Language: Samoan is the official language, but English is the language of business and administration.
Religion: Most Samoans are Protestant Christians.
Form of government: Constitutional monarchy and limited parliamentary democracy. Samoa is divided into 11 districts.
Capital: Apia
Constitution: The
Constitution of Samoa came into effect on 1 January 1962.
Head of state: The Head of State (O le Ao o le Malöon). The Head of State is chosen by the legislature from
among Samoa's hereditary chiefs and currently serves for life. Chief Tanumafili II Maleota has been Head of State since
1 January 1962. Upon his death his successors will be chosen for five-year terms.
Head of government: The Prime Minister, appointed by the Head of State. The Prime Minister is the leader of the
largest grouping in the legislature and is accountable to it.
Legislature: Samoa has a unicameral legislature, the Parliament (Fono).
The Parliament has
49 members, of whom
47 are elected for a five-year term from traditional village-based electoral districts of unequal population, and two
are
elected to represent voters (mainly non ethnic Samoans) who have no traditional village affiliation. A map of the
electoral districts can be seen here. Only
members of the chiefly class (the Matai), about a quarter of the population, are eligible for election to the
Parliament. A country in which three-quarters of the population is disqualified from elected office cannot be
considered a democracy.
Freedom House rating:
Political Rights 2, Civil Liberties 2
Political history
The Samoan Islands were discovered by the Dutch explorer Jacob Roggeveen in 1722. In the 19th century Britain,
the United States and Germany all developed interests in the islands, and in 1889 the three powers agreed to
place the royal Samoan government under British, American and German supervision. Britain relinquished its interest
in Samoa in 1900, and Germany and the United States then partitioned the islands, the eastern half becoming
American Samoa. In 1914 German Samoa was occupied by
New Zealand forces, and in 1920 became the League of Nations mandated territory of Western Samoa, administered by
New Zealand. In 1946 it became a UN Trust Territory, with full independence achieved in January 1962.
Western Samoa gained its first Legislative Council in 1920, and in 1948 the Parliament was made fully
elective, although among the Samoan population only members of the Matai or chiefly class could vote. Non-Samoan voters elected members from a
separate roll. The two senior Chiefs were made co-Heads of State for life, but one of them died in 1963 and
Chief Tanumafili II Maleota has been a quasi-monarchical Head of State ever since. Universal franchise was granted
in 1990, but the restriction of candidacy for the Parliament to the Matai has kept power in the hands of the
chiefly class. In 1997 Western Samoa changed its name to Samoa.
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