Above: Olosega island in the Manu'a group, eastern Samoa Islands. Below: map of the Samoan Islands
Geography
Location
Polynesia
Area
3,030 km2 (1,170 sq mi)
Highest elevation
1,858 m (6096 ft)
Highest point
Mauga Silisili
Administration
Samoa
Largest settlement
Apia (pop. 38,800)
American Samoa
Largest settlement
Tafuna (pop. 9,756)
Demographics
Population
249,839 (2012)
The Samoan Islands (Samoan: Motu o Sāmoa) are an archipelago covering 3,030 km2 (1,170 sq mi) in the central South Pacific, forming part of Polynesia and of the wider region of Oceania. Administratively, the archipelago comprises all of the Independent State of Samoa and most of American Samoa (apart from Swains Island, which is geographically part of the Tokelau Islands). The land masses of the two Samoan jurisdictions are separated by 64 km (40 mi) of ocean at their closest points.
The population of the Samoan Islands is approximately 250,000.[1] The inhabitants have in common the Samoan language, a culture known as fa'a Samoa, and an indigenous form of governance called fa'amatai.[2] Samoans are one of the largest Polynesian populations in the world, and most are of exclusively Samoan ancestry.[3]
The oldest known evidence of human activity in the Samoan Islands dates to around 1050 BCE. It comes from a Lapita site at Mulifanua wharf on Upolu island.[4] In 1768, the eastern islands were visited by the French explorer Bougainville, who named them the Navigator Islands. That name was used by missionaries until about 1845, and in official European dispatches until about 1870.[5]
^"Cultures of Polynesia - Polynesian Cultural Center". polynesia.com. Retrieved 2 April 2018.
^Fana'afi Le Tagaloa, Aiono (1986). "Western Samoa: the sacred covenant". Land Rights of Pacific Women. Institute of Pacific Studies of the University of the South Pacific. p. 103. ISBN 982-02-0012-1. Retrieved 17 April 2010.
^Stanley, David (2004). Moon Handbooks: South Pacific. David Stanley. p. 500. ISBN 1-56691-411-6. Retrieved 20 June 2010. Samoans full blooded Polynesian percentage.
^"New Information for the Ferry Berth Site, Mulifanua, Western Samoa by Roger C. Green & Helen M. Leach". Journal of the Polynesian Society. 98 (3): 1989. Retrieved 22 April 2010.
^Masterman, Sylvia (1934). The Origins of International Rivalry in Samoa: 1845–1884. George Allen and Unwin Ltd, London. p. 14.
The SamoanIslands (Samoan: Motu o Sāmoa) are an archipelago covering 3,030 km2 (1,170 sq mi) in the central South Pacific, forming part of Polynesia and...
Rose Atoll and Swains Island also included in the territory. All islands except for Swains Island are part of the SamoanIslands, and the total land area...
discovered and settled the SamoanIslands around 3,500 years ago. They developed a Samoan language and Samoan cultural identity. Samoa is a unitary parliamentary...
Samoans or Samoan people (Samoan: tagata Sāmoa) are the indigenous Polynesian people of the SamoanIslands, an archipelago in Polynesia, who speak the...
islands with which Samoa has long had genealogical links as well as shared cultural traditions. European explorers first reached the Samoanislands in...
would imply that Samoa has authority over all the Samoanislands, including American Samoa. Samoan crisis of the 1880s Unification of Saint Martin Hermann...
Samoan Americans are Americans of Samoan origin, including those who emigrated from the United States Territory of American Samoa and immigrants from...
the SamoanIslands into American Samoa and German Samoa. First Samoan Civil War Samoan crisis Mata'afa Iosefo Malietoa Tanumafili I German Samoa Siege...
territory in the SamoanIslandsSamoan language, the native language of the SamoanIslandsSamoans, a Polynesian ethnic group of the SamoanIslands This disambiguation...
Samoan (Gagana faʻa Sāmoa or Gagana Sāmoa; IPA: [ŋaˈŋana ˈsaːmʊa]) is a Polynesian language spoken by Samoans of the SamoanIslands. Administratively...
German Samoa (German: Deutsch-Samoa; Samoan: Siamani-Sāmoa) was a German protectorate from 1900 to 1920, consisting of the islands of Upolu, Savai'i,...
divided the Samoan archipelago. The eastern Samoanislands became territories of the United States and later became known as American Samoa. The U.S. formally...
The Samoan crisis was a standoff between the United States, the German Empire, and the British Empire from 1887 to 1889 over control of the Samoan Islands...
rival Samoan factions in the SamoanIslands of the South Pacific. The political struggle lasted roughly between 1886 and 1894, primarily between Samoans contesting...
the island, some of the highest such escarpments in the world. While the Samoanislands have not shown evidence of volcanism for many years, the Samoa hotspot...
Dutch first sighted the SamoanIslands in 1722. The French later noted them in 1768, giving them the name Navigator Islands. No permanent European settlements...
second largest of the SamoanIslands by area. With approximately 145,000 inhabitants, it is by far the most populous of the SamoanIslands. Upolu is situated...
The traditional culture of Samoa is a communal way of life based on Fa'a Samoa, the unique socio-political culture. In Samoan culture, most activities are...
2009 Samoa earthquake – Fotopedia NZ Samoans head home to loved ones – One News Tsunami in SamoaIslands – Disasters Charter Tsunami Animation: Samoan Islands...
Samoan Australians refers to Australian citizens or residents who are of ethnic Samoan descent or people born in Samoa but grew up in Australia. However...
Swains Island (/ˈsweɪnz/; Tokelauan: Olohega [oloˈhɛŋa]; Samoan: Olosega [oloˈsɛŋa]) is a remote coral atoll in the Tokelau Islands in the South Pacific...
The Samoan archipelago is a chain of 16 islands and numerous seamounts covering 3,123 km2 (1,206 sq mi) in the central South Pacific, south of the equator...
the night. His wife is Ele'ele. Samoan mythology is a variant of a more general Polynesian mythology in the SamoaIslands. Afa Atonga Atu Faʻatiu Fisaga...
Below are some Samoan plant names in alphabetical order in the Samoan language and their corresponding descriptions in English. Many are used in traditional...
in the Samoan language of the SamoanIslands. Talofa echoes in such phrases as ta'alofa in Tuvalu, aloha in Hawaiian and aro'a in Cook Islands Māori....
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