Profile
Background and figures as recorded in the CIA World Factbook.
Austronesians settled Fiji around 1000 B.C., followed by successive waves of Melanesians starting around the first century A.D. Fijians traded with Polynesian groups in Samoa and Tonga, and by about 900, much of Fiji was in the Tu’i Tongan Empire’s sphere of influence. The Tongan influence declined significantly by 1200, while Melanesian seafarers continued to periodically arrive in Fiji, further mixing Melanesian and Polynesian cultural traditions. The first European spotted Fiji in 1643 and by the 1800s, European merchants, missionaries, traders, and whalers frequented the islands.
- Capital
- Suva (on Viti Levu)
- Government
- parliamentary republic
- Population
- 951,611
- Area
- 18,274 sq km
- Location
- Oceania, island group in the South Pacific Ocean, about two-thirds of the way from Hawaii to New Zealand
- Climate
- tropical marine; only slight seasonal temperature variation
- Natural resources
- timber; fish; gold; copper; offshore oil potential; hydropower
- Languages
- English (official); iTaukei (official); Fiji Hindi (official)
- Religions
- Protestant 45% (Methodist 34.6%; Assembly of God 5.7%; Seventh Day Adventist 3.9%; and Anglican 0.8%)…
- Independence
- 10 October 1970 (from the UK)
- Administrative divisions
- 14 provinces and 1 dependency*; Ba, Bua, Cakaudrove, Kadavu, Lau, Lomaiviti, Macuata, Nadroga and Navosa, Naitasiri, Nam…
- Currency
- Fijian dollars (FJD)
- Export partners
- USA 32%; Australia 12%; Tonga 6%; NZ 6%…
- Import partners
- Singapore 25%; China 16%; Australia 15%; NZ 14%…
Source: CIA World Factbook — a work of the US government, in the public domain