Place · island

Samoan Islands

Also known as Samoa Islands

The Samoan Islands are an archipelago of Polynesia in the central South Pacific, settled about 3,000 years ago. Rival chiefly titles competed for power there, with Tongan influence in some periods. The Tripartite Convention of 1899 divided the islands: the western part, including Upolu and Savaii, became German Samoa, later administered by New Zealand and independent as Samoa in 1962, while the eastern part, with Tutuila and Manuʻa, became American Samoa.

Samoan Islands
Image: Angela K. Kepler · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Mentioned in 6 state histories

Tuʻi Tonga EmpireKingdom of ManuʻaKingdom of SamoaGerman SamoaAmerican SamoaTerritory of Western Samoa

See also

Cite this entry
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Samoan Islands. In The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/samoan-islands
MLA
“Samoan Islands.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/samoan-islands. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Samoan Islands.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/samoan-islands.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Samoan Islands’, The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/samoan-islands (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random entry ↻