Samoa (Sāmoa) in other languages: exonyms, Apia, eleven districts
Samoa is Sāmoa in Samoan, officially Malo Saʻoloto Tutoʻatasi o Sāmoa, the Independent State of Samoa, with the ISO codes WS, WSM and 882. The page gives the name in 171 languages and variants, the capital Apia in 59, and the eleven districts with their capitals.
Official languagesSamoan (gagana faʻa Sāmoa) and English
Checked
- alpha-2
- WS
- alpha-3
- WSM
- numeric
- 882
Malo Saʻoloto Tutoʻatasi o Sāmoa
Independent State of Samoa
- English
- SamoaIndependent State of Samoa
- Capital
- ApiaApia
ISO 3166-1, checked 28 October 2026. Former names and the dates 1962 and 1997: Wikipedia's Samoa, checked 28 October 2026. Flag after the Wikimedia Commons drawing.
Samoa in other languages: list of exonyms
| Languages | ISO 639-3 | Name | Romanised |
|---|---|---|---|
| English, Afrikaans, Aragonese, Asturian, Bislama, Breton, Catalan, Czech, Cornish, Welsh, Danish, Lower Sorbian, Estonian, Basque, Fijian, Finnish, Kven, French, Franco-Provençal, West Frisian, Scottish Gaelic, Galician, Manx, Haitian Creole, Croatian, Upper Sorbian, Igbo, Interlingua, Indonesian, Italian, Javanese, Jersey Norman French, Kurmanji Kurdish, Latvian, Lingala, Lithuanian, Ladin, Latgalian, Malagasy, Maltese, Nahuatl, Dutch, Norwegian, Novial, Norman French, Occitan, Polish, Portuguese, Romansh, Romanian, Aromanian, Sicilian, Slovak, Slovenian, Northern Sami, Spanish, Albanian, Sardinian, Saterland Frisian, Swahili, Swedish, Silesian, Tetum, Tagalog, Turkish, Võro, Zazaki, German, Luxembourgish, Low German | eng / afr / arg / ast / bis / bre / cat / ces / cor / cym / dan / dsb / est / eus / fij / fin / fkv / fra / frp / fry / gla / glg / glv / hat / hrv / hsb / ibo / ina / ind / ita / jav / jnf / kur / lav / lin / lit / lld / ltg / mlg / mlt / nah / nld / nor / nov / nrm / oci / pol / por / roh / ron / rup / scn / slk / slv / sme / spa / sqi / srd / stq / swa / swe / szl / tet / tgl / tur / vor / zza / deu / ltz / nds | Samoa | same as written |
| Azerbaijani, Crimean Tatar, Gagauz, Karakalpak, Moldovan, Slovio, Turkmen | aze / crh / gag / kaa / mol / slo / tuk | Samoa / Самоа | Samoa |
| Kinyarwanda, Kirundi, Walloon | kin / run / wln | Samowa | same as written |
| Maori, Tahitian | mri / tah | Hāmoa | same as written |
| Bambara | bam | Samɔwa | same as written |
| Bosnian | bos | Samoa / Самоа / سامۉآ | Samoa |
| Esperanto | epo | Samoo | same as written |
| Faroese | fao | Sámoa | same as written |
| Friulian | fur | Samoe | same as written |
| Irish | gle | Samó | same as written |
| Hawaiian | haw | Kāmoa | same as written |
| Hungarian | hun | Szamoa | same as written |
| Icelandic | isl | Samóa | same as written |
| Latin | lat | Samoa, Insulae Samoanae | same as written |
| Malay | msa | Samoa / ساموا | Samoa |
| Quechua | que | Samuwa | same as written |
| Kalderash Romani | rmy | Samoa / सामोआ | Samoa |
| Samogitian | smg | Samuoa | same as written |
| Samoan | smo | Sāmoa | same as written |
| Tokelauan | tkl | Hamoa | same as written |
| Tongan | ton | Haʻamoa | same as written |
| Uzbek | uzb | Samoa / Самоа / سەمائە | Samoa |
| Vietnamese | vie | Xa-moa | same as written |
| Volapük | vol | Samovuäns | same as written |
| Wolof | wol | Samowaa, Saamowa | same as written |
| Abkhaz, Abaza, Altai, Avar, Bulgarian, Khakas, Komi, Karachay-Balkar, Kumyk, Lezgi, Meadow Mari, Macedonian, Mongolian, Rusyn, Russian, Yakut, Tuvan, Udmurt, Ukrainian, Kalmyk | abk / abq / alt / ava / bul / kjh / kom / krc / kum / lez / mhr / mkd / mon / rue / rus / sah / tyv / udm / ukr / xal | Самоа | Samoa |
| Bashkir, Belarusian, Chechen, Kurdish (Caucasus), Serbian | bak / bel / che / kmr / srp | Самоа / Samoa | Samoa |
| Chuvash | chv | Самоӑ | Samoă |
| Kazakh, Kyrgyz | kaz / kir | Самоа / ساموا / Samoa | Samoa |
| Kabardian | kbd | Самоэ | Samoă |
| Ossetian | oss | Самоӕ | Samoä |
| Tatar | tat | Самоа / Samoa / ساموئا | Samoa |
| Tajik | tgk | Самоа / سمائه / Samoa | Samoa |
| Arabic | ara | ساموا | Sāmuwā |
| South Azerbaijani | azb | ساموا / Samoa | Samoa |
| Sorani Kurdish | ckb | سامۆئا / Samoa | Samoa |
| Persian | fas | ساموآ / Sâmoâ | Sâmoâ |
| Western Punjabi | pnb | سموا | Samovā |
| Dari | prs | ساموا | Sāmovā |
| Pashto | pus | ساموا | Sāmowā |
| Uyghur | uig | ساموئا / Samoa / Самоа | Samoa |
| Urdu | urd | سامووا, سمووا | Sāmōvā, Samōvā |
| Dhivehi | div | ސަމޯއާ | Samōā |
| Hebrew | heb | סמואה, סאמואה | Samōʾah, Sāmōʾah |
| Ladino | lad | סאמואה | Samoa |
| Yiddish | yid | סאַמאָאַ | Samoa |
| Amharic | amh | ሳሞያ | Samoya |
| Greek | ell | Σαμόα | Samóa |
| Armenian | hye | Սամոա | Samoa |
| Georgian, Mingrelian | kat / xmf | სამოა | Samoa |
| Laz | lzz | სამოა / Samoa | Samoa |
| Hindi | hin | समोआ, सेमोआ | Samoā, Semoā |
| Bengali | ben | সামোয়া | Sāmoyā |
| Gujarati | guj | સામોઆ | Sāmoā |
| Odia | ori | ସାମୋଆ | Sāmoā |
| Punjabi | pan | ਸਾਮੋਆ | Sāmoā |
| Sinhala | sin | සැමෝවා | Sæmōvā |
| Kannada | kan | ಸಮೋಅ | Samōa |
| Malayalam | mal | സമോവ, സമൊഅ | Samōva, Samoa |
| Tamil | tam | சமோவா | Camōvā |
| Telugu | tel | సమోవా | Samōvā |
| Chinese | zho | 薩摩亞/萨摩亚 | Sàmóyà |
| Japanese | jpn | サモア | Samoa |
| Korean | kor | 사모아 | Samoa |
| Tibetan | bod | ས་མོའ། | Sa.mo'a |
| Burmese | mya | ဆမိုးအား | Sʰámòà |
| Thai | tha | ซามัว | Sāmuā |
| Khmer | khm | សាមូអា, សាម័រ | Sāmū'ā, Sāmŏr |
Latin has Insulae Samoanae, the Samoan islands, beside Samoa. Wolof records Samowaa and Saamowa, and Urdu, Hebrew, Hindi and Khmer two spellings each.
Sāmoa, Western Samoa and Haʻamoa
In Samoan the country is Sāmoa, with a long first vowel that English leaves unmarked, and its full name is Malo Saʻoloto Tutoʻatasi o Sāmoa, the Independent State of Samoa. Samoan writes the glottal stop with the ʻokina, the turned comma in Saʻoloto; English texts and the ISO list often replace it with an apostrophe or leave it out.
From independence on 1 January 1962 the state was Western Samoa, in Samoan Sāmoa i Sisifo, and the full name ended in i Sisifo, of the west. The shorter Samoa has been official since 4 July 1997. The old name survives in the codes: WS and WSM in ISO 3166-1 and the internet domain .ws all stand for Western Samoa.
The Polynesian neighbours begin the name with another consonant: Haʻamoa in Tongan, Hāmoa in Maori and Tahitian, Hamoa in Tokelauan and Kāmoa in Hawaiian. Further away the changes are spelling only, as in Szamoa in Hungarian, Xa-moa in Vietnamese and サモア (Samoa) in Japanese.
Apia in other languages
| Languages | ISO 639-3 | Name | Romanised |
|---|---|---|---|
| English, French, Samoan, German, Luxembourgish, Low German, Irish | eng / fra / smo / deu / ltz / nds / gle | Apia | same as written |
| Azerbaijani, Moldovan, Turkmen | aze / mol / tuk | Apia / Апиа | Apia |
| Latvian, Lithuanian | lav / lit | Apija | same as written |
| Bosnian | bos | Apia / Апиа / آپٖىآ | Apia |
| Esperanto | epo | Apio | same as written |
| Icelandic | isl | Apía | same as written |
| Kurmanji Kurdish | kur | Apya | same as written |
| Malay | msa | Apia / اڤيا | Apia |
| Portuguese | por | Ápia | same as written |
| Samogitian | smg | Apėjė | same as written |
| Uzbek | uzb | Apia / Апиа / ئەپىئە | Apia |
| Bashkir, Serbian | bak / srp | Апиа / Apia | Apia |
| Mongolian, Russian | mon / rus | Апиа | Apia |
| Belarusian | bel | Апіа / Apia | Apia |
| Bulgarian | bul | Апия | Apija |
| Chuvash | chv | Апийӑ | Apijă |
| Kazakh | kaz | Апиа / اپيا / Apïa | Apïa |
| Kabardian | kbd | Апиэ | Apiă |
| Kyrgyz | kir | Апиа / اپىا / Apia | Apia |
| Ossetian | oss | Апи | Api |
| Tatar | tat | Апиа / Apia / ئاپىئا | Apia |
| Tajik | tgk | Апиа / اپیه / Apia | Apia |
| Ukrainian | ukr | Апіа | Apia |
| Arabic | ara | أبيا, آبيا | Abiyā, Ābiyā |
| South Azerbaijani | azb | آپیا / Apia | Apia |
| Persian | fas | آپیا / Âpiyâ | Âpiyâ |
| Pashto | pus | اپيا | Apiyā |
| Uyghur | uig | ئاپىيە / Apiye / Апиа | Apiye |
| Urdu | urd | آپیا | Āpiyā |
| Hebrew | heb | אפיה | Apyah |
| Yiddish | yid | אַפּיאַ | Apia |
| Amharic | amh | አፒያ | Ăpiya |
| Greek (Demotic) | ell | Άπια | Ápia |
| Greek (Katharevousa) | ell | Ἀπία, Ἄπια | Apía, Ápia |
| Armenian | hye | Ապիա | Apia |
| Georgian | kat | აპია | Apia |
| Nepali | nep | एपिया | Epiyā |
| Bengali | ben | আপিয়া | Āpiyā |
| Punjabi | pan | ਅਪੀਆ | Apīā |
| Kannada | kan | ಅಪಿಯ | Apiya |
| Malayalam | mal | അപിയ | Apiya |
| Tamil | tam | அபியா | Apiyā |
| Telugu | tel | ఎపియా | Epiyā |
| Chinese | zho | 阿皮亞/阿皮亚 | Āpíyà |
| Japanese | jpn | アピア | Apia |
| Korean | kor | 아피아 | Apia |
| Thai | tha | อาเพีย, อาปีอา | Āpiya, Āpiyā |
| Khmer | khm | អាពៀ | Āpie |
Greek has two traditions: Demotic Άπια and Katharevousa Ἀπία or Ἄπια. Arabic and Thai each record two spellings.
The eleven districts of Samoa in Samoan and English
Samoa is divided into eleven districts, itūmālō in Samoan, five on Upolu and its small islands and six on Savaiʻi. Each is listed with its Samoan and English name, its capital as given in the list and the ISO 3166-2:WS code; the English column follows the ISO spelling, which writes the glottal stop as an apostrophe.
| ISO 3166-2 | Samoan | English | English | Administrative centre | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Upolu Upolu5 | |||||
| WS-AA | Itūmālō o Aʻana | A’ana District | A'ana | LeulumoegaLeulumoega | |
| WS-AL | Itūmālō o Aiga-i-le-Tai | Aiga-i-le-Tai District | Aiga-i-le-Tai | MulifanuʻaMulifanua | |
| WS-AT | Itūmālō o Atua | Atua District | Atua | LufilufiLufilufi | |
| WS-TU | Itūmālō o Tuamasaga | Tuamasaga District | Tuamasaga | AfegaAfega | |
| WS-VF | Itūmālō o Vaʻa-o-Fonoti | Va’a-o-Fonoti District | Va'a-o-Fonoti | SamameaSamamea | |
| Savaiʻi Savaiʻi6 | |||||
| WS-FA | Itūmālō o Faʻasaleleaga | Fa’asaleleaga District | Fa'asaleleaga | SafotulafaiSafotulafai | |
| WS-GE | Itūmālō o Gagaʻemauga | Gaga’emauga District | Gaga'emauga | SaleʻaulaSaleaula | |
| WS-GI | Itūmālō o Gagaʻifomauga | Gaga’ifomauga District | Gagaifomauga | AʻopoAopo | |
| WS-PA | Itūmālō o Palauli | Palauli District | Palauli | VailoaVailoa | |
| WS-SA | Itūmālō o Satupaʻitea | Satupa’itea District | Satupa'itea | GautavaiGautavai | |
| WS-VS | Itūmālō o Vaisigano | Vaisigano District | Vaisigano | NeiafuNeiafu | |
Codes and ISO names: ISO 3166-2:WS on the ISO Online Browsing Platform, as tabulated in Wikipedia's ISO 3166-2:WS, checked 28 October 2026; the entry has not changed since 1998. Island grouping and the capitals checked against Wikipedia's Districts of Samoa, citing the Samoa Bureau of Statistics; it names Asau for Vaisigano and the village of Satupaʻitea for Satupaʻitea, where the list has Neiafu and Gautavai. ISO writes Gagaifomauga without the glottal stop.
Itūmālō: the districts of Upolu and Savaiʻi
Each district name begins with itūmālō, district, followed by o, of: Itūmālō o Aʻana. The districts were established well before Europeans arrived, and each rests on the traditional order of titles of its chiefs, as Wikipedia's Districts of Samoa notes, citing the Government of Samoa.
Apia lies in Tuamasaga, whose capital in the list is Afega. Aiga-i-le-Tai includes Manono and Apolima, the small islands between Upolu and Savaiʻi, and Gagaʻemauga has two exclaves on Upolu, Salamumu and Leʻauvaʻa.
Questions about the names and districts of Samoa
Why is the ISO code of Samoa WS?
It stands for Western Samoa, the name of the country until 4 July 1997. The codes WS, WSM and 882 were kept after the change to Samoa.
What is Samoa called in Samoan?
Sāmoa, officially Malo Saʻoloto Tutoʻatasi o Sāmoa.
How many districts does Samoa have?
Eleven itūmālō: five on Upolu, including Tuamasaga with Apia, and six on Savaiʻi.