Independent State of Samoa

Malo Sa'oloto Tuto'atasi o Samoa i Sisifo

CAPITAL: Apia

FLAG: The upper left quarter of the flag is blue and bears five white, five-rayed stars representing the Southern Cross; the remainder of the flag is red.

ANTHEM: The Flag of Freedom.

MONETARY UNIT: The Samoan tala (S) is a paper currency of 100 sene. There are coins of 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, and 50 sene and 1 tala, and notes of 2, 5, 10, 20, and 100 talas. S1 = US$0.3333 (or US$1 = S3.00) as of January 2003.

WEIGHTS AND MEASURES: British weights and measures are used.

HOLIDAYS: New Year's, 1–2 January; Independence Holidays (first three workdays of June), Anzac Day, 25 April; Christmas Day, 25 December; Boxing Day, 26 December. Movable religious holidays are Good Friday, Easter Monday, and Whitmonday.

TIME: 1 AM = noon GMT.

Location, Size, and Extent

Samoa consists of the islands of Savai'i and Upolu and several smaller islands, of which only Manono and Apolima are inhabited. The country...