'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 ' 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.
History
Main articles: History of Samoa
People from the Lau islands in Fiji and Tonga arrived on the Samoan islands approximately 3500 years ago and from there settled most of Polynesia. Each century people were either exiled or traveled from Tonga settling in Samoa due to loss of war, battle or allies. They were known as the Tongan rebellions who were driven out by several
Tu'i Tonga. These immigrants settled on the Samoan islands for many centuries until they moved on to settle around the eastern Polynesian areas.
Contact with
Europeans began in the early 18th century, but intensified after the 1830s, when
English missionaries and traders began arriving. Mission work in Samoa had begun in late 1830 by
John Williams, of the
London Missionary Society. By that time, the Samoans had gained a reputation of being savage and warlike, as they had clashed with French, British, German and American forces, who, by the late nineteenth century, valued Samoa as a refueling station for coal-fired shipping.
As the Germans began to show more interest in the Samoan Islands, the United States laid its own claim to them. Britain also sent troops to express its interest. There followed an eight-year civil war, where each of the three powers supplied arms, training, and in some cases combat troops, to the warring Samoan parties. All three sent warships into Apia harbor, and a larger-scale war seemed imminent, until a massive storm damaged or destroyed the warships, ending the military conflict. At the turn of the twentieth century, the
Treaty of Berlin split the
Samoan Islands into two parts: the eastern group became a territory of the
United States (the Tutuila Islands in 1900 and officially Manu'a in 1905), and are today known as
American Samoa; the western islands, by far the greater landmass, became known as German Samoa after the British gave up claims to the islands in return for
Fiji and some Melanesian territories.
New Zealand troops landed in 'Upolu on 29 August 1914 and seized control from the German authorities, following a request by Britain that New Zealand forces take over a German radio station there. However, New Zealand soon became outmatched by residing German forces and withdrew.
From the end of
World War I until 1962, New Zealand controlled Samoa as a Class "C" Mandate under
trusteeship through the
League of Nations. There followed a series of New Zealand administrators. Approximately one fifth of the Samoan population died in the Influenza epidemic of 1918-1919, partly due to the failure of New Zealand authorities to enforce a quarantine.
[1]
In the early 1920s, the Western Samoans began a campaign known as the ''Mau'' ("Strongly held Opinion"), a non-violent popular movement to protest the mistreatment of the Samoan people by the New Zealand administration. The Mau was initially lead by Olaf Nelson, who was half Samoan and half Swedish. (He continued to assist the organization financially and politically, though in exile, during the late 1920s and early 1930s.) In following the Mau's non-violent philosophy, the newly elected leader, High Chief Tupua Tamasese Lealofi, led his fellow uniformed Mau in a peaceful demonstration in downtown Apia. The New Zealand police attempted to arrest one of the leaders in the demonstration. When he resisted, a struggle developed between the police and the Mau. The officers began to fire randomly into the crowd and a Lewis machine gun, mounted in preparation for this demonstration, was used to disperse the Mau. Chief Tamasese was shot from behind and killed while trying to bring calm and order to the Mau demonstrators, screaming "Peace, Samoa". 10 others died that day and approximately 50 were injured by gunshot wounds and police batons. That day,
December 28 1929, would come to be known in Samoa as Black Saturday. The Mau grew, remaining steadfastly non-violent, and expanded to include a highly influential women's branch. After repeated efforts by the Samoan people, Western Samoa finally gained independence in 1962.
In July 1997, the constitution was amended to change the country's name from ''Western Samoa'' to ''Samoa'', as it had been designated by the
United Nations since joining the organization in 1976. The U.S. territory of
American Samoa protested the move, asserting that the change diminished its own identity. American Samoans still use the terms ''Western Samoa'' and ''Western Samoans'' to describe the independent State of Samoa and its inhabitants. While the two Samoas share language and ethnicity, their cultures have recently followed different paths, with American Samoans often emigrating to
Hawaii and the U.S. mainland, and adopting many U.S. customs, such as the playing of
American football and
baseball. Western Samoans have tended to emigrate instead to New Zealand, whose influence has made the sports of
rugby and
cricket more popular in the western islands.
Politics
Main articles: Politics of Samoa
The 1960
Constitution, which formally came into force with independence, is based on the British pattern of
parliamentary democracy, modified to take account of Samoan customs. Two of Samoa's four princely titles (paramount 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 (Tupua Tamasese Meaole) in 1963.
Malietoa Tanumafili II died 11 May 2007. He was the oldest living monarch at the time of his death. His successor,
Tupua Tamasese Tupuola Tufuga Efi was selected by the legislature on the 17 June 2007 for a 5-year term.
The unicameral legislature (Fono) consists of 49 members serving 5-year terms. Forty-seven are elected from territorial districts by ethnic Samoans; the other two are chosen by non-Samoans with no chiefly affiliation 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 head of state to form a government. The prime minister's choices for the 12 cabinet positions are appointed by the head 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 head of state upon the recommendation of the prime minister.
[2]
Geography
Map of Samoa
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_Island,
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 between 1904 - 1906. 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.
Economy
Main articles: 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.
[3] Outside of a large automotive wire-harness factory (Yazaki Corporation), 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 interests. 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
The main sports played in Samoa are
rugby union and
Samoan cricket. About 30 ethnic Samoans, many from American Samoa, currently play in the
National Football League. A 2002 article from ESPN estimated that a Samoan male (either an American Samoan, or a Samoan living in the 50 United States) is 40 times more likely to play in the NFL than a non-Samoan American.
[4]
Rugby union is very popular in Samoa and the
national team nicknamed the 'Manu' Samoa, is consistently competitive against teams from vastly more populous nations. Samoa have competed at every
Rugby World Cup since
1991, and have made the quarter finals in 1991 (where they beat Wales and came close to upsetting eventual world champions Australia),
1995 and the second round of the
1999 world cup. At the 2003 world cup, Manu Samoa came close to beating eventual world champions, England. Samoa also played in the
Pacific Nations Cup and the
Pacific Tri-Nations The sport is governed by the
Samoa Rugby Football Union, who are members of the
Pacific Islands Rugby Alliance, and thus, also contribute to the international
Pacific Islanders rugby union team. At club level there is the
National Provincial Championship and
Pacific Rugby Cup Prominent Samoan players include
Pat Lam and
Brian Lima. In addition there are many Samoans that have played for or are playing for the
All Blacks.
Rugby league is also popular amongst Samoans, with Samoa reaching the quarter finals of the 2000 Rugby League World Cup. They also took home the cup at Wellington and the Hong Kong Rugby Sevens in 2007 - for which the Prime Minister of Samoa, also Chairman of the national rugby union, Tuila’epa Sa’ilele Malielegaoi, declared a national holiday. Many Samoans and New Zealanders or Australians of Samoan descent play in the Super League and National Leagues in Britain. Examples are Va'aiga Lealuga Tuigamala who represented the New Zealand All Blacks, then became the first million dollar player to be contract out to Rugby League to play for Wigan, then played Rugby Union for Newcastle Falcons before representing Samoa. Ta'ane Lavulavu of Workington Town, Maurie Fa'asavalu of St Helens and David Fatialofa of Whitehaven.
The
Samoan cricket team became an affiliate member of the International Cricket Council in 2000. In 2005, they competed in the
East Asia/Pacific Cup, finishing in last place, thus missing out on qualification for the
2011 Cricket World Cup.
Samoans have been very visible in American
professional wrestling, despite the relatively small population of the islands.
Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson,
Peter Maivia,
Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka,
Umaga/Jamal,
Rosey,
Yokozuna,
Wild Samoans,
The Headshrinkers,
Rikishi,
Samoa Joe, and
Sonny Siaki all have a Samoan heritage.
The former
sumo wrestlers
Konishiki, who reached the rank of ''
Ozeki'' (champion), and
Musashimaru, who reached the pinnacle rank of ''
yokozuna'' (grand champion), are of Samoan descent
Several
boxers and
kickboxers are of Samoan descent, including former heavyweight contender
David Tua,
K-1 World Champion
Mark Hunt as well as
K-1 Super Heavyweight contenders
Ray Sefo,
Mighty Mo and
Jason Suttie and also Jimmy Thunder.
Between August and September 2007 Samoa hosted the
2007 Pacific Games, the second time the country has hosted the region-specific
multi-sport event since the Games inception in 1963.
Demographics
Main articles: 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 35.5%,
Roman Catholic 19.6%,
Methodist 15%,
Latter-Day Saints 12.7%,
Assembly of God 6.6%,
Seventh-day Adventist 3.5%, other Christian 4.0%, Worship Centre 1.3%, unspecified 0.8% (2001 census) .
[1] The Head of State until 2007, His Highness
Malietoa Tanumafili II, was a
Bahá'í convert. 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.
[5] The cause of this imbalance is uncertain, but it fits the profile of a large-scale emigration of women. Why most of Samoa's women would emigrate and not the men, and why this process would affect Samoa but none of its neighbors such as
Tonga, and where these women have gone, has never been properly explained.
Culture
Main articles: 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 ''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 traditionally 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 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 a monetary fine and''ie Toga'' (traditional fine mats).
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) are members of the CCCS, Congregational Christian Church of Samoa, established by
London Missionary Society in 1830. And the least and the famous of all groups are known as the
Seventh-day Adventists. Beautiful Samoan
handicrafts can be found at the craft market and some shops. These include the
siapo (equivalent to the
Fijian
tapa)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 or [papa laufala] mats, and other Samoan handicrafts or
mea taulima.
Malietoa Tanumafili II was a follower of the
Bahá'í Faith. He was 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.
★
Music of Samoa
★
Myths and Legends of Samoa
★
Samoa News
★
Samoan Cuisine/Recipes
★
Samoan Pe'a (tattoo)
★
Samoan Cultural Articles
★
Language (Grammar and Dictionary of the Samoan Language, with English and Samoan vocabulary)
Other topics
★
Communications in Samoa
★
Samoa Broadcasting Corporation
★
Electoral Constituencies
★
Foreign relations of Samoa
★
List of cities in Samoa
★
List of villages in Samoa
★
List of Notable Samoans
★
Military of Samoa
★
Public holidays in Samoa
★
Transportation in Samoa
★
Scouting in Samoa
★
History of Samoa
References
★ Schnee, Dr. Heinrich [former Deputy Governor of ''German Samoa'' and last Governor of
German East Africa]. 1926. ''German Colonization, Past and Future—The Truth about the German Colonies.'' London:
George Allen & Unwin.
★ Eustis, Nelson. [1979] 1980. ''Aggie Grey of Samoa.'' Adelaide,
South Australia: Hobby Investments. ISBN 0-9595609-0-4.
External links
★
'Official Samoan government Website'
★
Visit Samoa- Comprehensive array of Samoan tourist accommodation
★
Samoa A-Z: The Small Guide To A Tropical Paradise
★
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.
★
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
العربية
中国
Français
Deutsch
Ελληνική
हिन्दी
Italiano
日本語
Português
Русский
Español
