Samoa
/səˈməʊə/1
- a group of islands in Polynesia, divided between American Samoa and the state of Samoa萨摩亚群岛（位于波利尼西亚的岛群, 分为美属萨摩亚群岛和萨摩亚国）。
1.1
- a country consisting of the western islands of Samoa; pop. 220,000 (est. 2009); official languages, Samoan and English; capital, Apia萨摩亚（由西萨摩亚群岛组成的国家, 2009年估计人口220,000; 官方语言萨摩亚语和英语, 首都阿皮亚）。
First visited by the Dutch in the early 18th century, the islands were divided administratively in 1899 into American Samoa in the east and German Samoa in the west. After the First World War the nine western islands were mandated to New Zealand, and became an independent republic within the Commonwealth in 1962, as Western Samoa. The country became known as Samoa in 1997