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Samoa

Samoa is a southern Pacific island nation that gained independence from New Zealand in 1962. It is part of the Samoan archipelago - a group of islands lying 1800 miles northeast of New Zealand. Samoa consists of nine islands of which only four are inhabited, Savai‘i and Upolu, the two largest and two of the smaller ones, Apolima and Manono.

The original people of Samoa may have come from Fiji about 4000 years ago. Europeans first arrived in 1722. During the 19th century the United States, Britain, and Germany established commercial posts on, and competed for influence over, the islands. In 1899 Germany annexed present-day Samoa - then known as Western Samoa. The eastern part was annexed by the United States, and became known as American Samoa.

New Zealand occupied Western Samoa in 1914 at the beginning of World War I. When the war ended in 1918 Western Samoa became a colony of New Zealand through a League of Nations' mandate.

A native resistance movement against colonialism, the Mau, agitated throughout the German era and gained strength under New Zealand rule. United States soldiers occupied Western Samoa durin World War II from 1939 to 1945. Independence finally came in 1962, making Samoa the first Pacific Island nation to gain independence.