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===Independence=== After repeated efforts by the Samoan independence movement, the New Zealand Western Samoa Act of 24 November 1961 terminated the Trusteeship Agreement and granted the country independence as the ''Independent State of Western Samoa'', effective 1 January 1962.<ref>[http://www.nzlii.org/nz/legis/hist_act/wsa19611961n68189/ Western Samoa Act 1961] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160105170711/http://www.nzlii.org/nz/legis/hist_act/wsa19611961n68189/ |date=5 January 2016 }} (24 November 1961; 1961 No 68). [http://www.worldlii.org/int/other/UNGA/1961/33.pdf Resolution 1626 (XVI) of 18 October 1961] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160107121323/http://www.worldlii.org/int/other/UNGA/1961/33.pdf |date=7 January 2016 }} of the [[United Nations General Assembly]].</ref><ref>[https://www.un.org/en/sections/un-charter/chapter-xii/ Chapter XII. International Trusteeship System] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170703122531/http://www.un.org/en/sections/un-charter/chapter-xii/ |date=3 July 2017 }}. Charter of the United Nations. legal.un.org</ref> Western Samoa, the first small-island country in the Pacific to become independent, signed a [[New Zealand–Samoa relations#Treaty of Friendship|Treaty of Friendship]] with New Zealand later in 1962. Western Samoa joined the [[Commonwealth of Nations]] on 28 August 1970. While independence was achieved at the beginning of January, Samoa annually celebrates 1 June as its independence day.<ref>"[http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/4202/celebration-of-samoas-independence-day Celebration of Samoa's Independence Day] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140602200524/http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/4202/celebration-of-samoas-independence-day |date=2 June 2014 }}", ''Te Ara Encyclopedia of New Zealand.'' Retrieved 1 June 2014.</ref><ref>"[http://www.un.int/samoa/event/independence-day Independence Day] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140605052139/http://www.un.int/samoa/event/independence-day |date=5 June 2014 }}", United Nations. Retrieved 1 June 2014.</ref> At the time of independence, [[Fiamē Mataʻafa Faumuina Mulinuʻu II]], one of the four highest-ranking [[paramount chief]]s in the country, became Samoa's first [[Prime Minister of Samoa|prime minister]]. Another paramount chief, [[Tuiaana Tuimalealiʻifano Suatipatipa II]], was admitted to the [[Council of Deputies]];<ref name="PIM2">[https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-333446652/view?partId=nla.obj-333560905#page/n103/mode/1up T.T. Suatipatipa II] ''Pacific Islands Monthly'', September 1974, p102</ref> the remaining two – [[Tupua Tamasese Meaʻole]] and [[Malietoa Tanumafili II]] – became joint heads of state for life.<ref name="1960 Constitution">{{cite web |title=Constitution of the Independent State of Western Samoa 1960 |url=http://www.paclii.org/ws/legis/consol_act/cotisows1960535/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070708171858/http://www.paclii.org/ws/legis/consol_act/cotisows1960535/ |archive-date=8 July 2007 |access-date=28 December 2007 |publisher=University of the South Pacific |df=dmy-all}}</ref> On 15 December 1976, Western Samoa was admitted to the [[United Nations]] as the 147th [[Member states of the United Nations|member state]]. It asked to be referred to in the United Nations as the ''Independent State of Samoa''.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://search.archives.un.org/uploads/r/united-nations-archives/a/5/8/a5839a368236c935b63e43f930c35ede5935eec012fbc67f557a810d73b37250/S-0904-0070-0013-00001.PDF |title=General Assembly admits Western Samoa as 147th United Nations member state |date=15 December 1976 |page=2 |publisher=United Nations |access-date=3 June 2022 |archive-date=4 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220704062824/https://search.archives.un.org/uploads/r/united-nations-archives/a/5/8/a5839a368236c935b63e43f930c35ede5935eec012fbc67f557a810d73b37250/S-0904-0070-0013-00001.PDF |url-status=live }}</ref> Travel writer [[Paul Theroux]] noted marked differences between the societies in Western Samoa and [[American Samoa]] in 1992.<ref>{{cite book |author=Theroux, Paul |title=The Happy Isles of Oceania: Paddling the Pacific |publisher=G.P. Putnam's Sons (NZ) |location=New York, NY |year=1992 |isbn=978-0-618-65898-5}}</ref> On 4 July 1997 the government amended the constitution to change the name of the country from ''Western Samoa'' to ''Samoa'',<ref>[http://www.paclii.org/ws/legis/num_act/caa21997295/ Constitution Amendment Act (No 2) 1997] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190417083335/http://www.paclii.org/ws/legis/num_act/caa21997295/ |date=17 April 2019 }}. Paclii.org. Retrieved on 9 November 2016.</ref> the name it had been called by in the United Nations since it joined.<ref name="U.S Embassy in Samoa" /> [[American Samoa]] protested against the name change, asserting that it diminished its own identity.<ref name="U.S Embassy in Samoa">{{cite web |title=Samoan History |url=https://ws.usembassy.gov/our-relationship/policy-history/samoan-history/ |website=U.S. Embassy in Samoa |access-date=17 January 2017 |archive-date=14 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210414084415/https://ws.usembassy.gov/our-relationship/policy-history/samoan-history/ |url-status=live }}</ref> In 2002, New Zealand prime minister [[Helen Clark]] formally apologised for New Zealand's role in the Spanish influenza outbreak in 1918 that killed over a quarter of Samoa's population and for the Black Saturday killings in 1929.<ref>{{cite news |title=New Zealand's apology to Samoa |url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=2044857 |work=[[The New Zealand Herald]] |date=4 June 2002 |access-date=16 December 2013 |archive-date=30 March 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190330221446/https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=2044857 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://192.54.242.122/details.php?table=doc_primary&id=164 |title=Prime Minister Helen Clark's Historic Apology}}</ref> On 7 September 2009, the government changed the rule of the road from [[Left- and right-hand traffic|right to left]], in common with most other Commonwealth countries - most notably countries in the region such as Australia and New Zealand, home to large numbers of Samoans.<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/sep/08/samoa-drivers-switch-left Samoa switches smoothly to driving on the left] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201108170757/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/sep/08/samoa-drivers-switch-left |date=8 November 2020 }}, [[Associated Press]], ''[[The Guardian]]'', 8 September 2009</ref> This made Samoa the first country in the 21st century to switch to driving on the left.<ref name="BBC">{{cite news |title=Samoa switches to driving on left |date=7 September 2009 |work=[[BBC News]] |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8243110.stm |access-date=7 September 2009 |archive-date=6 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181006120158/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8243110.stm |url-status=live }}</ref> At the end of December 2011, Samoa changed its time zone offset from UTC−11 to UTC+13, effectively jumping forward by one day, omitting Friday, 30 December from the local calendar. This also had the effect of changing the shape of the [[International Date Line]], moving it to the east of the territory.<ref name="BBC IDL">{{cite news |title=Samoa to jump forward in time by one day |date=9 May 2011 |work=[[BBC News]] |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-13330592 |access-date=9 May 2011 |archive-date=31 December 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111231024932/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-13330592 |url-status=live }}</ref> This change aimed to help the nation boost its economy in doing business with Australia and New Zealand. Before this change, Samoa was 21 hours behind [[Sydney]], but the change means it is now three hours ahead. The previous time zone, implemented on 4 July 1892, operated in line with American traders based in [[California]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Samoa Sacrifices a Day for Its Future |last=Mydans |first=Seth |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/30/world/asia/samoa-to-skip-friday-and-switch-time-zones.html |newspaper=The New York Times |date=29 December 2011 |access-date=16 February 2017 |archive-date=8 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210508014807/https://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/30/world/asia/samoa-to-skip-friday-and-switch-time-zones.html |url-status=live }}</ref> In October 2021, Samoa ceased [[daylight saving time]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Samoa Scraps Daylight Saving Time (DST) |url=https://www.timeanddate.com/news/time/samoa-removes-dst.html |access-date=2021-10-11 |website=www.timeanddate.com |language=en |archive-date=11 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211011074903/https://www.timeanddate.com/news/time/samoa-removes-dst.html |url-status=live }}</ref> In 2017, Samoa signed the UN [[treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://treaties.un.org/Pages/ViewDetails.aspx?src=TREATY&mtdsg_no=XXVI-9&chapter=26&clang=_en |title=Chapter XXVI: Disarmament – No. 9 Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons |publisher=United Nations Treaty Collection |date=7 July 2017 |access-date=15 August 2019 |archive-date=6 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190806220546/https://treaties.un.org/Pages/ViewDetails.aspx?src=TREATY&mtdsg_no=XXVI-9&chapter=26&clang=_en |url-status=live }}</ref> In June 2017, Parliament amended Article 1 of the Samoan Constitution to make [[Christianity]] the state religion.<ref name="Religion"/><ref>{{cite news |last1=Feagaimaali’i-Luamanu |first1=Joyetter |title=Constitutional Amendment Passes; Samoa Officially Becomes 'Christian State' |url=http://www.pireport.org/articles/2017/06/08/constitutional-amendment-passes-samoa-officially-becomes-christian-state |access-date=16 June 2017 |publisher=Pacific Islands Report |date=8 June 2017 |archive-date=11 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201111223748/http://www.pireport.org/articles/2017/06/08/constitutional-amendment-passes-samoa-officially-becomes-christian-state |url-status=dead}}</ref> In September 2019, a [[2019 Samoa measles outbreak|measles outbreak]] resulted in the deaths of 83 people. Following the outbreak, the government imposed a curfew in December later during the same year. In May 2021, [[Fiamē Naomi Mataʻafa]] became Samoa's first female prime minister. Mataʻafa's [[Faʻatuatua i le Atua Samoa ua Tasi|FAST]] party narrowly won the [[2021 Samoan general election|election]], ending the rule of long-term Prime Minister [[Tuilaʻepa Saʻilele Malielegaoi]] of the [[Human Rights Protection Party]] (HRPP),<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/samoa-set-appoint-first-female-prime-minister-2021-05-17/ |title=Samoa set to appoint first female prime minister |work=Reuters |date=17 May 2021 |access-date=27 June 2021 |archive-date=27 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210627231358/https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/samoa-set-appoint-first-female-prime-minister-2021-05-17/ |url-status=live }}</ref> although the [[2021 Samoan constitutional crisis|constitutional crisis]] complicated and delayed this. On 24 May 2021, she was sworn in as the new prime minister, though it was not until July that the Supreme Court ruled that her swearing-in was legal, thus ending the constitutional crisis and bringing an end to Tuilaʻepa's 22-year premiership. The FAST party's success in the 2021 election and subsequent court rulings also ended nearly four decades of HRPP rule.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2021/05/24/asia/samoa-election-uncertainty-intl-hnk/index.html |title=Pacific island swears in its first female PM in a tent after she is locked out of Parliament |work=[[CNN]] |last=Hollingsworth |first=Julia |date=25 May 2021 |access-date=27 June 2021 |archive-date=13 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210613135231/https://edition.cnn.com/2021/05/24/asia/samoa-election-uncertainty-intl-hnk/index.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
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