'''Samoa''' (), officially the '''Independent State of''' '''Samoa''' (; , ) and until 1997 known as '''Western Samoa''', is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu), two smaller, inhabited islands (Manono and Apolima), and several smaller, uninhabited islands, including the Aleipata Islands (Nu'utele, Nu'ulua, Fanuatapu and Namua). Samoa is located 64 kilometres west of American Samoa, 889 kilometres northeast of Tonga (closest foreign country), 1,152 kilometres northeast of Fiji, 483 kilometres east of Wallis and Futuna, 1,151 kilometres southeast of Tuvalu, 519 kilometres south of Tokelau, 4,190 kilometres southwest of Hawaii and 610 kilometres northwest of Niue. The capital city is Apia. The Lapita people discovered and settled the Samoan Islands around 3,500 years ago. They developed a Samoan language and Samoan cultural identity.