Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa, formerly known as Western Samoa and German Samoa, is a country encompassing the western part of the Samoan Islands in the South Pacific Ocean. It became independent from New Zealand in 1962. The two main islands of Samoa are Upolu and one of the biggest islands in Polynesia, Savai’i. The capital city, Apia, and Faleolo International Airport are situated on the island of Upolu.
Samoa is south of the equator, about halfway between Hawai‘i and New Zealand in the Polynesian region of the Pacific Ocean. The total land area is 2,934 km², consisting of the two large islands of Upolu and Savai’i which account for 99% of the total land area, and eight small islets. The land area is about the size of the two Hawaii islands Oahu and Maui combined. These are the three islets in the Apolima Strait (Manono Island, Apolima and Nu’ulopa), the four Aleipata Islands off the eastern end of Upolu (Nu’utele, Nu’ulua, Namua, and Fanuatapu), and Nu’usafe’e (off the south coast of Upolu at the village of Vaovai). The main island of Upolu is home to nearly three-quarters of Samoa’s population, and its capital city is Apia.