Savai'i and Upolu, two of the nine volcanic islands that make up the Independent State of Samoa, account for more than 99 percent of the country's land.
Up until the 1961 vote for independence, it was ruled by New Zealand. It has the second-largest Polynesian population in the world, after the Maori.
Samoa's society is centered on the extended family, which is led by an elected chief who manages the family's social, economic, and political affairs, and the church, which serves as a hub for leisure and social activities.
Agriculture and fishing are the two sectors of the economy that are most affected by cyclones and disease.
Diversification efforts have been fruitful. Because of the beautiful attractions and beaches, tourism is increasing. An expanding services sector is being driven by offshore banking. Foreign investment has attracted light manufacturing, which is expanding.
Even so, a large number of young Samoans are emigrating to American Samoa, New Zealand, and the US. The primary source of income for the household is money sent home by Samoans who reside abroad.
Va'aletoa Sualauvi II is the ruler.
In July 2017, Tuiatua Tupua Tamasese Efi was succeeded as head of state by Va'aletoa Sualauvi II.
The current leader is Fiame Naomi Mata'afa.
Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi's 23-year rule came to an end when Fiame Naomi Mata'afa, Samoa's first female prime minister, won the April 2021 election.
In January, she left the HRPP, the government-in-exile, to join the FAST, the opposition party. She brought with her decades of experience, including time spent as deputy prime minister, as well as her notoriety as the first prime minister's daughter and a royal lineage.
According to US-based Freedom House, press freedom is "generally respected.".
There are numerous government-run and privately owned TV and radio stations as well as other media outlets from American Samoa.
According to InternetLiveStats.com, 27,000 people were using the internet as of June 2015. A lot of people use Internet cafes.
Several significant dates in Samoa's history are:.
1722 . - The first European to explore Samoa was the Dutch navigator Jacob Roggeveen.
1830 . Arrival in Samoa of the London Missionary Society.
1899 . - In accordance with a treaty between Germany, Britain, and the US, Germany annexes Western Samoa, the US annexes eastern Samoa (American Samoa), and Britain withdraws its claim to the islands.
1914 . - Due to a League of Nations mandate (and a United Nations mandate after the Second World War), New Zealand occupies Western Samoa during the First World War and continues to rule it after the war.
1962 . - Western Samoa, the first island nation in the Pacific to do so, gains independence.