Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary - samoa

 geographical name  1. (or formerly Navigators Islands) islands SW central Pacific N of Tonga Islands; divided at long. 171°W into American, or Eastern, ~ & independent ~ area 1209 square miles (3143 square kilometers) — see American ~  2. (or formerly Western ~) islands SW central Pacific W of American ~; formerly administered by New Zealand; an independent member of the Commonwealth of Nations since 1962 capital Apia (on Upolu Island) area 1100 square miles (2850 square kilometers), population 156,349