Samoa

     SAMOA

A. THE COUNTRY

Independent State of Samoa is a country governing the western part of
the Samoan Islands in the South Pacific Ocean.  The two main large
volcanic islands, Savai’i and Upolu, and seven small islands are covered
by lush tropical rainforest.  Government is a parliamentary republic.
The 2009 earthquake and tsunami caused deaths, destroyed several
villages and damaged much infrastructure.  Limited and decreasing
resources and a communal land system strain the economy.  There is a
move away from agriculture toward a service economy focused on tourism.

B. THE PEOPLE

The population is ~179,000 and official languages Samoan and English.
~99% are Indigenous Polynesian, ~1% Other (Polynesian, European,
Chinese).  Over 200,000 Samoans live in American Samoa, U.S.A.,
New Zealand and Australia.

C. RELIGIONS AND CHRISTIANITY/PENTECOSTALISM

~96.6% claim to be Christian, ~1.9% Baha’i, ~1.5% Non-religious.
In the Christian category:
~57.53% are Protestant, ~18.72% Catholic, ~4.55% Independent, ~0.21%
Anglican.
Evangelicals represent ~18% of the population.
Charismatics represent ~13.8% and of those ~12.4% are Pentecostals.
Mormonism is growing quickly, and has ~32,500 affiliates. 

Donna Siemens

References:

http://en.wikipedia.org

Operation World, Jason Mandryk. Colorado Springs: Biblica Publishing, 2010.