The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001-05.
Western Samoa
officially Independent State of Western Samoa, constitutional monarchy (1995 est. pop. 209,000), South Pacific, comprising the western half of the Samoa island chain. There are nine major islands: Upolu, Savai’i, Apolima, Manono, Fanuatapu, Namua, Nuutele, Nuula, and Nuusafee, with a total land area of 1,097 sq mi (2,842 sq km). Apia, the capital, is on Upolu.
All the islands are mountainous, fertile, and surrounded by coral reefs; extensive volcanic activity occurred on Savai’i early in the 20th cent. The population, which is predominantly Polynesian and Christian, speaks Samoan (a Polynesian language) and English. The people are engaged largely in subsistence agriculture; the chief exports are copra, cocoa, and bananas. Tourism is also important.
All of the Samoan islands west of long. 171°W were awarded to Germany under the terms of an 1899 treaty among Germany, the United States, and Great Britain. New Zealand seized the islands from Germany in 1914 and obtained a mandate over them from the League of Nations in 1921. The United Nations made Western Samoa a trusteeship of New Zealand in 1946. New Zealand rule was unpopular, and in the 1930s a resistance movement (known as mau) emerged among Europeans and native Polynesians. In 1961 a United Nations–supervised plebiscite was held, and on Jan. 1, 1962, independence was proclaimed.
Western Samoa, a constitutional monarchy, has a 49-member legislative assembly. Since 1991 all of its members have been elected by universal suffrage, but candidates can be chosen only from among the titled heads of families (matai), except for two members elected by non–ethnic Samoans. Executive power rests in the head of state, who is selected by the assembly from among the royal families; the head of state in turn chooses a prime minister and cabinet from among members of the assembly. Chief Susuga Malietoa Tanumafili II became co-chief of state in 1962 and sole chief of state in 1963; Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi has been prime minister since 1998. Western Samoa is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations and of the United Nations.
