
ISO Codes: WSM, WS
Adjectives: Samoan
Residents Called: Samoans
Nicknames: ?
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New Zealand occupied the German protectorate of Western Samoa at the outbreak of World War I in 1914. It continued to administer the islands as a mandate and then as a trust territory until 1962, when the islands became the first Polynesian nation to reestablish independence in the 20th century. The country dropped the “Western” from its name in 1997.


