Samoa: flag, capital, currency and history

Flag of Samoa

Download the flag of Samoa as a scalable SVG or as a PNG in three sizes. The flag emoji is 🇼🇸.

History of Samoa

Polynesian settlers reached the Samoan islands around three thousand years ago, and the archipelago became a centre of Polynesian culture and chiefly titles. European contact began in the eighteenth century, followed by missionaries in the 1830s. Rivalry between Germany, Britain and the United States ended in 1899, when the islands were divided: the western islands went to Germany and the eastern ones to the United States. New Zealand occupied German Samoa in 1914 and administered it until independence in 1962. Known as Western Samoa until 1997, it is a parliamentary state that retains the matai chiefly system.

Key dates

1. c. 1000 BCLapita-culture peoples settle the Samoan islands, an early stage of Polynesian expansion.
2. 1830John Williams of the London Missionary Society arrives, beginning Christian missions.
3. 1899The Tripartite Convention divides the islands between Germany and the United States.
4. 1914New Zealand forces occupy German Samoa at the start of the First World War.
5. 1962Western Samoa becomes independent on 1 January, the first Polynesian state to do so in the modern era.
6. 1997The country officially drops 'Western' and becomes simply Samoa.

A short overview, not a full history. Dates are given for well-documented events only.

Currency of Samoa

Samoa uses the Samoan tālā (WST, T). Use our free currency converter to check exchange rates.

Frequently asked questions

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