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	The 1969 Constitution, which formally came into force with independence, is based on the British pattern of parliamentary democracy, modified to take account of Samoan customs. Samoa's two high chiefs at the time of independence were given lifetime appointments to jointly hold the office of head of state. Malietoa Tanumafili II had held this post alone since the death of his colleague in 1963. King Malietoa Tanumafili died 12 May 2007. His successor will be selected by the legislature for a 5-year term.		The 1969 Constitution, which formally came into force with independence, is based on the British pattern of parliamentary democracy, modified to take account of Samoan customs. Samoa's two high chiefs at the time of independence were given lifetime appointments to jointly hold the office of head of state. Malietoa Tanumafili II had held this post alone since the death of his colleague in 1963. King Malietoa Tanumafili II died 12 May 2007. His successor will be selected by the legislature for a 5-year term.

	The unicameral legislature (Fono) contains 49 members serving 5-year terms. Forty-seven are elected from territorial districts by ethnic Samoans; the other two are chosen by non-Samoans on separate electoral rolls. Universal suffrage was extended in 1990, but only chiefs (matai) may stand for election to the Samoan seats. There are more than 25,000 matais in the country, about 5% of whom are women. The prime minister is chosen by a majority in the Fono and is appointed by the chief of state to form a government. The prime minister's choices for the 12 cabinet positions are appointed by the chief of state, subject to the continuing confidence of the Fono.		The unicameral legislature (Fono) contains 49 members serving 5-year terms. Forty-seven are elected from territorial districts by ethnic Samoans; the other two are chosen by non-Samoans on separate electoral rolls. Universal suffrage was extended in 1990, but only chiefs (matai) may stand for election to the Samoan seats. There are more than 25,000 matais in the country, about 5% of whom are women. The prime minister is chosen by a majority in the Fono and is appointed by the chief of state to form a government. The prime minister's choices for the 12 cabinet positions are appointed by the chief of state, subject to the continuing confidence of the Fono.

Revision as of 16:06, 13 May 2007

This article is about the state. For the archipelago, see Samoan Islands.

Malo Sa'oloto Tuto'atasi o Samoa Independent State of Samoa
Flag Coat of arms of Samoa Coat of arms
Motto: Fa'avae i le Atua Samoa (Samoan: "Samoa is
Anthem: The Banner of Freedom

Capitaland largest city	Apia
Official languages	Samoan, English
Government	monacy

• O le Ao o le Malo	vacant
• Prime Minister	Tuila'epa Sailele Malielegaoi

Independence from New Zealand

• Date	1 January 1962

• Water (%)	0.3%
Population
• July 2005 estimate	185,000 (185th)
GDP (PPP)	2002 estimate
• Total	$1.16 billion (166th)
• Per capita	$6,344 (94th)
HDI (2004)	0.778 Error: Invalid HDI value (75th)
Currency	Tala (WST)
Time zone	UTC-11
Calling code	685
ISO 3166 code	WS
Internet TLD	.ws

Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa, is a country governing the western half of the Samoan Islands archipelago in the South Pacific Ocean. Previous names were German Samoa from 1900 to 1919, and Western Samoa from 1914 to 1997. It was admitted to the United Nations on 15 December 1976 as Samoa. The entire island group, inclusive of American Samoa, was known as Navigators Islands before the 20th century because of the Samoans' seafaring skills.

Politics

Main article: Politics of Samoa

The 1969 Constitution, which formally came into force with independence, is based on the British pattern of parliamentary democracy, modified to take account of Samoan customs. Samoa's two high chiefs at the time of independence were given lifetime appointments to jointly hold the office of head of state. Malietoa Tanumafili II had held this post alone since the death of his colleague in 1963. King Malietoa Tanumafili II died 12 May 2007. His successor will be selected by the legislature for a 5-year term.

The unicameral legislature (Fono) contains 49 members serving 5-year terms. Forty-seven are elected from territorial districts by ethnic Samoans; the other two are chosen by non-Samoans on separate electoral rolls. Universal suffrage was extended in 1990, but only chiefs (matai) may stand for election to the Samoan seats. There are more than 25,000 matais in the country, about 5% of whom are women. The prime minister is chosen by a majority in the Fono and is appointed by the chief of state to form a government. The prime minister's choices for the 12 cabinet positions are appointed by the chief of state, subject to the continuing confidence of the Fono.

The judicial system is based on English common law and local customs. The Supreme Court is the court of highest jurisdiction. Its chief justice is appointed by the chief of state upon the recommendation of the prime minister.

Geography

The country is located east of the international dateline and south of the equator, about halfway between Hawai‘i and New Zealand in the Polynesian region of the Pacific Ocean. The Samoas are of volcanic origin, and the total land area is 2934 km² (slightly smaller than the U.S. state of Rhode Island), consisting of the two large islands of Upolu and Savai'i which account for 99% of the total land area, and eight small islets: the three islets in the Apolima Strait (Manono, Apolima and Nu'ulopa), the four Aleipata Islands off the eastern end of Upolu (Nu'utele, Nu'ulua, Namua, and Fanuatapu), and Nu'usafe'e (less than 0.01 km² in area and about 1.4 km off the south coast of Upolu at the village of Vaovai). While all of the islands have volcanic origins, only Savai'i has had recent eruptions and could be considered volcanically active: the last major eruption occurred in the 1700s, and smaller eruptions occurred in the first decade of the twentieth century. The highest point in Samoa is Mauga Silisili, at 1858 m. The main island of Upolu is home to nearly three-quarters of Samoa's population, and its capital city is Apia. The climate is tropical, with an average annual temperature of 26.5 °C, and a rainy season from November to April.

Subdivisions

Main article: Districts of Samoa

Economy

Main article: Economy of Samoa

The economy of Samoa has traditionally been dependent on development aid, private family remittances from overseas, and agricultural exports. The country is vulnerable to devastating storms. Agriculture employs two-thirds of the labor force, and furnishes 90% of exports, featuring coconut cream, coconut oil, noni (juice of the nonu fruit, as it is known in Samoan), and copra. Outside of a large automotive wire-harness factory, the manufacturing sector mainly processes agricultural products. Tourism is an expanding sector; more than 70,000 tourists visited the islands in 1996. The Samoan government has called for deregulation of the financial sector, encouragement of investment, and continued fiscal discipline. Observers point to the flexibility of the labor market as a basic strength for future economic advances. The sector has been helped enormously by major capital investment in hotel infrastructure, political instability in neighboring Pacific countries, and the 2005 launch of Polynesian Blue a joint-venture between the government and Virgin Airlines.

Samoa is a fertile, fruitful, productive country. In the period before German colonization, it produced mostly copra. German merchants and settlers were active in introducing large scale plantation operations and developing new industries, notably cocoa and rubber, relying on imported laborers from China and Melanesia. When the value of natural rubber fell drastically, about the end of the Great War (World War I), the New Zealand government encouraged the production of bananas, for which there is a large market in New Zealand.

Because of variations in altitude, a large range of tropical and subtropical crops can be cultivated, but land is not generally available to outside interest. Of the total land area of 2,934 km² (725,000 acres), about 24.4% is in permanent crops and another 21.2% is arable. About 4.4% is Western Samoan Trust Estates Corporation (WSTEC).

The staple products of Samoa are copra (dried coconut meat), cocoa (for chocolate), and bananas. The annual production of both bananas and copra has been in the range of 13,000 to 15,000 metric tons. If the rhinoceros beetle in Samoa were eradicated, Samoa could produce in excess of 40,000 metric tons of copra. Cocoa is of very high quality and used in fine New Zealand chocolates. Most cocoa trees are Criollo-Forastero hybrids. Coffee grows well, but production has been uneven. WSTEC is the biggest coffee producer. Rubber has been produced in Samoa for many years, but its export value has little impact on the economy.

Other agricultural industries have been less successful. Sugarcane production, originally established by Germans in the early 20th century, could be successful. Old train tracks for transporting cane can be seen at some plantations east of Apia. Pineapples grow well in Samoa, but beyond local consumption have not been a major export.

In the late 1960s, Potlatch Forests, Inc. (a U.S. company), upgraded the harbour and airport at Asau on the northern coast of Savai'i and established a timber operation, Samoa Forest Products, for harvesting tropical hardwoods. Potlatch invested about US$2,500,000 in a state-of-the-art sawmill and another US$6,000,000 over several years to develop power, water, and haul roads for their facility. Asau, with the Potlatch sawmillers and Samoa Forest Products, was one of the busiest parts of Savai'i in the 1960s and 1970s; however, the departure of Potlatch and the scaling down of the sawmill has left Asau a ghost town in recent years.

Fishing has had some success in Samoan waters, but the biggest fisheries industry (headed by Van Camp and StarKist) has been based in American Samoa. StarKist Management announced that it was going ahead with setting up at Asau a blast-freezer project to be operational by 2002. This announcement dispelled a growing suspicion about the genuine motives of StarKist to move to Samoa. The proposed blast-freezer operations in Asau were expected to bring this village back to life.

Sport

Demographics

Main article: Demographics of Samoa

Only the Māori of New Zealand outnumber Samoans among Polynesian groups, but a larger portion of Māori identify with more than one ethnic group.

Roughly 98% of Samoans are Christians, divided among many different churches, including: Congregationalist 34.8%, Roman Catholic 19.6%, Methodist 15%, Latter-Day Saints 12.7%, Assembly of God 6.6%, Seventh-day Adventist 3.5%, other Christian 4.5%, Worship Centre 1.3%, other 1.7%, unspecified 0.1% (2001 census) . The Head of State, His Highness Malietoa Tanumafili II, is a Bahá'í. Samoa hosts one of seven Bahá'í Houses of Worship in the world; completed in 1984 and dedicated by the Head of State, it is located in Tiapapata, 8 km from Apia.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Samoa has a large gender imbalance. The cause of this imbalance is uncertain, but large-scale emigration of women may be relevant.

Culture

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Main article: Culture of Samoa

The fa'a Samoa, or traditional Samoan way, remains a strong force in Samoan life and politics. Despite centuries of European influence, Samoa maintains its historical customs, social and political systems, and language. Samoans are a typically open, friendly, welcoming, and good-humoured people with great pride in their culture, traditions, history, and nationhood. Samoan hospitality and generosity are widely noted.

Samoans had gods of their own, as their mythological story of creation tells. At the head of the hierarchy of gods (aitu) was the supreme god called Tagaloaalagi, who dwelt in the 9th heaven. The Samoan culture is centred around the principle of vāfealoa'i -the relationships- between people. These relationships are based on respect, or ''fa'aaloalo'' at the centre. At the time that Christianity was introduced in Samoa, most Samoan people converted. Currently 98% of the population identify themselves as Christian. The other 2 percent either identify themselves as unreligious, or do not belong to any congregation. Church or going to church is a strongly held value for Samoans, and usually, the only members of the population who do not attend a church on Sunday are preparing the Sunday meal.

Samoan society is often said by European writers to have an hierarchical order. From the chiefs (matai) to the non matai who are the the aumaga - the ones who are the able bodied young men that provide what is valued in the Samoan world as tautuaor service. For instance, cleaning the village each week and preparing food in an umu for the chief. The aumaga service is provided traditionaly without payment. The offering of ones energy to provide thie tautua has its many rewards the ultimate being the bestowal of a matai name on the one who is honest and trustworthy in giving tautua. One of the the most important task of the aumaga was to protect the village from any form of attack in ancient times. The aumaga are like the soldiers of a village,and this kind of service to the village was known as tautua toto (blood service). Today, the aumaga merely serve to enforce peace within the villages during curfew hours so as to support family evening prayers. As a consequence of breaking any rules, the village must be paid ie toga.

The Samoans have a communal way of life with little privacy. They do almost all their activities collectively. An archetypical example of this are the traditional Samoan fales (houses) which are open with no walls, using blinds made of coconut palm fronds during the night or bad weather.

As in many societies, the slow introduction of technology and its conveniences weathers away the traditional way of life observed by Samoans in the olden days. However, the culture still thrives within many families today. Sundays are traditionally a day of rest, and many families congregate to share an umu together for a Sunday afternoon meal. This Sunday meal is called a Toana'i.

Samoans are a deeply spiritual and religious people, and have subtly adapted the dominant religion, Christianity, to 'fit in' with fa'a Samoa and vice versa. As such ancient beliefs continue to co-exist side-by-side with Christianity, particularly in regard to the traditional customs and rituals of fa'a Samoa.

Today the majority group or congregation (church) is called LMS in Samoan. And the least and the famous of all groups are known as the Seventh-day Adventist. Samoan handicrafts can be found at the craft market and some shops. These include the siapo (equivalent to the Fijian tapa) which is made from beaten mulberry bark, decorated with patterns or pictures that are painted on with a natural brown dye. In some villages, one is still able to find what is know as fale lalaga which is a gathering of the women of a village for the main purpose of weaving ie toga's and many other samoan handicrafts or mea taulima.

Malietoa Tanumafili II is a follower of the Bahá'í Faith. He is the second royal (after Queen Marie of Romania) to be a member of that religion. The Bahá'í House of Worship in Tiapapata, eight kilometers from the country's capital of Apia, was dedicated by him in 1984.

The traditional Samoan dance is the Siva. This dance is similar to the Hawaiian hula, with gentle movements of the hands and feet in time to music and which tells a story, although the Samoan male dances are more aggressive and snappy. The "Sasa" is also a traditional Samoan dance, in which rows of dancers perform rapid synchronised movements in time to drums tins, or rolled mats. It name originates from the Samoan word for "slap", hence the Samoan "slap dance" which is accomplished by slapping different parts of the body. This was originally derived from slapping insects on the body and later became a form of dance.

Traditional Samoan medicine is often practiced as a first-line before hospital medicine. This is a type of alternative medicine using plant leaves to massage the affected area.

The contemporary traditional women’s clothing is the puletasi which is a matching ie or wrap-around and top with Samoan designs. Males usually wear button down shirts and ie faitaga, a male versions of the wrap-arounds.

As with many Polynesian islands with significant and unique tattoos, Samoans have two gender specific and culturally significant tattoos. For males, it is called the tatau and consists of intricate and geometrical patterns tattooed that cover areas from the knees up towards the ribs. A male who possess such a tatau is called a soga'imiti. A Samoan girl or teine is given a malu, which covers the area from just below her knees to her upper thighs.

References

Schnee, Dr. Heinrich . 1926. German Colonization, Past and Future—The Truth about the German Colonies. London: George Allen & Unwin.
Eustis, Nelson. 1980. Aggie Grey of Samoa. Adelaide, South Australia: Hobby Investments. ISBN 0-9595609-0-4.

External links

Visit Samoa- Comprehensive array of Samoan tourist accommodation
iPasifika - Premier ISP in Samoa
www.samoa.ws Online Portal with greatest collection of links to Samoan domestic websites
Vasapasefika - Fa'asamoa forums replete with traditions, legends and myths.
Official government Website
Open Directory Project - Samoa directory category
ChooHoo! - Online Samoan community featuring forums, chat, blogs, etc.
Finding Samoa
Samoan Based Contemporary Art
Map: district subdivision
Samoa, A Hundred Years Ago And Long Before by George Turner, an eText available from Project Gutenberg
Samoan Noni Juice

v t e Polynesia
Polynesian triangle	Cook Islands Easter Island French Polynesia Austral Islands Gambier Islands Marquesas Islands Society Islands Tuamotus Hawaiian Islands New Zealand Niue Norfolk Island Pitcairn Islands Rotuma Salas y Gómez Samoan Islands Tokelau Tonga Tuvalu Wallis and Futuna Islands
Polynesian outliers	Aniwa Anuta Bellona Duff Islands Emae Futuna Kapingamarangi Mele Nuguria Nukumanu Nukuoro Ontong Java Ouvéa Pileni Rennell Sikaiana Takuu Tikopia
Polynesian-influenced	Lau Islands Madagascar

Countries and territories of Oceania

Sovereign states

Entire	Australia Fiji Kiribati Marshall Islands Micronesia Nauru New Zealand Palau Papua New Guinea Samoa Solomon Islands Tonga Tuvalu Vanuatu
In part	Chile Easter Island Juan Fernández Islands Ecuador Galápagos Islands Indonesia Central Papua Highland Papua Papua South Papua Southwest Papua West Papua United States Hawaii Palmyra Atoll

Associated states

Dependencies and
other territories

Australia	Ashmore and Cartier Islands Christmas Island Cocos (Keeling) Islands Coral Sea Islands Norfolk Island
France	Clipperton Island French Polynesia New Caledonia Wallis and Futuna
New Zealand	Tokelau
United Kingdom	Pitcairn Islands
United States	American Samoa Baker Island Guam Howland Island Jarvis Island Johnston Atoll Kingman Reef Midway Atoll Northern Mariana Islands Wake Island

Template:Austronesian-speaking

Former German colonies and protectorates

Colonies

Africa	East Africa Kionga Triangle Wituland South West Africa West Africa Kamerun Neukamerun Kapitaï and Koba Mahinland Togoland
Oceania	New Guinea Samoa

Concessions

China	Kiautschou Bay Tsingtao Tientsin

Unrecognised

Antarctica	New Swabia (claimed by Nazi Germany)

Members of the Commonwealth of Nations

Sovereign states
(members)