Samoa is known as the 'Heart of Polynesia',
a reference to its geographical position in
the centre of the Pacific. It is made up of
nine volcanic islands with two main islands,
Savai'I and Upolu. These islands are
mountainous and blanketed with vegetation
and fertile coastal flatlands. There are
also many rivers and waterfalls here because
of the abundant rainfall.
Savai'i and Upolu are the emerged cones of
an underwater volcanic chain, however they
are not active volcanoes. The main city,
Apia, is located in the north of Upolu, the
more developed and populous island. Savai'i
is about the same length as Upolu only 50%
wider and is the largest island in Polynesia
outside of Hawai'i and New Zealand. Between
the two islands lie Apolima and Manono, two
smaller and sparsely populated islands.
Archaeological evidence suggests Polynesians
settled in the islands at around 1000 BC.
The discovery of ancient relics like the
pyramid on Savai'i confirms Samoa is one of
the oldest inhabited islands in the Pacific.
Samoa is part of a larger archipelago that
includes American Samoa to the east.
Although both share the same language and
culture, the two have walked very different
paths to modernisation.
European contact with the two Samoas first
occurred in 1722 when Dutch explorer
Roggeveen sighted the islands. It wasn't
until Christianity arrived that a real
impact was made on the people. Most of the
islanders had been converted to Christianity
by the 1830s.
During that time an international power
struggle had begun between Germany, America
and Britain over the islands. In 1899, the
two island groups were split between Germany
and America. |
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Letele, Roshni, Sham, Teleiai Su’a
Edwin, Ruta & Olo Elise on arrival at Faleolo Airport. |
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(Front) Olo Elise, Roshni, Teleiai
Su’a Edwin, (Back) Letele & Ruta in front of Parliament. |
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Letele, Ruta, Sham & Roshni from NZ
enjoying the afternoon swim at Piula pools. |
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