Samoa has the distinction of being the first formerly colonized nation in the Pacific to gain indepe
Samoa has the distinction of being the first formerly colonized nation in the Pacific to gain independence - in 1962 from the British/New Zealand. Prior to that, it had been under German control there for a while, with the UK and USA bickering about who gets what for a time before that [thus: American Samoa]. After independence, as Western Samoa, the Samoans decided to drop the “Western” in the late 1990s (to great outrage on their American Samoan neighbors’ part, who took umbrage at the apparent attempt to claim true Samoanness).Stamp details:Top left:Issued in: 1877From: Apia, Kingdom of SamoaMC #1Top right:Issued on: December 10, 1900From: Apia, German SamoaMC #7Second row left:Issued on: December 23, 1921From: Apia, Western Samoa Trust TerritoryMC #56Second row right:Issued in: 1947From: Apia, Western Samoa Trust TerritoryMC #89Third row:Issued on: July 2, 1962From: Apia, Western SamoaMC #116, 120Bottom left:Issued on: June 1, 2002From: Apia, Independent State of SamoaMC #941Bottom right:Issued on: November 16, 2015From: Apia, Independent State of SamoaMC #BL102 Recognized as a sovereign state by the UN: Yes (since December 15, 1976)Official name: Independent State of Samoa; Malo Saʻoloto Tutoʻatasi o SāmoaMember of the Universal Postal Union: Yes (since August 9, 1989) -- source link
#sāmoa#western samoa#german samoa#deutsch-samoa#stamps#philately#august 3