Samoa

UK: /səˈməʊə/ US: (sə mō′ə)

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026

Sa•mo•a  (sə mō′ə), n. 

1. Place Names a group of islands in the S Pacific, the islands W of 170° W longitude constituting an independent state and the rest belonging to the U.S.  Formerly, Navigators Islands. Cf. American Samoa, Western Samoa. 

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

Samoa / 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: 196 440 (2017 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)