be a key source of household income.

Timeline

A chronology of key events:

A monument in Mulinu'u marks Germany's annexation of Samoa

1722 - Dutch navigator Jacob Roggeveen is the first European to explore Samoa.

1830 - London Missionary Society arrives in Samoa.

1899 - Germany annexes Western Samoa (now called the Independent State of Samoa, or just Samoa), the US takes over eastern Samoa (American Samoa) and Britain withdraws its claim to the islands in accordance with treaty between Germany, Britain and the US.

1914 - New Zealand occupies Western Samoa during World War I and continues to administer it after the war by virtue of a League of Nations mandate (and a United Nations mandate after World War II).

1928 - New Zealand authorities shoot dead 11 members of the mau passive resistance movement.

Samoa is regarded by some as the cradle of Polynesian culture

1939-45 - US troops stationed in Western Samoa during World War II, but no battles are fought on the islands.

Independence

1962 - Western Samoa becomes independent, the first Pacific island nation to do so.

1990 - Voters narrowly approve universal suffrage for parliament and increase the legislature's term from three to five years; 10,000 people are left homeless by Cyclone Ofa.

Rugby nation

The Samoa team perform the Siva Tau before international matches

  • Samoa first took part in the Rugby World Cup in 1991 as Western Samoa

1997 - Western Samoa changes its name to Samoa, a move which causes some tension with American Samoa.

1998 - Government imposes stringent restrictions on media freedom.

2000 - Two former cabinet ministers are sentenced to death for the murder of a fellow politician who had threatened to expose a corruption scandal, but the death sentences are commuted.

2001 March - Prime Minister Tuila'epa Sailele Malielegaoi is re-elected for a second term after a cliff-hanger election. His Human Rights Protection Party (HRPP) claims 28 seats in the 49-seat parliament.

2002 June - New Zealand formally apologises to Samoa for its poor treatment of Samoan citizens in colonial times. Prime Minister Helen Clark makes the apology at a ceremony in Apia marking 40 years of independence.

Beach fales: Samoan buildings, large or small, are known as fales

2004 February - Australia says it will give Samoa $7m to help train its security forces.

2006 April - Prime Minister Tuila'epa's ruling HRPP wins parliamentary elections.

2007 March - The rights group Mau Sitiseni prepares to take its fight for most indigenous Samoans to be granted New Zealand citizenship to the UN.

Republic

2007 May - King Malietoa Tanumafili II dies aged 94, after 45 years on the throne. He was appointed king for life at independence in 1962. He was the world's third-longest reigning monarch.

Samoa becomes republic. Parliament elects former PM Tuiatua Tupua Tamasese Efi head of state.

A tsunami triggered by an undersea earthquake destroyed coastal settlements in 2009

2008 December - Eleven independent MPs form opposition Tautua Samoa Party (TSP).

2009 September - Samoa switches to driving on the left, becoming the first country since the 1970s to change the side of the road on which cars are driven. The change brings Samoa into line with other South Pacific countries.

Tsunamis caused by a powerful earthquake in the Pacific kill more than 200 people in Samoa, also hitting American Samoa and Tonga.

2011 March - Ruling Human Rights Protection Party wins landslide victory in parliamentary elections.

2011 December - Samoa "skips" a day at the end of the year, going straight from 29 to 31 December and jumping westward across the international dateline to bring it in line with its main trade partners Australia and New Zealand.

2012 May - Samoa joins the World Trade Organisation.

2012 June - Samoa marks the 50th anniversary of its independence from New Zealand with four days of festivities in the capital.