50 Fun Facts About Samoa

What are Samoa's two main islands?

Together they hold 99 percent of the land; Manono and Apolima are the two smaller inhabited islands and Tutuila belongs to American Samoa.

What is the capital of Samoa?

It sits on Upolu, home to nearly three-quarters of the population; Pago Pago is the capital of American Samoa.

Which people discovered and settled the Samoan Islands about 3,500 years ago?

Their earliest remains were found at Mulifanua on Upolu; their pottery trail runs across the western Pacific.

Early European explorers called the Samoan archipelago what, in tribute to local seafaring skill?

Bougainville coined it in 1768; the Dutchman Jacob Roggeveen had been the first outsider to sight the islands in 1722.

A storm on 15 March 1889 ended a stand-off in Apia harbour between which three navies?

The hurricane wrecked or damaged the fleets and postponed the carve-up; the Tripartite Convention followed in 1899.

Under the 1899 Tripartite Convention the larger, westerly islands became a colony of which empire?

Wilhelm Solf was the first governor; the eastern islands became American Samoa and Britain took Tonga and the Solomons in compensation.

Which country's troops seized the German colony without a shot on 29 August 1914?

Britain asked for the 'great and urgent imperial service'; New Zealand then ran the islands under League and UN mandates until 1962.

The 1918 flu reached Samoa aboard which ship, allowed to berth in breach of quarantine?

About a fifth of the population died; Helen Clark, prime minister of the administering power, formally apologised in 2002.

Roughly what fraction of Samoa's population died in the 1918-19 influenza epidemic?

Ninety percent were infected; 30 percent of adult men died, and Samoans asked to be transferred to American or British rule.

The non-violent independence movement that colonial police fired on in Apia in 1929 was called what?

Paramount chief Tupua Tamasese Lealofi III was shot in the back on 'Black Saturday'; the movement's name means 'strongly held opinion'.

Samoa became independent, the first small-island Pacific state to do so, on 1 January of which year?

Oddly, independence is celebrated on 1 June; the country joined the Commonwealth in 1970 and the UN in 1976.

Until 1997 the country was officially known as what?

American Samoa protested the change; the old name lives on in the .ws internet domain.

On 7 September 2009 Samoa became the first 21st-century country to do what?

The change aligned it with Australia and New Zealand, where many Samoans live and from where cheap used cars come.

Which date never happened when Samoa crossed the International Date Line at the end of 2011?

Jumping from UTC-11 to UTC+13 turned 21 hours behind Sydney into three hours ahead, easing trade with Australia and New Zealand.

Who became Samoa's first female prime minister in 2021 after a constitutional crisis?

Her father was the country's first prime minister; her FAST party ended Tuila'epa's 22-year rule and four decades of HRPP government.

Only holders of what traditional title may stand for the Samoan seats in the Fono?

There are more than 25,000 of them, about 5 percent women; universal suffrage only arrived in 1990 and at least 10 percent of MPs must be women.

What is Samoa's head of state called in Samoan?

Only paramount chiefs have held it; two chiefs served as joint heads of state for life from independence.

Samoa's flag is a red field with a blue canton bearing five white stars in what pattern?

Two paramount chiefs designed it with four stars in 1948; a fifth was added the next year.

What is Samoa's currency?

Introduced in 1967 at two to the pound, its name is the Samoan cognate of 'dollar' and it divides into 100 sene, or cents.

Which Scottish author settled at Vailima, was called Tusitala and was buried on Mount Vaea in 1894?

'Teller of Tales' built the islands' first two-storey house; Samoans carried his coffin up the mountain on their shoulders.

Tusitala's 1892 book on the great powers' scramble for Samoa is titled what?

Its subtitle is 'Eight Years of Trouble in Samoa'; he warned chiefs that if they did not use their land, others would.

The traditional male Samoan tattoo covering the body from knees to ribs is called what?

A man who bears it is a soga'imiti; women receive the malu from knee to upper thigh.

Samoan males born who take on a feminine gender role are known as what, literally 'in the manner of a woman'?

Contrary to Western myth, they are not raised as girls for lack of daughters; Tonga's fakaleiti is a cognate term.

The traditional Samoan way of life, encompassing custom, chiefly politics and language, is called what?

Developed over 3,000 years, it centres on va fealoa'i, the relationships between people, governed by respect, or fa'aaloalo.

What is the traditional Samoan house, open-sided with no walls, called?

Coconut-frond blinds are dropped at night or in bad weather; the tufuga fai fale are the master builders.

The Samoan male 'slap dance', made by striking parts of the body in rhythm, is called what?

The gentle storytelling siva and the drum-driven sasa are the other signature dances.

Which goddess of war in Samoan mythology was deified and courted by successive rulers?

She was the daughter of Saveasi'uleo, ruler of the spirit realm Pulotu; Salamasina was a real 16th-century queen.

The Samoan legend of 'Sina and the Eel' explains the origin of what?

The eel's buried head sprouted the tree; Tagaloa is the creator god of the wider mythology.

What is the highest point in Samoa, at 1,858 metres?

It stands on Savai'i, the only still-active volcanic island; Matavanu's 1905-11 eruptions left 50 square kilometres of lava at Saleaula.

Savai'i ranks where among Polynesian islands by size?

Only New Zealand's three main islands and Hawaii's Big Island and Maui are bigger; it is the South Pacific's largest shield volcano.

The national rugby union team is nicknamed what?

They have played every World Cup since 1991, reached quarter-finals in 1991 and 1995, and nearly beat England in 2003.

Samoa declared a national holiday after its sevens team won which two tournaments in 2007?

Tuila'epa was also chairman of the rugby union; the side went on to win the 2010 World Sevens Series.

According to the 2021 census, which is Samoa's largest religious group?

At 27 percent it edges Catholics (19) and Mormons (18); the constitution has declared Samoa a Christian nation since 2017.

Which convert head of state dedicated Samoa's Baha'i House of Worship in 1984?

It was the seventh of the nine such temples; he served as head of state for life from independence until 2007.

Samoa's international airport, about 40 km west of the capital, is called what?

Ferries link Mulifanua wharf on Upolu with Salelologa on Savai'i in 60 to 90 minutes.

Which juice made from the nonu fruit is among Samoa's notable exports?

Coconut cream, coconut oil and copra are the others; agriculture employs two-thirds of the workforce.

Samoa comprises how many traditional political districts, or itumalo?

They predate European contact; five are on Upolu and six on Savai'i, each with its own capital village and paramount title.

Samoa's mother-of-all sinkholes and swimming hole, a headline tourist attraction, is called what?

Blowholes, lava fields and the beaches at Lalomanu and Saleapaga round out the 'Beautiful Samoa' pitch.

Which 2011 film was the first ever shot entirely in Samoa, in the Samoan language, with a Samoan cast?

Sima Urale's short O Tamaiti had won at Venice in 1996; Sione's Wedding was co-written by Oscar Kightley.

Samoa's Legislative Assembly, the Fono, has how many members?

Forty-nine are matai elected by Samoans and two are chosen by non-Samoans on separate rolls; terms run five years.

Which country is responsible for Samoa's defence under a Treaty of Friendship signed at independence?

Samoa has no armed forces; its police are normally unarmed and number around a thousand.

Roughly what share of Samoa's GDP came from tourism in 2024?

About 200,000 tourists came, mostly from New Zealand, Australia and the US; a 2019 measles outbreak and COVID had battered the sector.

Which Samoan hip hop artist won the APRA Silver Scroll in 1999 for 'Reverse Resistance'?

He was the first hip hop act to win it and filmed the video in his home villages on Savai'i.

The name Samoa may derive from words meaning 'sacred' and 'middle', giving what translation?

Rival theories credit a chieftain named Samoa or a phrase meaning 'place of the chicken'.

Which Dutch explorer was the first known non-Polynesian to sight the Samoan islands, in 1722?

Frenchman Louis Antoine de Bougainville followed in 1768 and gave the group its 'Navigator Islands' nickname.

Which London Missionary Society figure began Christian missionary work in Samoa in 1830?

He landed at Sapapali'i after working in the Cook Islands and Tahiti; Samoa is today overwhelmingly Christian.

Western Samoa joined the United Nations on 15 December 1976 as which numbered member state?

It asked to be known at the UN as the Independent State of Samoa, two decades before formally dropping 'Western' in 1997.

Which New Zealand prime minister formally apologised to Samoa in 2002 for the 1918 flu and Black Saturday?

New Zealand had allowed the infected SS Talune to berth, and its police fired on Mau demonstrators in Apia in 1929.

How many people died in Samoa's measles outbreak that began in October 2019?

More than 4,460 cases, mostly children under four, were recorded before the outbreak subsided in January 2020.

Which Samoan director's short film O Tamaiti won Best Short Film at the 1996 Venice Film Festival?

Her first feature, Apron Strings, opened the 2008 New Zealand International Film Festival.