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Upolu and Savai'i in Samoa are among the largest of the Polynesian islands, at 1,718 km 2 (663 sq mi) and 1,125 km 2 (434 sq mi), respectively, [20] Their size is exceeded only by the two substantially larger main islands of New Zealand Te Waipounamu and Te Ika-a-Māui as well as Rakiura, and the two main islands of Fiji and the Hawaiian ...
Samoa, [note 1] officially the Independent State of Samoa [note 2] and known until 1997 as Western Samoa (Samoan: Sāmoa i Sisifo), is an island country in Polynesia, consisting of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands (Manono and Apolima); and several smaller, uninhabited islands, including the Aleipata Islands (Nuʻutele, Nuʻulua, Fanuatapu and Namua).
Map of the Samoan archipelago Topography of Samoa. South east coast of Savai'i island.. The Samoan archipelago is a chain of 16 islands and numerous seamounts covering 3,123 km 2 (1,206 sq mi) in the central South Pacific, south of the equator, about halfway between Hawaii and New Zealand, forming part of Polynesia and of the wider region of Oceania.
Previous names were Samoa from 1900 to 1919, and Western Samoa from 1914 to 1997. It was admitted to the United Nations on 15 December 1976. [2] The entire island group, inclusive of American Samoa, was known by Europeans as the Navigator Islands before the 20th century because of the Samoans' seafaring skills. [3] [4]
The large islands of New Zealand were first settled by Eastern Polynesians who adapted their culture to a non-tropical environment. Unlike western Melanesia, leaders were chosen in Polynesia based on their hereditary bloodline. Samoa, however, had another system of government that combines elements of heredity and real-world skills to choose ...
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Chromograph map of Samoa - George Cram 1896. The Samoan Islands were first settled some 3,500 years ago as part of the Austronesian expansion.Both Samoa's early history and its more recent history are strongly connected to the histories of Tonga and Fiji, nearby islands with which Samoa has long had genealogical links as well as shared cultural traditions.
This category is for islands of the independent country of Samoa. For articles relating to the wider archipelago, see Category:Samoan Islands . Wikimedia Commons has media related to Islands of Samoa .