Samoa became independent on 1 January 1962
Samoa first became independent in 1962.
Samoa became independent from New Zealand in 1962.
Samoa became independent in 1962, so in 2012, Samoa has just finished celebrating 50 years of independence.
Samoa became an Independent Country on 1 January 1962. I stand corrected on the month and the day if I'm wrong, but the year is definitely 1962.
You ask "why" is Samoa independent?... I'd say because like any other country, Samoans feel they should have the right to think and feel for themselves. Like other countries, Samoa shouldn't have to adhere to foreign laws. Samoa is independent because they (we) are intelligent enough to know when enough "outside-world" control is enough!
New Zealand occcupied German Samoa at the start of WWII, as Western Samoa. In 1962 the island became independent from all overseas countries and it dropped the word Western from its name in 1997.
The founders of Samoa were of Samoan nationality. Samoa became an independent country from New Zealand in 1962 and was admitted into the United Nations in 1976.
Samoa became independent on 1 January 1962
They are the same in that Samoans in American Samoa and Samoa (once Western Samoa) have the same heritage. However, American Samoa is a US territory while Samoa is an independent nation. So they are in effect two different countries.
1 January, 1962
Samoa became independent on 1 January 1962