Samoa

New Zealand occupied the German protectorate of Western Samoa at the outbreak of World War I in 1914. It continued to administer the islands as a mandate and then as a trust territory until 1962, when the islands became the first Polynesian nation to reestablish independence in the 20th century. The country dropped the "Western" from its name in 1997.

agricultural land:

12.4%;

• arable land 2.8%;
• permanent crops 7.8%;
• permanent pasture 1.8%

forest:

60.4%

other:

27.2% (2011 est.)

party to:

Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands

signed, but not ratified:

none of the selected agreements

noun:

Samoan(s)

adjective:

Samoan

at birth:

1.05 male(s)/female

0-14 years:

1.07 male(s)/female

15-24 years:

1.05 male(s)/female

25-54 years:

1.07 male(s)/female

55-64 years:

1.04 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

0.77 male(s)/female

total population:

1.04 male(s)/female (2016 est.)

conventional long form:

Independent State of Samoa

conventional short form:

Samoa

local long form:

Malo Sa'oloto Tuto'atasi o Samoa

local short form:

Samoa

former:

Western Samoa

etymology:

• the name "Samoa" is composed of two parts, "sa" meaning sacred and "moa" meaning center, so the name can mean Holy Center;
• alternatively, it can mean "place of the sacred moa bird" of Polynesian mythology

name:

Apia

geographic coordinates:

13 49 S, 171 46 W

time difference:

UTC+13 (18 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time); +1hr, begins last Sunday in September; ends first Sunday in April

• Independence Day Celebration, 1 June (1962);
• note - 1 January 1962 is the date of independence from the New Zealand-administered UN trusteeship, but it is observed in June

• several previous (preindependence);
• latest 1 January 1962;
• amended several times, last in 2017 (2017)

citizenship by birth:

no

citizenship by descent only:

at least one parent must be a citizen of Samoa

dual citizenship recognized:

no

residency requirement for naturalization:

5 years

chief of state:

TUIMALEALI'IFANO Va’aletoa Sualauvi II (since 21 July 2017)

head of government:

Prime Minister TUILA'EPA Lupesoliai Sailele Malielegaoi (since 23 November 1998); Deputy Prime Minister FONOTOE Pierre Lauofo (since 2011)

cabinet:

Cabinet appointed by the chief of state on the prime minister's advice

elections/appointments:

• chief of state indirectly elected by the Legislative Assembly to serve a 5-year term (no term limits);
• election last held on 4 July 2017 (next to be held in 2022);
• following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party usually appointed prime minister by the chief of state, approved by the Legislative Assembly

election results:

TUIMALEALI'IFANO Va’aletoa Sualauvi unanimously elected by the Legislative Assembly on 5 July 2017

highest court(s):

• Court of Appeal (consists of the chief justice and 2 Supreme Court judges and meets once or twice a year);
• Supreme Court (consists of the chief justice and several judges)

judge selection and term of office:

• chief justice appointed by the head of state upon the advice of the prime minister;
• other Supreme Court judges appointed by the Judicial Service Commission, a 3-member body chaired by the chief justice and includes the attorney general and an appointee of the Minister of Justice;
• judges normally appointed until retirement at age 68

subordinate courts:

• District Court;
• Magistrates' Courts;
• Land and Titles Courts;
• village fono or village chief councils

• Human Rights Protection Party or HRPP [TUILA'EPA Sailele Malielegaoi]
• Samoa Christian Party or SCP [Tuala Falenaoti Tiresa MALIETOA]
• Samoa Progressive Political Party or SPPP [Toalepaiali'i Toesulusulu S'iueva POSE II]
• Tautua Samoa [Palasajue FA'APO II]

chief of mission:

Ambassador Aliioaiga Feturi ELISAIA (since 4 December 2003)

chancery:

800 Second Avenue, Suite 400J, New York, NY 10017

telephone:

[1] (212) 599-6196 through 6197

FAX:

[1] (212) 599-0797

consulate(s) general:

Pago Pago (American Samoa)

chief of mission:

the US Ambassador to New Zealand is accredited to Samoa; Ambassador Scott BROWN (since 27 June 2017)

embassy:

Accident Corporation Building, 5th Floor, Matafele, Apia

mailing address:

P. O. Box 3430, Matafele, Apia

telephone:

[685] 21436/21631/21452/22696

FAX:

[685] 22030

• red with a blue rectangle in the upper hoist-side quadrant bearing five white five-pointed stars representing the Southern Cross constellation;
• red stands for courage, blue represents freedom, and white signifies purity

note: similar to the flag of Taiwan

name:

"O le Fu'a o le Sa'olotoga o Samoa" (The Banner of Freedom)

lyrics/music:

Sauni Liga KURESA

note: adopted 1962; also known as "Samoa Tula'i" (Samoa Arise)

agriculture:

65%

industry:

6%

services:

29% (2015 est.)

lowest 10%:

NA%

highest 10%:

NA%

general assessment:

• most households have at least one mobile phone;
• all businesses in the greater Apia area have access to broadband and Wi-Fi, which is reasonably reliable and fast, but relatively expensive;
• in rural Upolu and on Savaii Island there is limited availability of high speed Internet and Wi-Fi;
• Samoa recently completed the installation of a National Broadband Highway that will provide fiber optic data services and 4G LTE cellular data speeds to the entire country;
• 4G LTE data speeds are operative and commercially available to limited areas;
• 3G Internet accessibility from cellular devices is currently available nationwide (2017)

domestic:

combined fixed-line and mobile-cellular teledensity roughly 70 telephones per 100 persons (2016)

international:

country code - 685; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Pacific Ocean) (2015)

• state-owned TV station privatized in 2008;
• 4 privately owned television broadcast stations;
• about a half-dozen privately owned radio stations and one state-owned radio station;
• TV and radio broadcasts of several stations from American Samoa are available (2009)

number of registered air carriers:

1; inventory of registered aircraft operated by air carriers: 1

annual passenger traffic on registered air carriers:

270,908

annual freight traffic on registered air carriers:

0 mt-km (2015)

total:

1,200 km

paved:

1,105 km

unpaved:

95 km (2017)

country comparison to the world: 172

• Samoa has no formal defense structure or regular armed forces;
• informal defense ties exist with NZ, which is required to consider any Samoan request for assistance under the 1962 Treaty of Friendship