Since 31 December 2011. [ 4 ] Since 7 September 2009. [ 5 ] The Independent State of Samoa is a country in the Pacific Ocean . It became independent from New Zealand in 1962. It has two islands , including Upolu and Savai'i. The capital of Samoa is Apia . It is on the island of Upolu. The head of the country is Va'aletoa Sualauvi II . The languages spoken in Samoa include Samoan and English . The sport that is most popular in Samoa is Rugby , and many Samoan people play Rugby. Samoa was admitted to the United Nations on 18 September 1962. [ 6 ] A measles outbreak began in October 2019 and continued through December. As of December 28, there were 81 deaths out of 5667 cases. [ 7 ] [ 8 ] [ 9 ] [ 10 ] Samoan government temporarily shuts down for nationwide measles vaccination drive Samoa has eleven political districts. These are called itūmālō . These are the traditional eleven districts that were made well before European arrival. Upolu (including minor islands) Tuamasaga ( Afega ) A'ana ( Leulumoega ) Aiga-i-le-Tai ( Mulifanua ) 1 Atua ( Lufilufi ) 2 Va'a-o-Fonoti ( Samamea ) Fa'asaleleaga ( Safotulafai ) Gaga'emauga ( Saleaula ) 3 Gaga'ifomauga ( Safotu ) Vaisigano ( Asau ) Satupa'itea ( Satupa'itea ) Palauli ( Vailoa ) 1 including islands Manono , Apolima and Nu'ulopa 2 including the Aleipata Islands and Nu'usafe'e Island 3 smaller parts also on Upolu (Salamumu (incl. Salamumu-Utu) and Leauvaa villages) Samoa is south of the equator . It is about halfway between Hawai‘i and New Zealand in the Polynesian part of the Pacific Ocean . The main island of Upolu is home to nearly three-quarters of Samoa's people The two large islands of Upolu and Savai'i are 99% of the total land area. There are eight small islets. These are the three islets in the Apolima Strait : Manono Island , Apolima and Nu'ulopa . There are four Aleipata Islands off the eastern end of Upolu . They are: Nu'utele , Nu'ulua , Namua , and Fanuatapu . And there is Nu'usafe'e . East of Samoa is a group of islands called American Samoa . They are part of the United States , but they are similar to the country Samoa, and they also speak Samoan. Samoa used to be east of the international date line . In 2011, the line changed, so that Samoa would be to the west of the date line. [ 11 ] This change took effect on the night of 29 December. Friday was skipped altogether and the following day was Saturday 31 December. [ 12 ] Samoa has 194,320 people. 92.6% are Samoans, 7% Euronesians (people of mixed, European and Polynesian ancestors) and 0.4% are Europeans. Religion in Samoa includes the following: Christian Congregational Church of Samoa 35.5%, Roman Catholic 19.6%, Methodist 15%, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints 12.7%, Samoan Assemblies of God 10.6%, Seventh-day Adventist 3.5%, Worship Centre 1.3%, unspecified 0.8%. There are also about 522 Jehovah's Witnesses in Samoa since 1931. [ 13 ] Samoa has one of seven Bahá'í Houses of Worship in the world. It is in Tiapapata. Many people say that Samoan people are related to Māori people because the Samoan language is very similar to the Maori language. As with other Polynesian cultures (Hawaiian, Tahitian and Māori ), Samoans have two gender specific and culturally important tattoos . For males, it is called the Pe'a, It is intricate and geometrical patterns tattooed on areas from the knees up towards the ribs. A male who has such a tatau is called a soga'imiti. A Samoan girl or teine is given a malu. It covers the area from just below her knees to her upper thighs. [ 14 ] ↑ New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage (19 July 2010). "Towards independence - NZ in Samoa" . nzhistory.net.nz . Retrieved 29 April 2011 . ↑ "CIA - The World Factbook" . cia.gov . 2012. Archived from the original on 21 May 2016 . Retrieved 9 August 2012 . 1 2 3 4 "Samoa" . International Monetary Fund . Retrieved 20 April 2012 . ↑ Staff/Agencies (31 December 2011). "Samoa skips Friday in time zone change" . ABC Australia . Archived from the original on 16 January 2012 . Retrieved 16 January 2012 . ↑ Chang, Richard S. (8 September 2009). "In Samoa, Drivers Switch to Left Side of the Road" . The New York Times . Retrieved 23 May 2010 . ↑ "List of Member States: S" . United Nations . Retrieved 27 November 2007 . ↑ "Press release 43" . National Emergency Operation Centre of Samoa. December 28, 2019 . Retrieved December 31, 2019 . ↑ "Australia - Oceania :: Samoa — The World Factbook - Central Intelligence Agency (July 2018 est.)" . www.cia.gov . Archived from the original on 2016-05-21 . Retrieved 2019-12-06 .

↑ "Measles death toll rises to 68 in Samoa" . RNZ . 2019-12-08 . Retrieved 8 December 2019 . ↑ Samoa, Government of (2019-12-05). "Latest update: 4,357 measles cases have been reported since the outbreak with 140 recorded in the last 24 hours. To date, 63 measles related deaths have been recorded" . Twitter . Retrieved 2019-12-06 . ↑ "Samoa moves into tomorrow" . Stuff.co.nz . 7 May 2011 . Retrieved 7 November 2011 . ↑ "Samoans set to time travel" . nzherald.co.nz . 29 December 2011. Archived from the original on 29 December 2011 . Retrieved 28 December 2011 . ↑ "Samoa: People; Religions" . CIA World Factbook . Archived from the original on 21 May 2016 . Retrieved 26 November 2007 . ↑ "Worn With Pride > Tatau (Tatoo)" . Oceanside Museum of Art . Archived from the original on 30 March 2009 . Retrieved 26 November 2007 . Antigua and Barbuda Eswatini (Swaziland) Papua New Guinea St. Kitts and Nevis St. Vincent and the Grenadines Solomon Islands Trinidad and Tobago Ashmore and Cartier Islands Australian Antarctic Territory Christmas Island Cocos (Keeling) Islands Coral Sea Islands Heard Island and McDonald Islands Ross Dependency Akrotiri and Dhekelia British Antarctic Territory British Indian Ocean Territory British Virgin Islands Falkland Islands Pitcairn Islands St. Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands Turks and Caicos Islands Czech Republic 2 MusicBrainz area Encyclopedia of Modern Ukraine Commonwealth member states English-speaking countries Articles containing explicitly cited English-language text Pages using Lang-xx templates Pages using infobox country with unknown parameters Pages using infobox country or infobox former country with the symbol caption or type parameters Commons category link from Wikidata