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Samoa is located 64 km (40 mi) west of American Samoa, 889 km (552 mi) northeast of Tonga, 1,152 km (716 mi) northeast of Fiji, 483 km (300 mi) east of Wallis and Futuna, 1,151 km (715 mi) southeast of Tuvalu, 519 km (322 mi) south of Tokelau, 4,190 km (2,600 mi) southwest of Hawaii, and 610 km (380 mi) northwest of Niue.
Nov 23, 2020 · Samoa is a Polynesian island nation comprising of two large islands of Saval ‘I and Upolu and 8 small islets, located in the South Pacific Ocean. Samoa is situated roughly halfway between Hawaii and New Zealand.
- Apia
- Independent State of Samoa
- 2,821.00 km 2
- 2,831.00 km 2
- Overview
- Land
- Relief and drainage
- Climate
- Plant and animal life
Samoa, country in the central South Pacific Ocean, among the westernmost of the island countries of Polynesia.
According to legend, Samoa is known as the “Cradle of Polynesia” because Savai‘i island is said to be Hawaiki, the Polynesian homeland. Samoan culture is undoubtedly central to Polynesian life, and its styles of music, dance, and visual art have gained renown throughout the Pacific islands and the world. The country’s international image is that of a tropical paradise inhabited by tourist-friendly flower-wreathed peoples. Yet this belies the economic, social, and political challenges of this diverse and evolving Pacific microstate. Samoa gained its independence from New Zealand in 1962 after more than a century of foreign influence and domination, but it remains a member of the Commonwealth. The country was known as Western Samoa until 1997. Its capital and main commercial centre is Apia, on the island of Upolu.
Samoa lies approximately 80 miles (130 km) west of American Samoa, 1,800 miles (2,900 km) northeast of New Zealand, and 2,600 miles (4,200 km) southwest of Hawaii. Samoa, which shares the Samoan archipelago with American Samoa, consists of nine islands west of longitude 171° W—Upolu, Savai‘i, Manono, and Apolima, all of which are inhabited, and the...
Savai‘i, the largest island, covers 659 square miles (1,707 square km) and rises to a maximum elevation of 6,095 feet (1,858 metres) at Mount Silisili, a volcano at the island’s approximate centre. Mounts Māfane, Mata‘aga, and Maugaloa are also imposing peaks. Upolu, the other large island, lies about 10 miles (16 km) to the east across the Apolima Strait. Upolu is more elongated and uneven in shape than Savai‘i and has lower average elevations. It occupies an area of 432 square miles (1,119 square km), including five offshore islets, and rises to 3,608 feet (1,100 metres) at Mount Fito. Manono and Apolima are smaller islands lying in the strait between the two main islands.
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Islands and Archipelagos
All the country’s rivers are shallow, are limited in extent, and radiate directly from the central highlands to the coast. The islands are rocky, formed by volcanic activity that progressed from east to west within the past seven million years. They are ringed by coral reefs and shallow lagoons except where the shorelines are marked by cliffs formed by lava flows. Mount Matavanu on Savai‘i last erupted intermittently during 1905–11. Samoa’s volcanic soils support lush vegetation but are easily eroded by runoff.
The climate is tropical and humid. Precipitation varies from more than 100 inches (2,540 mm) on the northern and western coasts to 300 inches (7,620 mm) inland. Temperatures vary little, averaging 80 °F (27 °C) and ranging between 73 and 86 °F (23 and 30 °C) throughout the year. The southeast trade winds prevail, varying occasionally to northerlies during the wet season (November or December to April), when severe storms are liable to occur. Typhoons occasionally cause widespread damage.
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Samoa’s lush vegetation includes inland rainforests and cloud forests. Large sections of the coast have been covered with taro plantations and coconut groves. The islands support limited animal life, although more than 50 species of birds are found there, at least 16 of them indigenous, including rare tooth-billed pigeons. The only native mammals are flying foxes, which are endangered, and other species of smaller bats. Rats, wild cattle, and pigs have been introduced. Among the smaller animals found in Samoa are several species of lizards, two snakes of the boa family, centipedes and millipedes, scorpions, spiders, and a wide variety of insects.
O Le Pupu Pue National Park (1978), Samoa’s first national park, occupies some 11 square miles (28 square km) on south-central Upolu. Conservation efforts have been lax in many Samoan communities. Soil erosion, resulting from farming steep slopes and clear-cutting forests, has produced runoff that has damaged many of Samoa’s lagoons and coral reefs. Industrial and residential pollution has become a concern in and around Apia. Wildfires in 1998, which were started by farmers clearing land for cultivation, destroyed nearly one-fourth of the forests on Savai‘i.
Samoa, group of Polynesian islands and islets in the south-central Pacific Ocean about 1,600 miles (2,600 km) northeast of New Zealand. American Samoa, a dependency of the United States, consists of the six islands east of longitude 171° W, including Tutuila.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Samoa is located on the Oceania continent in the Southern Hemisphere. The country is situated in the South Pacific Ocean about 3,000 km (1,864 miles) northeast of New Zealand and 3,700 km (2,300 miles) southwest of Hawaii. Samoa is also 1,534 km (953 miles) south of the Equator.
The Independent State of Samoa (formerly known as Western Samoa) is located south of the equator, in the Polynesian region of the Pacific Ocean, about halfway between Hawaii and New Zealand. The Polynesian group of islands known as Samoa consists of two main islands Upolu and Savai'i and seven smaller islets.
Oct 27, 2023 · The Independent State of Samoa is made up of nine volcanic islands, two of which - Savai'i and Upolu - make up more than 99% of the land. It was governed by New Zealand until its people...
