Samoa

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

0-14 years:

30.67% (male 31,862 /female 29,875)

15-24 years:

19.76% (male 20,413 /female 19,357)

25-54 years:

36.68% (male 37,944 /female 35,893)

55-64 years:

7.05% (male 7,223 /female 6,973)

65 years and over:

5.85% (male 5,126 /female 6,650) (2018 est.)

total dependency ratio:

74.2 (2015 est.)

youth dependency ratio:

64.9 (2015 est.)

elderly dependency ratio:

9.3 (2015 est.)

potential support ratio:

10.8 (2015 est.)

total:

24.8 years (2018 est.)

male:

24.5 years

female:

25.1 years

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:

1.06 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 (2018 est.)

total:

18 deaths/1,000 live births (2018 est.)

male:

21.6 deaths/1,000 live births

female:

14.2 deaths/1,000 live births

total population:

74.2 years (2018 est.)

male:

71.3 years

female:

77.3 years

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)

daylight saving time:

+1hr, begins last Sunday in September; ends first Sunday in April

etymology:

name derives from the native village around which the capital was constructed in the 1850s; the village still exists within the larger modern capital

• 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

history:

several previous (preindependence); latest 1 January 1962

amendments:

• proposed as an act by the Legislative Assembly;
• passage requires at least two-thirds majority vote by the Assembly membership in the third reading - provided at least 90 days have elapsed since the second reading, and assent of the chief of state;
• passage of amendments affecting constitutional articles on customary land or constitutional amendment procedures also requires at least two-thirds majority approval in a referendum;
• amended several times, last in 2015 (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 FIAME Naomi Mata’afa (since 2016)

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 (2- term limit);
• election last held on 4 July 2017 (next to be held in 2022);
• following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party is 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

description:

• unicameral Legislative Assembly or Fono (50 seats for 2016-2021 term);
• members from 49 single-seat constituencies directly elected by simple majority vote and 1 seat for a woman, added for the 2016 election to meet the mandated 10% representation of women in the Assembly;
• members serve 5-year terms)

elections:

election last held on 4 March 2016 (next election to be held no later than March 2021)

election results:

• percent of vote by party - HRPP 89.8%, Tautua Samoa 4.1%, independent 6.1%;
• seats by party – initial election results - HRPP 44, Tautua Samoa 2, independents 3;
• post-election party affiliation – HRPP 47, (informal) opposition 3;
• composition - men 45, women 5, percent of women 10%

highest courts:

• 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 chief 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 serve until retirement at age 68

subordinate courts:

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

chief of mission:

the US Ambassador to New Zealand is accredited to Samoa

telephone:

[685] 21-631 (2018)

embassy:

Accident Corporation Building, 5th Floor, Matafele, Apia

mailing address:

P. O. Box 3430, Matafele, Apia

FAX:

[685] 22-030 (2018)

• 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;
• in rural Upolu and on Savaii Island there is now readily available high-speed Internet and Wi-Fi;
• due to the establishment of a regulatory infrastructure, liberalization and competition of the mobile market the telecom market has increased coverage and reduced cost;
• 4G LTE services accessible to about 95% of residents (2018)

domestic:

fixed-line 4 per 100 and mobile-cellular teledensity 62 telephones per 100 persons (2018)

international:

• country code - 685;
• landing points for the Tui-Samo, Manatua, SAS, and Southern Cross NEXT submarine cables providing connectivity to Samoa, Fiji, Wallis & Futuna, Cook Islands, Niue, French Polynesia, American Samoa, Australia, New Zealand, Kiribati, Los Angeles (US), and Tokelau;
• satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Pacific Ocean) (2019)

• 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 (2019)

• 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

number of registered air carriers:

1 (2015)

inventory of registered aircraft operated by air carriers: 1 (2015)

annual passenger traffic on registered air carriers:

270,908 (2015)

annual freight traffic on registered air carriers:

0 mt-km (2015)