Samoa

Independent State of Samoa Malo Saʻoloto Tutoʻatasi o Sāmoa
Flag Coat of arms
Motto: Fa'avae i le Atua Sāmoa (English: Samoa is founded on God)
Anthem:  The Banner of Freedom
Capital	Apia
Largest city	Apia
Official languages	Samoan English
Ethnic groups (2001)	Samoan 92.6% Euronesians (persons of European and Polynesian blood) 7% Europeans 0.4%
Demonym(s)	Samoan
Government	Unitary parliamentary elective monarchy
• O le Ao o le Malo (Head of State)	Va'aletoa Sualauvi II
• Prime Minister	Naomi Mataʻafa
Legislature	Legislative Assembly
Independence
• from New Zealand	1 January 1962[1]
Area
• Total	2,831 km2 (1,093 sq mi) (174th)
• Water (%)	0.3%
Population
• 2012 estimate	194,320[2] (166th)
• 2006 census	179,186
• Density	63.2/km2 (163.7/sq mi) (144th)
GDP (PPP)	2011 estimate
• Total	$1.090 billion[3]
• Per capita	$5,965[3]
GDP (nominal)	2011 estimate
• Total	$630 million[3]
• Per capita	$3,451[3]
HDI (2007)	0.685 medium · 94th
Currency	Tala (WST)
Time zone	UTC+131
• Summer (DST)	UTC+14
Driving side	left2
Calling code	685
ISO 3166 code	WS
Internet TLD	.ws
Since 31 December 2011.[4] Since 7 September 2009.[5]

The Independent State of Samoa is a country in the Pacific Ocean. It became independent from New Zealand in 1962. It has two islands, including Upolu and Savai'i. The capital of Samoa is Apia. It is on the island of Upolu. The head of the country is Va'aletoa Sualauvi II.

The languages spoken in Samoa include Samoan and English.

The sport that is most popular in Samoa is Rugby, and many Samoan people play Rugby.

Samoa was admitted to the United Nations on 18 September 1962.^[6]

A measles outbreak began in October 2019 and continued through December. As of December 28, there were 81 deaths out of 5667 cases.^{[7][8][9][10]}

Wikinews has related news:

• Samoan government temporarily shuts down for nationwide measles vaccination drive

1. ↑ New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage (19 July 2010). "Towards independence - NZ in Samoa". nzhistory.net.nz. Retrieved 29 April 2011.
2. ↑ "CIA - The World Factbook". cia.gov. 2012. Archived from the original on 21 May 2016. Retrieved 9 August 2012.
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3} "Samoa". International Monetary Fund. Retrieved 20 April 2012.
4. ↑ Staff/Agencies (31 December 2011). "Samoa skips Friday in time zone change". ABC Australia. Archived from the original on 16 January 2012. Retrieved 16 January 2012.
5. ↑ Chang, Richard S. (8 September 2009). "In Samoa, Drivers Switch to Left Side of the Road". The New York Times. Retrieved 23 May 2010.
6. ↑ "List of Member States: S". United Nations. Retrieved 27 November 2007.
7. ↑ "Press release 43". National Emergency Operation Centre of Samoa. December 28, 2019. Retrieved December 31, 2019.
8. ↑ "Australia - Oceania :: Samoa — The World Factbook - Central Intelligence Agency (July 2018 est.)". www.cia.gov. Archived from the original on 2016-05-21. Retrieved 2019-12-06.
9. ↑ "Measles death toll rises to 68 in Samoa". RNZ. 2019-12-08. Retrieved 8 December 2019.
10. ↑ Samoa, Government of (2019-12-05). "Latest update: 4,357 measles cases have been reported since the outbreak with 140 recorded in the last 24 hours. To date, 63 measles related deaths have been recorded". Twitter. Retrieved 2019-12-06.