The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Samoa:

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands ( Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands ( Manono and Apolima); ...

– sovereign island nation located in the western

Samoan Islands The Samoan Islands ( sm, Motu o Sāmoa) are an archipelago covering in the central South Pacific, forming part of Polynesia and of the wider region of Oceania. Administratively, the archipelago comprises all of the Independent State of Samoa an ...

archipelago An archipelago ( ), sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster, or collection of islands, or sometimes a sea containing a small number of scattered islands. Examples of archipelagos include: the Indonesian Arc ...

in the

South Pacific Ocean South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþaz ...

. Previous names were Samoa from 1900 to 1919, and Western Samoa from 1914 to 1997. It was admitted to the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...

on 15 December 1976. The entire island group, inclusive of

American Samoa American Samoa ( sm, Amerika Sāmoa, ; also ' or ') is an unincorporated territory of the United States located in the South Pacific Ocean, southeast of the island country of Samoa. Its location is centered on . It is east of the Internationa ...

, was known by Europeans as the Navigator Islands before the 20th century because of the Samoans' seafaring skills.

General reference

Pronunciation Pronunciation is the way in which a word or a language is spoken. This may refer to generally agreed-upon sequences of sounds used in speaking a given word or language in a specific dialect ("correct pronunciation") or simply the way a particular ...

: * Common English country name:

, archaic

Western Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands ( Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands ( Manono and Apolima); ...

* Official English country name: The Independent State of Samoa * Common endonym(s): * Official endonym(s): * Adjectival(s): Samoan * Demonym(s): Samoan *

Etymology Etymology ()The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p. 633 "Etymology /ˌɛtɪˈmɒlədʒi/ the study of the class in words and the way their meanings have changed throughout time". is the study of the history of the Phonological chan ...

: Name of Samoa *

ISO country codes ISO 3166-1 (''Codes for the representation of names of countries and their subdivisions – Part 1: Country codes'') is a standard defining codes for the names of countries, dependent territories, and special areas of geographical interest. It ...

: WS, WSM, 882 *

ISO region codes ISO 3166-2 is part of the ISO 3166 standard published by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), and defines codes for identifying the principal subdivisions (e.g., provinces or states) of all countries coded in ISO 3166-1. The ...

: See ISO 3166-2:WS *

Internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...

country code top-level domain A country code top-level domain (ccTLD) is an Internet top-level domain generally used or reserved for a country, sovereign state, or dependent territory identified with a country code. All ASCII ccTLD identifiers are two letters long, and all ...

.ws .ws is the Internet country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for Samoa. It is administered by SamoaNIC, for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Government of Samoa. The .ws domain is an abbreviation for "Western Samoa", which was the nation' ...

Geography of Samoa

Geography of Samoa * Samoa is: a Nation state, country * Location: ** Western Hemisphere and Southern Hemisphere ** Pacific Ocean ***

****

Oceania Oceania (, , ) is a geographical region that includes Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Spanning the Eastern and Western hemispheres, Oceania is estimated to have a land area of and a population of around 44.5 million ...

*****

Polynesia Polynesia () "many" and νῆσος () "island"), to, Polinisia; mi, Porinihia; haw, Polenekia; fj, Polinisia; sm, Polenisia; rar, Porinetia; ty, Pōrīnetia; tvl, Polenisia; tkl, Polenihia (, ) is a subregion of Oceania, made up of ...

Time zone A time zone is an area which observes a uniform standard time for legal, commercial and social purposes. Time zones tend to follow the boundaries between countries and their subdivisions instead of strictly following longitude, because it ...

: Samoa Standard Time ( UTC+13), Samoa Daylight Time ( UTC+14) September–April ** Extreme points of Samoa *** High: Mauga Silisili on Savai'i *** Low:

0 m ** Land boundaries: ''none'' ** Coastline:

403 km * Population of Samoa: 188,540 (2008) - 178th most populous country * * Area of Samoa: 2,831 km² * Atlas of Samoa

Environment of Samoa

* Climate of Samoa * Renewable energy in Samoa * Geology of Samoa * Protected areas of Samoa ** Biosphere reserves in Samoa ** National parks of Samoa * Wildlife of Samoa ** Fauna of Samoa *** Birds of Samoa ***

Mammals of Samoa Mammals () are a group of vertebrate animals constituting the class Mammalia (), characterized by the presence of mammary glands which in females produce milk for feeding (nursing) their young, a neocortex (a region of the brain), fur or ...

Natural geographic features of Samoa

* Islands of Samoa * Lakes of Samoa * Mountains of Samoa ** Volcanoes in Samoa * Rivers of Samoa ** Waterfalls of Samoa * Valleys of Samoa * World Heritage Sites in Samoa: None

Regions of Samoa

Ecoregions of Samoa

List of ecoregions in Samoa * Ecoregions in Samoa

Administrative divisions of Samoa

Administrative divisions of Samoa *

Districts of Samoa Samoa is made up of eleven itūmālō (political districts). These are the traditional eleven districts that were established well before European arrival. Each district has its own constitutional foundation (faavae) based on the traditional order ...

= Districts of Samoa

Demography of Samoa

Demographics of Samoa

Government and politics of Samoa

Politics of Samoa Politics of Samoa takes place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic state whereby the Prime Minister of Samoa is the head of government. Existing alongside the country's Western-styled political system is the '' fa'amatai'' ...

* Form of government: parliamentary republic * Capital of Samoa:

Apia Apia () is the capital and largest city of Samoa, as well as the nation's only city. It is located on the central north coast of Upolu, Samoa's second-largest island. Apia falls within the political district (''itūmālō'') of Tuamasaga. ...

* Elections in Samoa *

Political parties in Samoa Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studies ...

* State-owned enterprises of Samoa * Statutory Bodies of Samoa

Branches of the government of Samoa

Government of Samoa

Executive branch of the government of Samoa

Head of state A head of state (or chief of state) is the public persona who officially embodies a state Foakes, pp. 110–11 " he head of statebeing an embodiment of the State itself or representatitve of its international persona." in its unity and l ...

O le Ao o le Malo The ''O le Ao o le Malo'' ( Samoan for "Head of State") is the head of state of Samoa. The position is described in Part III of the 1960 Samoan constitution. At the time the constitution was adopted, it was anticipated that future heads of st ...

Tuimalealiʻifano Vaʻaletoʻa Sualauvi II Afioga Tuimalealiʻifano Vaʻaletoʻa Eti Sualauvi II (born 29 April 1947) is a Samoan politician who is the current O le Ao o le Malo (head of state) of Samoa, in office since 2017. He was appointed to the Tama-a-ʻaiga title of Tuimalealiʻifa ...

Head of government The head of government is the highest or the second-highest official in the executive branch of a sovereign state, a federated state, or a self-governing colony, autonomous region, or other government who often presides over a cabinet, ...

: Prime Minister of Samoa,

Fiamē Naomi Mataʻafa Afioga Fiamē Naomi Mataafa (born 29 April 1957) () is a Samoan politician and High Chiefess ('' matai'') who has served as the seventh Prime Minister of Samoa and leader of the Faatuatua i le Atua Samoa ua Tasi (FAST) party since 2021. The ...

* Cabinet of Samoa * Government Ministries of Samoa

Legislative branch of the government of Samoa

Legislative Assembly of Samoa The Legislative Assembly ( sm, Fono Aoao Faitulafono a Samoa), also known as the Parliament of Samoa ( sm, Palemene o Samoa), is the national legislature of Samoa, seated at Apia, where the country's central administration is situated. Samoan P ...

(

unicameral Unicameralism (from ''uni''- "one" + Latin ''camera'' "chamber") is a type of legislature, which consists of one house or assembly, that legislates and votes as one. Unicameral legislatures exist when there is no widely perceived need for multi ...

)

Judicial branch of the government of Samoa

Court system of Samoa * Court of Appeal of Samoa (supreme court)

Constitutional Offices in Samoa

* The Office of the Attorney General * The Audit Office * The Office of the Ombudsman * The Public Service Commission * Clerk of the Legislative Assembly

Foreign relations of Samoa

Foreign relations of Samoa * Diplomatic missions in Samoa * Diplomatic missions of Samoa

International organization membership

The Independent State of Samoa is a member of: *

African, Caribbean, and Pacific Group of States The Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS) is a group of countries in Africa, the Caribbean, and the Pacific that was created by the Georgetown Agreement in 1975. Formerly known as African, Caribbean and Pacific Group ...

(ACP) *

Asian Development Bank The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is a regional development bank established on 19 December 1966, which is headquartered in the Ortigas Center located in the city of Mandaluyong, Metro Manila, Philippines. The bank also maintains 31 field offic ...

(ADB) *

Commonwealth of Nations The Commonwealth of Nations, simply referred to as the Commonwealth, is a political association of 56 member states, the vast majority of which are former territories of the British Empire. The chief institutions of the organisation are the ...

Food and Agriculture Organization The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)french: link=no, Organisation des Nations unies pour l'alimentation et l'agriculture; it, Organizzazione delle Nazioni Unite per l'Alimentazione e l'Agricoltura is an intern ...

(FAO) * Group of 77 (G77) * International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) *

International Civil Aviation Organization The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO, ) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that coordinates the principles and techniques of international air navigation, and fosters the planning and development of international a ...

(ICAO) *

International Criminal Court The International Criminal Court (ICC or ICCt) is an intergovernmental organization and international tribunal seated in The Hague, Netherlands. It is the first and only permanent international court with jurisdiction to prosecute individuals f ...

(ICCt) * International Development Association (IDA) * International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRCS) *

International Finance Corporation The International Finance Corporation (IFC) is an international financial institution that offers investment, advisory, and asset-management services to encourage private-sector development in less developed countries. The IFC is a member of ...

(IFC) * International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) *

International Labour Organization The International Labour Organization (ILO) is a United Nations agency whose mandate is to advance social and economic justice by setting international labour standards. Founded in October 1919 under the League of Nations, it is the first and o ...

(ILO) * International Maritime Organization (IMO) *

International Monetary Fund The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution, headquartered in Washington, D.C., consisting of 190 countries. Its stated mission is "working to foster glo ...

(IMF) *

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...

(IOC) * International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement (ICRM) *

International Telecommunication Union The International Telecommunication Union is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for many matters related to information and communication technologies. It was established on 17 May 1865 as the International Telegraph Unio ...

(ITU) *

International Trade Union Confederation The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC); german: Internationaler Gewerkschaftsbund (IGB), link=no; es, Confederación Sindical Internacional (CSI), link=no. is the world's largest trade union federation. History The federation w ...

(ITUC) * Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) *

Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency The Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) is an international financial institution which offers political risk insurance and credit enhancement guarantees. These guarantees help investors protect foreign direct investments against ...

(MIGA) *

Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) is an intergovernmental organisation and the implementing body for the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), which entered into force on 29 April 1997. The OPCW, with its 193 member ...

(OPCW) * Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) *

Secretariat of the Pacific Community The Pacific Community (PC), formerly the South Pacific Commission (SPC), is an international development organisation governed by 27 members, including 22 Pacific island countries and territories. The organisation's headquarters are in Nouméa, ...

(SPC) * South Pacific Regional Trade and Economic Cooperation Agreement (Sparteca) *

(UN) *

United Nations Conference on Trade and Development The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) is an intergovernmental organization within the United Nations Secretariat that promotes the interests of developing countries in world trade. It was established in 1964 by the ...

(UNCTAD) * United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) *

Universal Postal Union The Universal Postal Union (UPU, french: link=no, Union postale universelle), established by the Treaty of Bern of 1874, is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) that coordinates postal policies among member nations, in addition to ...

(UPU) *

World Customs Organization The World Customs Organization (WCO) is an intergovernmental organization headquartered in Brussels, Belgium. The WCO works on customs-related matters including the development of international conventions, instruments, and tools on topics su ...

(WCO) *

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of ...

(WHO) *

World Intellectual Property Organization The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO; french: link=no, Organisation mondiale de la propriété intellectuelle (OMPI)) is one of the 15 specialized agencies of the United Nations (UN). Pursuant to the 1967 Convention Establishi ...

(WIPO) *

World Meteorological Organization The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for promoting international cooperation on atmospheric science, climatology, hydrology and geophysics. The WMO originated from the Intern ...

(WMO) *

World Trade Organization The World Trade Organization (WTO) is an intergovernmental organization that regulates and facilitates international trade. With effective cooperation in the United Nations System, governments use the organization to establish, revise, and ...

(WTO) (observer)

Law and order in Samoa

Law of Samoa * Constitution of Samoa * Crime in Samoa *

Human rights in Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa, has a population of approximately 188,000 people. Samoa gained independence from New Zealand in 1962Universal Periodic Review: Report of the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review: Samoa A ...

** LGBT rights in Samoa ** Freedom of religion in Samoa * Law enforcement in Samoa

Military of Samoa

Military of Samoa Samoa has no military."Samoa"
CIA World Factbook

Local government in Samoa

Local government in Samoa The Fa'amatai system is Samoa's chiefly system of governance existing at the local village level.

History of Samoa

History of Samoa The Samoan Islands were first settled some 3,500 years ago as part of the Austronesian expansion. Both Samoa's early history and its more recent history are strongly connected to the histories of Tonga and Fiji, nearby islands with which Samoa ha ...

* Timeline of the history of Samoa * Current events of Samoa * Military history of Samoa

Culture of Samoa

Culture of Samoa *

Architecture of Samoa The architecture of Samoa is characterised by openness, with the design mirroring the culture and life of the Samoan people who inhabit the Samoa Islands.

* Cuisine of Samoa * Festivals in Samoa * Languages of Samoa * Media in Samoa * National symbols of Samoa **

Coat of arms of Samoa A coat typically is an outer garment for the upper body as worn by either gender for warmth or fashion. Coats typically have long sleeves and are open down the front and closing by means of buttons, zippers, hook-and-loop fasteners, toggles, a ...

Flag of Samoa The flag of Samoa ( Samoan: ''fu‘a o Sāmoa'') was first adopted from 24 February 1949, for UN Trusteeships, and continuously applied for the state's independence on 1 January 1962. It consists of a red field with a blue rectangle in the cant ...

** National anthem of Samoa * People of Samoa * Public holidays in Samoa * Records of Samoa * Religion in Samoa ** Christianity in Samoa ** Hinduism in Samoa ** Islam in Samoa ** Judaism in Samoa ** Sikhism in Samoa * World Heritage Sites in Samoa: None

Art in Samoa

* Art in Samoa * Cinema of Samoa * Literature of Samoa * Music of Samoa * Television in Samoa * Theatre in Samoa

Sports in Samoa

Sports in Samoa * Football in Samoa * Samoa at the Olympics

Economy and infrastructure of Samoa

Economy of Samoa * Economic rank, by nominal GDP (2007): 180th (one hundred and eightieth) * Agriculture in Samoa * Banking in Samoa **

National Bank of Samoa The National Bank of Samoa is a locally owned and private bank in Samoa. History Creation of the bank was proposed in March 1994 by Luamanuvae Dick Meredith, a successful Samoan businessman, Fa'amatai, matai and entrepreneur. In November of that ...

* Communications in Samoa ** Internet in Samoa * Companies of Samoa * Currency of Samoa: Tala ** ISO 4217: WST * Energy in Samoa ** Energy policy of Samoa ** Oil industry in Samoa * Mining in Samoa *

Tourism in Samoa The economy of Samoa is dependent on agricultural exports, development aid and private financing from overseas. The country is vulnerable to devastating storms. Agriculture employs two-thirds of the labor force, and furnishes 9% of exports, featu ...

* Transport in Samoa * Samoa Stock Exchange

Education in Samoa

Infrastructure of Samoa

* Health care in Samoa **

2019 Samoa measles outbreak The 2019 Samoa measles outbreak began in September 2019. As of 6 January 2020, there were over 5,700 cases of measles and 83 deaths, out of a Samoan population of 200,874. Over three percent of the population were infected. The cause of the o ...

* Transportation in Samoa ** Airports in Samoa ** Rail transport in Samoa ** Roads in Samoa * Water supply and sanitation in Samoa

References

External links

Government of Samoa
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Samoa