Far East Kingdoms

Modern Samoa (Polynesia) (Oceania)
AD 1962 - Present Day
Incorporating Heads of State (1962-2024), Independent State of Western Samoa (1962-1997), & Independent State of Samoa (1997-On)

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Considered in some quarters to be a watery continent in its own right, Oceania starts where South-East Asia ends, to the south-east of Indonesia and East Timor. Its territory is somewhat debatable but generally consists of the waters of the Pacific Ocean dotted with some two thousand islands, some of which are independent states and others either parts of countries or colonies.

Polynesia, of which Samoa is a part, is the vast easternmost stretch of a thousand islands in Oceania in the Pacific Ocean. Northern Polynesia consists of the long chain of Hawaiian Islands which reach from the Midway Islands in the west, just to the east of the International Date Line, to the island of Hawaii in the east, all in the North Pacific. Progressing from west to east, southern Polynesia in the South Pacific consists of Tuvalu, Wallis & Futuna, Samoa, Tokelau, Tonga, the Cook Islands, French Polynesia, the Pitcairn Islands, and Easter Island.

The Samoa archipelago sits to the north-east of Fiji, to the east of the Wallis Islands, to the south-east of Tuvalu, to the south of Tokelau and Kiribati, to the west of the Cook Islands, and to the north of Tonga. Modern Samoa is divided into two political entities. The western part, the islands of Savai'i and 'Upolu constitute the independent state of Samoa along with seven smaller islands. The eastern part, with Swains Island, the Manu'a Islands, Tutuila, and Rose Atoll, make up American Samoa, a possession of the United States.

Chiefdoms in Samoa once included Manu'a, Savai'i, and 'Upolu. Its people played a pivotal role in Polynesian migration. Evidence of Lapita pottery which has been found on 'Upolu indicates that Polynesians, probably from Tonga, first arrived in Samoa around 1000 BC.

Then as Samoans they ventured eastwards to Pohnpei in the modern 'Federated States of Micronesia' (around AD 500), Easter Island (around AD 600-1200), the Society Islands (by about AD 800), the southern Cook Islands (Rarotonga) (by about AD 850), the Marquesas Islands and the coast of South America (around 1000), Tonga (about 1050), New Zealand (between about 1200-1300), and the Gilbert Islands (in the fourteenth century). Hawaiian legend claims that Samoans and Tahitians reached the Hawaiian Islands at the close of the tenth or beginning of the eleventh century.

Please note that the History Files does not regularly monitor changes in modern heads of state or their representatives. Get in touch here if this section requires updating.

(Information by John De Cleene and the John De Cleene Archive, with additional information from Beyond the Blue Horizon (National Geographic, March 2008), from National Geographic Atlas of the World, 7th Ed (National Geographic Society, 1999), from Times Atlas of World History, Geoffrey Barraclough (Ed, Maplewood, New Jersey, 1979), and from External Links: Samoa (Encyclopaedia Britannica), and Samoa (Rulers.org), and Samoa (World Statesmen), and BBC Country Profiles, and Pacific islands submit court ecocide proposal (The Guardian), and How the measles outbreak took hold in Samoa (The Guardian).)

1962

On 1 January 1962 the UN 'Trust Territory' of Western Samoa, under the administration of New Zealand, becomes the 'Independent State of Western Samoa'. This ends the period which is covered under the heading 'Colonial Samoa'. Its head of state has the title O le Ao o le Malo.

Initially two co-heads of state, essentially joint kings, are appointed to serve for life with the prospect that if one dies the other will continue to rule as sole head of state. This in fact does happen when Tupua Tamasese Mea'ole dies in 1963, and Malietoa Tanumafili II continues.

1962 - 2007

Co-head of state. Native king of Samoa. Sole king (1963).

1962 - 1963

Co-head of state. Died in office.

1997

Western Samoa becomes the 'Independent State of Samoa' on 4 July 1997, changing from a monarchy to a republic. The country's head of state retains the title O le Ao o le Malo. The position for Malietoa Tanumafili, though, changes from a lifetime appointment to one which is elected by the legislative assembly for a five-year period, with a limit of two terms.

Samoa is the ideal island paradise, one which is filled with opportunities for adventure while being a mixture of natural beauty, welcoming people, and a vibrant culture which truly embodies the Samoan way of life

2007 - 2017

Former prime minister (1976-1982).

2009

An 8.3 magnitude undersea earthquake hits the Samoan Islands. A tsunami produces several waves which inundate many villages and kill two hundred people. Recovery is assisted by international aid.

2013

A constitutional amendment reserves at least ten percent of the seats in the legislature for women. The amendment specifies procedures to ensure this result even if fewer than the required ten percent of women are elected.

2017 - On

Head of state.

2019

A measles outbreak which engulfs the island following the propagation of false anti-vaccination propaganda causes the legislature to make compulsory all future measles vaccinations. The unprecedented health crisis claims seventy-six lives, mainly children.

Red flags were hung outside homes in Samoa to indicate families which were requesting vaccinations against measles during the island's serious outbreak

2021

The opposition party appears to win parliamentary elections for the first time in three decades, and Fiame Naomi Mataafa is sworn in as the country's first female prime minister. Outgoing prime minister, Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi, challenges the results of the election, but the courts uphold the swearing-in.

2024

Fiji, Samoa, and Vanuatu take the extraordinary step of making a submission to the international criminal court on Monday 9 September 2024. They propose a change in the rules to recognise 'ecocide' as a crime alongside genocide and war crimes. The idea is to transform the world's response to climate breakdown and environmental destruction by making ecocide a punishable criminal offence.