The Tripartite Convention of 1899 partitioned the Samoan Islands into two parts: the eastern island group became a territory of the United States ( the Tutuila Islands in 1900 and officially Manu ' a in 1904 ) and is today known as American Samoa ; the western islands, by far the greater landmass, became known as German Samoa after Britain vacated all claims to Samoa and accepted termination of German rights in Tonga and certain areas in the Solomon Islands and West Africa.

The Samoa Tripartite Convention, a joint commission of three members composed of Bartlett Tripp for the United States, C. N. E. Eliot, C. B.

The Tripartite Convention gave control of the islands west of 171 degrees west longitude to Germany, ( later known as Western Samoa ), containing Upolu and Savaii ( the current Samoa ) and other adjoining islands.

German interests were transferred to the United Kingdom under the Samoa Tripartite Convention of 1899, in exchange for recognition of the German claim to Western Samoa.

Samoa was the last German colonial acquisition in the Pacific basin, received following the Tripartite Convention signed at Washington on 2 December 1899 with ratifications exchanged on 16 February 1900.

In the late 1800s, rivalry between the United States, Germany, and the United Kingdom resulted in the Tripartite Convention ( 1899 ) that formally partitioned the Samoan archipelago into a German colony ( German Samoa ) and a United States territory ( American Samoa ).

The international convention occurred on the brink of World War I. Forerunners to the Tripartite Convention of 1899 were the Washington Conference of 1887, the Treaty of Berlin of 1889, and the Anglo-German Agreement on Samoa of 1899.

The division of the Samoan Islands as a result of the Tripartite Convention of 1899 assigned the western islands to Germany ( independent Samoa today ) and Eastern Samoa to the United States ( American Samoa today ).

Forerunners to the Tripartite Convention of 1899 were the Washington Conference of 1887, the Treaty of Berlin of 1889 and the Anglo-German Agreement on Samoa of 1899.

The Secretary promulgated the Constitution of American Samoa which was approved by a Constitutional Convention of the people of American Samoa and a majority of the voters of American Samoa voting at the 1966 election, and came into effect in 1967.

Morgan was the Special Enforcer in the Samoa Joe and Christian Cage match at Bound for Glory, preventing Christian's Coalition from interfering as Joe gave Cage his first true defeat in TNA.

The following year a 14-match tour of Europe took place before a World Cup elimination series in Tokyo, which gave Western Samoa a place in the 1991 Rugby World Cup in Britain.

Samoa Joe has the longest reign as champion with his only reign, from March 22, 2003 to December 26, 2004, lasting days and gave the title World status when he defended it in the UK.

Coached by the Richmond Bulldogs ' Head Coach Steve Kaiser, this team gave Samoa the status to create the strong foundation Western Samoa Rugby League needed to move forward.

The Second Samoan Civil War was a conflict that reached a head in 1898 when Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States were locked in dispute over who should have control over the Samoa Islands.

The Second Samoan Civil War was a conflict that reached a head in 1898 when Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States were locked in dispute over who should have control over the Samoa Islands.

Seddon's plans focused mainly on establishing New Zealand dominion over Fiji and Samoa, but in the end, only the Cook Islands came under New Zealand's control during his term in office.

) American Samoa was under the control of the U. S. Navy from 1900 to 1951.

The Berlin Conference of 1889 was held to discuss the political future of the islands but by 1899, American dissatisfaction of not having complete control led to a division of the Samoan islands, with Tutuila and Aunu ' u forming American Samoa.

The German government " had never made a secret of their belief that international control of Samoa was visionary and impractical ... and they began a series of diplomatic moves intended to eliminate it altogether.

A matai can represent a small family group or a great extended family that reaches across islands, and to both American Samoa and independent Samoa.

The United States Congress, in the Ratification Act of 1929, provided that until the Congress shall provide for the Government of the islands of American Samoa all civil, judicial, and military powers shall be vested in such person or persons and exercised in such manner as the President of the United States shall direct.

The islands of Manihiki and Rakahanga trace their origins to the arrival of Toa ( an outcast from Rarotonga ) and Tupaeru ( a woman of high-ranking in the Puaikura tribe of Rarotonga ) The remainder of the northern islands were probably settled by expeditions from Samoa and Tonga.

On 11 June 1980, the United States signed a treaty with the Cook Islands specifying the maritime border between the Cook Islands and American Samoa and also relinquishing its claim to the islands of Penrhyn, Pukapuka, Manihiki, and Rakahanga.

Similarly, the northern islands were probably settled by expeditions from Samoa and Tonga.

The great triangle of Polynesia, connecting Hawaii, Easter Island, and New Zealand, encompasses the island arcs and clusters of the Cook Islands, Marquesas Islands, Samoa, Society, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuamotu, Tuvalu and the Wallis and Futuna islands.

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.

The Germans in particular began to show great commercial interest in the Samoan Islands, especially on the island of ' Upolu where German firms monopolized copra and cocoa bean processing ; the United States laid its own claim and formed alliances with local native chieftains, most conspicuously on the islands of Tutuila and Manu ' a ( which were later formally annexed to the USA as American Samoa ).

Samoa is recognized as the center of Polynesia, from where people migrated eastward to the Marquesas, southward to Niue and the Pukapuka islands of Rarotonga, and northward to the Tokelau and Tuvalu island groups ; in all these islands, oral tradition is maintained of ancestral voyages from the Samoan islands.

The oral history of Samoa preserves the memories of many battles fought between Samoa and neighboring islands.

The United States began operations at the excellent harbor of Pago Pago on Tutuila in 1877 and formed alliances with local native chieftains, most conspicuously on the islands of Tutuila and Manu ' a ( which were later formally annexed as American Samoa ).

These islands became known as German Samoa.

Transport in Samoa includes one international airport situated on the north west coast of Upolu island, paved highways reaching most parts of the two main, one main port in the capital Apia and two ports servicing mainly inter island ferries for vehicles and passengers between the two main islands, Upolu and Savai ' i.

Heyerdahl proposed that Tiki's neolithic people colonized the then-uninhabited Polynesian islands as far north as Hawaii, as far south as New Zealand, as far east as Easter Island, and as far west as Samoa and Tonga around 500 AD.

The honeyeaters are a large and diverse family of small to medium sized birds most common in Australia and New Guinea, but also found in New Zealand, the Pacific islands as far east as Samoa and Tonga, and the islands to the north and west of New Guinea known as Wallacea.

They left Tahiti and sailed westward to southern Samoa and the New Hebrides, then on sighting Espiritu Santo turned west still looking for the Southern Continent.

The Samoan Islands — today divided into Samoa and American Samoa — were west of the date line until 1892, when King Malietoa Laupepa was persuaded by American traders to adopt the American date, being three hours behind California, to replace the former Asian date, being four hours ahead of Japan.

In 2011, more than 119 years after that change was made, Samoa shifted back to west of the date line by skipping Friday.

Departing from Hampton Roads on August 18, 1838, the expedition stopped at the Madeira Islands and Rio de Janeiro ; visited Tierra del Fuego, Chile, Peru, the Tuamotu Archipelago, Samoa, and New South Wales ; from Sydney, Australia sailed into the Antarctic Ocean in December 1839 and reported the discovery " of an Antarctic continent west of the Balleny Islands " of which it sighted the coast on January 25, 1840.

The Samoa islands generally lie in a straight line, east to west, in the same direction the Plate is moving.

The volcanic islands of Samoa that dominate the acreage of the National Park are composed of shield volcanoes which developed from a hot spot on the Pacific Plate, emerging sequentially from west to east.

Va ' ai Kolone, a matai and businessman from Vaisala, at the west end of the island, became the Prime Minister of Samoa twice in the 1980s.

The Samoa islands generally lie in a straight line, east to west, in the same direction the Plate is moving.

The Alofaaga Blowholes, also known as the Taga Blowholes, are a natural feature located in the district of Palauli, south west of Salelologa wharf on the island of Savai ' i in Samoa.

Falealupo is a village in Samoa situated at the west end of Savai ' i island from the International Date Line used until December 29, 2011.

Due to its location in the west of the country, and due to the Samoa is just to the east of the International Date Line, Falealupo has been described as " the last village in the world to see the sunset of each day ".

Apolima is the smallest of the four inhabited islands of Samoa and situated in the Apolima Strait, between the country's two largest islands Upolu to the east and Savai ' i to the west.

Pukapuka's closest prehistoric associations appear to be with Samoa and other islands to the west.