Background:
New Zealand occupied the German protectorate of Western Samoa at the outbreak of World War I in 1914. It continued to administer the islands as a mandate and then as a trust territory until 1962, when the islands became the first Polynesian nation to reestablish independence in the 20th century. The country dropped the "Western" from its name in 1997.
Samoa Introduction 2011
https://theodora.com/wfb2011/samoa/samoa_introduction.html
SOURCE: 2011 CIA WORLD FACTBOOK AND OTHER SOURCES
