The interweaving of the cultures and bloodlines has helped strengthen the ties of these South Pacific nations.European whalers and traders started to arrive in the late 1700s. Until 1997, the western islands were known as Western Samoa or Samoa I Sisifo to distinguish them from the nearby group known as American Samoa or Amerika Samoa.

Samoan Americans are Pacific Islanders in the United States Census, and are the second largest Pacific Islander group in the U.S., after Native Hawaiians.. American Samoa has been an unincorporated territory of the United States since …

Samoan Americans are Americans of Samoan origin, including those who emigrated from the Independent State of Samoa or American Samoa to the United States. Samoa was explored by Dutch and French traders in the 18th century.

These categories take their names from the Latin for one, two or three steps removed from the original event.

Polynesians, possibly from Tonga, first settled in the Samoan islands about 1000 B.C.

Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article.Samoa lies approximately 80 miles (130 km) west of All the country’s rivers are shallow, are limited in extent, and radiate directly from the central highlands to the coast.

Get exclusive access to content from our 1768 First Edition with your subscription. Tertiary Third level sources of history are generalized surveys of a specific subject.

By signing up for this email, you are agreeing to news, offers, and information from Encyclopaedia Britannica.Be on the lookout for your Britannica newsletter to get trusted stories delivered right to your inbox. 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. Identification.

Samoan mythology and legends say they descended from the gods and heavens to inhabit these islands. Tuvale is the author of An account of Samoan History up to 1918, a key historical text in Samoan history which includes first hand accounts of the rivalry between European colonial powers and Samoan chiefly families. SIGN UP AND WE'LL KEEP YOU IN THE LOOP WITH OUR DEALS AND UPDATES Pratt's valuable Samoan dictionary records many old words of special interest, specialist terminology, archaic words and names in Samoan tradition.

Guided by the stars, the Polynesian ancestors made their way across the Pacific in ocean-faring canoes thousands of years ago.Samoa’s oldest known site of human occupation is Mulifanua on the island of Over the millennia, the Samoan people engaged in trade, battles and intermarriage of nobility with the neighbouring islands of Fiji and Tonga.

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. History . Its capital is Apia.

Oral tradition holds that the Samoan archipelago was created by the god Tagaloa at the beginning of history. Samoa, country in the central South Pacific Ocean, among the westernmost of the island countries of Polynesia. Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students.

What are the islands that make up the Maldives made of?

By far the most important agents of change in Samoa were the western missionaries, converting the people from belief in Gods for the sun, earth, heavens and sea to the one God.Dutchman, Jacob Roggeveen was the first European to sight the islands in 1722, but it wasn’t until 1830 when the Reverend John Williams arrived in In 1899 after years of civil war, the islands of the Samoan archipelago were divided – the Germans taking the islands to the west and the Americans taking the islands to the east, now known as American Samoa.After the outbreak of the First World War, New Zealand captured Western Samoa from the small German company stationed on the islands, and following the end of the war took administrative control on behalf of the United Nations from 1918 until independence on 1st January 1962. Western Samoa became the first Pacific nation to gain Independence.From 1962 to 1997, the nation was known as Western Samoa, until it dropped the title ‘Western’ from its name to become the Independent State of Samoa. Typhoons occasionally cause widespread damage.Samoa’s lush vegetation includes inland rainforests and cloud forests.

He was also an official translator and spoke English, German and some Fijian. From Using Internet Primary Sources to Teach Critical Thinking Skills in History Craver, Kathleen, D 16.2 .C79 1999, p.18 Last Updated: Jul 13, 2020 9:36 AM << Previous: Primary Sources The islands are rocky, formed by The climate is tropical and humid.