Samoa

(CBS)
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.

Source: CIA World Fact Book




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