Independent State of Samoa

Malo Sa'oloto Tuto'atasi o Samoa Independent State of Samoa


Motto Fa'avae i le Atua Samoa
Anthem The Banner of Freedom
Location of Samoa

Region	Samoan Islands

Capital	Apia

Government	Republic and parliamentary democracy
O le Ao o le Malo
- From 2007	Tufuga Efi
Prime Minister
- From 1998	Tuilaepa Aiono Sailele Malielegaoi

Legislature	Fono

History
- January 1, 1962	Independence

Commonwealth accession	August 28, 1970

Area	2,831 km²

Population
- 2009	179,000
Density	63.2/km²

GDP	2009 (PPP)
- Total	US$ 1 billion
- Per capita	US$ 5,782

Currency	Tala

Western Samoa
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The Independent State of Samoa is a parliamentary democracy in Polynesia.

Background

New Zealand occupied the German protectorate of Western Samoa at the outbreak of World War I in 1914. It continued to administer the islands as a mandate and then as a trust territory until 1962, when the islands became the first Polynesian nation to reestablish independence in the 20th century. The country dropped the "Western" from its name in 1997.^[1]

Economy

The economy of Samoa has traditionally been dependent on development aid, family remittances from overseas, agriculture, and fishing. The country is vulnerable to devastating storms. Agriculture employs two-thirds of the labor force and furnishes 90% of exports, featuring coconut cream, coconut oil, and copra. The manufacturing sector mainly processes agricultural products. One factory in the Foreign Trade Zone employs 3,000 people to make automobile electrical harnesses for an assembly plant in Australia. Tourism is an expanding sector accounting for 25% of GDP; 122,000 tourists visited the islands in 2007. In late September 2009, an earthquake and the resulting tsunami severely damaged Samoa, and nearby American Samoa, disrupting transportation and power generation, and resulting in about 200 deaths. The Samoan Government has called for deregulation of the financial sector, encouragement of investment, and continued fiscal discipline, while at the same time protecting the environment. Observers point to the flexibility of the labor market as a basic strength for future economic advances. Foreign reserves are in a relatively healthy state, the external debt is stable, and inflation is low.^[2]