Vailima is the name of a village about four kilometers south of Apia, the capital of Samoa

Samoa

Samoa , officially the Independent State of Samoa, formerly known as Western Samoa is a country encompassing the western part of the Samoan Islands in the South Pacific Ocean. It became independent from New Zealand in 1962. The two main islands of Samoa are Upolu and one of the biggest islands in...

. The population is 1,462 (2006 census). Vailima is part of the electoral political district Tuamasaga

Tuamasaga

Tuamasaga is a district of Samoa, with a population of 83,191. The geographic area of Tuamasaga covers the central part of Upolu island....

.

The village is most known as the location of the last residence of Robert Louis Stevenson

Robert Louis Stevenson

Robert Louis Balfour Stevenson was a Scottish novelist, poet, essayist and travel writer. His best-known books include Treasure Island, Kidnapped, and Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde....

, named 'Villa Vailima'. The estate has had a varied past with it functioning further as the residence for the governor of German Samoa

German Samoa

German Samoa was a German protectorate from 1900 to 1914, consisting of the islands of Upolu, Savai'i, Apolima and Manono, now wholly within the independent state Samoa, formerly Western Samoa...

, the administrator of the New Zealand mandatory authority and the Samoan head of state. It is now a museum in honour of Stevenson and has been substantially restored.

The name Vailima means "water in the hand", according to an old Samoan tale. A woman gave some water (vai) in her hand (lima) to help her thirsty companion. A widely quoted misinterpretation states that the name means "five waters", as the word "lima" means both 'hand' and "five" in Samoan.

Stevenson is buried in a tomb on Mount Vaea

Mount Vaea

Mount Vaea is a 472m summit overlooking Apia, the capital of Samoa located on the north central coast of Upolu island. The mountain is situated south about 3 km inland from Apia township and harbour...

overlooking Vailima. He had two wishes for his burial, to be buried on the top of Mt Vaea and to be buried with his boots on as he used those boots to walk on the Samoan lands.

Vailima is also the name of the pingpong balls made by the only pingpong factory in Samoa.