WS — Samoa

Samoa is a Polynesian island nation in the South Pacific, consisting of two main islands (Upolu and Savai'i) and several smaller ones. Apia, on Upolu, is the capital. Samoa was the first Pacific Island nation to gain independence (from New Zealand) in 1962. The Samoan Tālā (WST) is the currency (WS standing for Western Samoa, the former name). For developers, the WS country code and .ws domain are notable — the .ws ccTLD has been marketed as 'WebSite' and gained many international registrations. The +685 dialing code serves Samoa. In 2011, Samoa crossed the International Date Line, moving from UTC-11 to UTC+13 — the entire country skipped December 30, 2011, which never existed there. This is one of the most dramatic real-world timezone changes in modern history. The .ws domain's 'WebSite' marketing has made it commercially successful. Samoa must be distinguished from American Samoa (AS), which has a separate ISO code and different political status.