

Notable figures in Samoan history included the Tui Manu'a line, Queen Salamasina, King Fonoti and the four tama-a-aiga: Malietoa, Tupua Tamasese, Mata'afa, and Tuimalealiifano. Intimate sociocultural and genetic ties were maintained between Samoa, Fiji, and Tonga, and the archaeological record supports oral tradition and native genealogies that indicate interisland voyaging and intermarriage between precolonial Samoans, Fijians, and Tongans. One theory is that the original Samoans were Austronesians who arrived during a final period of eastward expansion of the Lapita peoples out of Southeast Asia and Melanesia between 2,500 and 1,500 BCE. Although this research is ongoing, a number of theories have been proposed. The Samoans' origins have been studied in modern times through scientific research on Polynesian genetics, linguistics and anthropology. The remains were discovered at a Lapita site at Mulifanua, and the scientists' findings were published in 1974. The earliest human remains found in Samoa are dated to between roughly 2,900 and 3,500 years ago. Samoa was discovered and settled by the Samoans' Lapita ancestors (Austronesian people who spoke Oceanic languages). Main article: History of Samoa Early history The country was a colony of the German Empire from 1899 to 1915, then came under a joint British and New Zealand colonial administration until 1 January 1962, when it became independent. Because of the Samoans' seafaring skills, pre-20th-century European explorers referred to the entire island group (which includes American Samoa) as the "Navigator Islands". Western Samoa was admitted to the United Nations on 15 December 1976.

The sovereign state is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations. Samoa is a unitary parliamentary democracy with 11 administrative divisions. They developed a Samoan language and Samoan cultural identity. The Lapita people discovered and settled the Samoan Islands around 3,500 years ago.

Samoa is located 64 km (40 mi) west of American Samoa, 889 km (552 mi) northeast of Tonga (closest foreign country), 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. Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country 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 ( Nu'utele, Nu'ulua, Fanuatapu and Namua). Although driving is on the left side of the roadway centre line, Samoa allows cars with steering wheels on either the left or the right side of the vehicle to use the roads. The terms Tālā and Sene are translations of the English words Dollar and Cent in the Samoan language.
