"text":"New Zealand occupied the German protectorate of Western Samoa at the outbreak of World War I in 1914. It continued to administer the islands as a mandate and then as a trust territory until 1962, when the islands became the first Polynesian nation to reestablish independence in the 20th century. The country dropped the \"Western\" from its name in 1997."
}
},
"Geography":{
"Location":{
"text":"Oceania, group of islands in the South Pacific Ocean, about halfway between Hawaii and New Zealand"
},
"Geographic coordinates":{
"text":"13 35 S, 172 20 W"
},
"Map references":{
"text":"Oceania"
},
"Area":{
"total":{
"text":"2,831 sq km"
},
"land":{
"text":"2,821 sq km"
},
"water":{
"text":"10 sq km"
}
},
"Area - comparative":{
"text":"slightly smaller than Rhode Island"
},
"Land boundaries":{
"text":"0 km"
},
"Coastline":{
"text":"403 km"
},
"Maritime claims":{
"territorial sea":{
"text":"12 nm"
},
"contiguous zone":{
"text":"24 nm"
},
"exclusive economic zone":{
"text":"200 nm"
}
},
"Climate":{
"text":"tropical; rainy season (November to April), dry season (May to October)"
},
"Terrain":{
"text":"two main islands (Savaii, Upolu) and several smaller islands and uninhabited islets; narrow coastal plain with volcanic, rugged mountains in interior"
"text":"prior estimates used official net migration data by sex, but a highly unusual pattern for 1993 lead to a significant imbalance in the sex ratios (more men and fewer women) and a seeming reduction in the female population; the revised total was calculated using a 1993 number that was an average of the 1992 and 1994 migration figures (July 2016 est.)"
"text":"Samoan 92.6%, Euronesians (persons of European and Polynesian blood) 7%, Europeans 0.4% (2001 census)"
},
"Languages":{
"text":"Samoan (Polynesian) (official), English"
},
"Religions":{
"text":"Protestant 57.4% (Congregationalist 31.8%, Methodist 13.7%, Assembly of God 8%, Seventh-Day Adventist 3.9%), Roman Catholic 19.4%, Mormon 15.2%, Worship Centre 1.7%, other Christian 5.5%, other 0.7%, none 0.1%, unspecified 0.1% (2011 est.)"
"text":"active local transmission of Zika virus by Aedes species mosquitoes has been identified in this country (as of August 2016); it poses an important risk (a large number of cases possible) among US citizens if bitten by an infective mosquito; other less common ways to get Zika are through sex, via blood transfusion, or during pregnancy, in which the pregnant woman passes Zika virus to her fetus (2016)"
"text":"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"
"text":"1 January 1962 (from New Zealand-administered UN trusteeship)"
},
"National holiday":{
"text":"Independence Day Celebration, 1 June (1962); note - 1 January 1962 is the date of independence from the New Zealand-administered UN trusteeship; it is observed in June"
"text":"mixed legal system of English common law and customary law; judicial review of legislative acts with respect to fundamental rights of the citizen"
},
"International law organization participation":{
"text":"has not submitted an ICJ jurisdiction declaration; accepts ICCt jurisdiction"
"text":"TUI ATUA Tupua Tamasese Efi (since 20 June 2007)"
},
"head of government":{
"text":"Prime Minister TUILA'EPA Lupesoliai Sailele Malielegaoi (since 1998); Deputy Prime Minister FONOTOE Pierre Lauofo (since 2011)"
},
"cabinet":{
"text":"Cabinet appointed by the chief of state on the prime minister's advice"
},
"elections/appointments":{
"text":"chief of state indirectly elected by the Legislative Assembly to serve a 5-year term (no term limits); election last held on 20 July 2012 (next to be held in 2017); following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party usually appointed prime minister by the chief of state, approved by the Legislative Assembly"
},
"election results":{
"text":"TUI ATUA Tupua Tamasese Efi unanimously elected by the Legislative Assembly"
}
},
"Legislative branch":{
"description":{
"text":"unicameral Legislative Assembly or Fono (49 seats; 47 members - traditional family chiefs or matai and 2 members - part-Samoan or non-Samoan - directly elected by simple majority vote; members serve 5-year terms)"
"text":"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":{
"text":"chief justice appointed by the head 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 appointed until retirement at age 68"
},
"subordinate courts":{
"text":"District Court; Magistrates' Courts; Land and Titles Courts; village fono or village chief councils"
}
},
"Political parties and leaders":{
"text":"Human Rights Protection Party or HRPP [Sailele Malielegaoi TUILA'EPA] ++ Samoa Christian Party or TCP [Tuala Tiresa MALIETOA] ++ Samoa Progressive Political Party or SPPP [Toalepaiali'i Toesulusulu S'iueva POSE II] ++ Tautua Samoa [Leatinu'u Salole LESA]"
"text":"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"
"text":"The economy of Samoa has traditionally been dependent on development aid, family remittances from overseas, tourism, agriculture, and fishing. It has a nominal GDP of $780 million. Agriculture, including fishing, employs roughly two-thirds of the labor force and furnishes 90% of exports, featuring fish, coconut oil, nonu products, and taro. The manufacturing sector mainly processes agricultural products. One factory in the Foreign Trade Zone employs 1,000 people to make automobile electrical harnesses for an assembly plant in Australia, and accounts for 65% of total exports. Industry accounts for nearly 15% of GDP while employing less than 6% of the work force. The service sector accounts for nearly three-quarters of GDP and employs approximately 50% of the labor force. Tourism is an expanding sector accounting for 25% of GDP; 132,000 tourists visited the islands in 2013. ++ ++ The country is vulnerable to devastating storms. In September 2009, an earthquake and the resulting tsunami severely damaged Samoa and nearby American Samoa, disrupting transportation and power generation, and resulting in about 200 deaths. In December 2012, extensive flooding and wind damage from Tropical Cyclone Evan killed four people, displaced over 6,000, and damaged or destroyed an estimated 1,500 homes on Samoa's Upolu Island. ++ ++ The Samoan Government has called for deregulation of the country's financial sector, encouragement of investment, and continued fiscal discipline, while at the same time protecting the environment. Foreign reserves are relatively healthy and inflation is low, but external debt is approximately 55% of GDP. Samoa became the 155th member of the WTO in May 2012, and graduated from least developed country (LDC) status in January 2014."
"text":"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 (2009)"
"text":"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"
