Samoa

American  

[suh-moh-uh] / səˈmoʊ ə /

noun

1. a group of islands in the southern Pacific, the islands west of 170° W longitude constituting an independent state and the rest belonging to the U.S.

---

Samoa British  

/ səˈməʊə /

noun

1. an independent state occupying four inhabited islands and five uninhabited islands in the S Pacific archipelago of the Samoa Islands: established as a League of Nations mandate under New Zealand administration in 1920 and a UN trusteeship in 1946; gained independence as Western Samoa in 1962 as the first fully independent Polynesian state; officially changed its name to Samoa in 1997; a member of the Commonwealth. Languages: Samoan and English. Religion: Christian. Currency: tala. Capital: Apia. Pop: 195 476 (2013 est). Area: 2841 sq km (1097 sq miles)

2. Also called: Samoa Islands.  a group of islands in the S Pacific, northeast of Fiji: an independent kingdom until the mid 19th century, when it was divided administratively into American Samoa (in the east) and German Samoa (in the west); the latter was mandated to New Zealand in 1919 and gained full independence in 1962 as Western Samoa, now called Samoa (as detailed in sense 1). Area: 3038 sq km (1173 sq miles)

---

Samoa Cultural  

1. A group of volcanic (see volcano) islands in the south Pacific Ocean, approximately midway between Hawaii and Sydney, Australia, making up the independent kingdom of Western Samoa and the United States territory of American Samoa.

---

Discover More

Samoa's tropical climate, mountainous scenery, coral reefs, and Polynesian culture make it a popular tourist destination.

Compare meaning

How does samoa compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• Samoa vs. American Samoa

Example Sentences

But the Financial Times reported an earlier version of the company's terms listed an office located in Apia, the capital of Samoa.

From BBC

"But we need to get closer internationally; we were going the right way against Tonga and Samoa, and we have got better each game against Australia. It is going the right way."

From BBC

The 61-year-old has repeatedly talked about players having credit in the bank at international level from the World Cup in 2022 and from series triumphs over Tonga and Samoa over the past two years.

From BBC

"In the last series we played against Samoa, it was like he was playing a different game to anyone else. He was just running through like he was playing under-sevens."

From BBC

They had powered past Scotland 40-8 in the quarter-finals, having beaten the United States, Samoa and Australia to win Pool A.

From BBC