Samoa

The Independent State of Samoa, commonly known as Samoa and, until 1997, known as Western Samoa, is a unitary parliamentary democracy with eleven administrative divisions. The two main islands are Savai'i and Upolu with four smaller islands surrounding the landmasses. The capital city is Apia. The Lapita people discovered and settled the Samoan islands around 3,500 years ago. They developed a unique language and cultural identity. Western Samoa was admitted to the United Nations on 15 December 1976. The entire island group, which includes American Samoa, was called "Navigator Islands" by European explorers before the 20th century because of the Samoans' seafaring skills. Official languages are English and Samoan, which is also spoken in American Samoa.

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Geographical values

• absolute in degrees, minutes and seconds:
  13° 49′ 57″ S • of southern latitude
  171° 45′ 56″ W • of western longitude
• in degrees with decimal fractions:
  −13.832447°; −171.765482°

Length of Samoa from south to north is 356.326 kilometers, from west ot east – from 208.765 km on south to 211.405 km on north.