Samoa

Samoa has two major islands (Savai'i and Upol), two small uninhabited islands (Manono and Apolima), and the Araipata Islands (Nutere, Nuurua, Fanua Tapu and Namua). Samoa is located 64 kilometers west of American Samoa, 889 kilometers northeast of Tonga (the nearest foreign country), 1,152 kilometers northeast of Fiji, 483 kilometers east of Wallis Futuna, 1,151 kilometers southeast of Tuval, 519 kilometers south of Tokerau and 4,190 kilometers southwest. doing. 610 km northwest of Hawaii and Niue. The capital is Apia. The Lapita people discovered and settled in the Samoan Islands about 3,500 years ago. They developed the Samoan language and the cultural identity of Samoa.

Samoa is a single parliamentary democracy with 11 administrative divisions. The sovereign state is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations. West Samoa was approved by the United Nations on December 15, 1976. Because of Samoan sailor skills, pre-20th century European explorers referred to the entire island group (including American Samoa) as the "Navigator Islands." It was a colony of the German Empire from 1899 to 1915, but until January 1, 1962, it was placed under the joint colonial administration of England and New Zealand and became independent.