June 1 – Independence Day in Samoa ~ CookingFood.Org

Posted on June 1, 2015

Three is a magical number in stories (from Goldilocks's three bears to the Three Little Pigs, from the Three Stooges to the Three Amigos).

And Samoa, an island nation in the South Pacific Ocean, decided that one day to celebrate independence just isn't enough – so the nation celebrates for three days straight!

Three things you should know:

Some of the Samoan islands are not part of the independent nation of Samoa, but instead are part of “American Samoa,” a territory of the United States.

The division of the Samoan islands happened back in 1900 – the U.S. making the eastern islands into a territory (as they still are), and the western islands becoming German Samoa. However, when World War I broke out fourteen years later, and the Brits and Germans began fighting, British ally New Zealand took over the islands of German Samoa, unopposed.
Samoa (the independent nation) became independent from New Zealand on January 1, 1962. I'm not sure why the Samoans celebrate in June!

Like any tropical island, there are some pretty gorgeous beaches on Samoa:

Like Hawaii, the Samoan islands were underwater volcanos that eventually rose high enough to become a chain of islands. When you explore Samoa, you might see hardened lava fields...