Factbook
History of Samoa — Timeline
Key dates in the history of Samoa, from the Magna Factbook and the Universal Encyclopedia.
1722A Dutch explorer was the first European to spot the islands in 1722.
1886In 1886, an eight-year civil war broke out, with rival matai factions fighting over royal succession and the three foreign powers providing support to the factions.
1889Germany, the UK, and the US all sent warships to Apia in 1889 and came close to conflict, but a cyclone damaged or destroyed the ships of all three navies.
1894At the end of the civil war in 1894, Malietoa LAUPEPA was installed as king, but upon his death in 1898, a second civil war over succession broke out.
1899When the war ended in 1899, the Western powers abolished the monarchy, giving the western Samoan islands to Germany and the eastern Samoan islands to the US.
1918During the 1918-1919 influenza pandemic, about 20% of the population died.
1929In 1929, New Zealand police shot into a crowd of peaceful Mau protestors, killing 11, in an event known as Black Sunday.
1962In 1962, Samoa became the first Polynesian nation to reestablish its independence as Western Samoa but dropped the “Western” from its name in 1997.
1962Independence: 1 January 1962 (from New Zealand-administered UN trusteeship).
1982The Human Rights Protection Party dominated politics from 1982 until Prime Minister FIAME Naomi Mata'afa's Fa'atuatua i le Atua Samoa ua Tasi (FAST) party gained a majority in elections in 2021.
2006Languages: Samoan (Polynesian) (official) 91.1%, Samoan/English 6.7%, English (official) 0.5%, other 0.2%, unspecified 1.6% (2006 est.) Religions: Protestant 54.9% (Congregationalist 29%, Methodist 12.4%, Assembly of God 6.8%, Seventh Day Adventist 4.4%, other Protestant 2.3%), Roman Catholic 18.8%, Church of Jesus Christ 16.9%, Worship Centre 2.8%, other Christian 3.6%, other 2.9% (includes Baha'i, Muslim), none 0.2% (2016 Urban population: 17.5% of total population (2023).
2018Major urban areas: 36,000 APIA (capital) (2018) ower middle-income Pacific island economy; enormous fishing and agriculture industries; significant remittances; growing offshore financial hub; recently hosted Pacific Games to drive tourism and infrastructure growth Inflation: 2.2% (2024 est.).
2023Generation mix — fossil fuels: 59.7% of total installed capacity (2023 est.); solar: 15.1% of total installed capacity (2023 est.); wind: 0.1% of total installed capacity (2023 est.); hydroelectricity: 18.9% of total installed capacity (2023 est.) Energy use: 23.476 million Btu/person (2023 est.).
2023Industries: food processing, building materials, auto parts Agriculture: coconuts, bananas, taro, tropical fruits, pineapples, mangoes/guavas, papayas, root vegetables, milk, avocados (2023) Electricity access: 98.3% (2022 est.).
