Fiji

Fiji << FEE jee >> is a country in the South Pacific Ocean. It is made up of about 330 islands and about 500 more tiny atolls, islets, and reefs. The island of Viti Levu (Big Fiji) covers about half of Fiji’s area, and Vanua Levu (Big Land) about a third. Many of Fiji’s other islands are merely piles of sand on coral reefs. Suva is the capital and one of the largest cities. The country’s official name is Republic of Fiji.

More than half of Fiji’s people are native Fijians of chiefly Melanesian descent. About one-third are descendants of laborers imported from India. The remainder—Fiji’s so-called “general” population group—have Chinese, European, Micronesian, or Polynesian ancestry. Fiji became independent in 1970 after being a British crown colony since 1874.

Government.

In 2006, Fiji’s military chief seized control of the government. He became interim prime minister and in 2009 suspended the Constitution. In 2013, he passed a new Constitution to serve as a road map for a return to democracy. Under the new Constitution, voters elect the members of a Parliament to serve four-year terms. The leader of the party with the most seats in Parliament typically becomes prime minister. The prime minister heads the elected government. Parliament appoints a president to a three-year term as head of state.

People.

Many Fijians live in rural areas. Native Fijians follow such traditional customs as the ceremonial drinking of kava, a beverage made from the roots of the kava plant. Kava is called yaqona in Fiji. The men wear skirts called sulus, and the women wear cotton dresses. On ceremonial occasions, the women may wear grass skirts. Most native Fijians are Christians.

Most of the Indians are descendants of about 60,000 laborers brought from India between 1879 and 1916 to work on Fiji’s sugar plantations. Many Indians still work in the cane fields, but others have become prosperous shopkeepers or business people. Indians control much of Fiji’s business and industry. The Indian women wear the sari, the traditional dress of India. Most of the Indians are Muslims or Hindus.

Fijians speak three main languages: English, Fijian, and Hindustani, the spoken form of Hindi. English is used in the schools. The vast majority of children from ages 6 to 17 attend school. Most Fijian and Indian youngsters attend separate schools. The University of the South Pacific, Fiji’s only university, serves students from Fiji and other South Pacific islands. The university’s main campus is in Suva.

Land.

Most of the Fiji islands were formed by volcanoes. Coral reefs surround nearly all the islands. The larger islands have high volcanic peaks, rolling hills, rivers, and grasslands. Tropical rain forests cover more than half the total area of Fiji. The islands also have fertile coastal plains and river valleys.

Cool winds make Fiji’s tropical climate relatively comfortable. Temperatures range from about 60 °F (16 °C) to 90 °F (32 °C). Heavy rains and tropical storms occur frequently between November and April.

Economy.

Agriculture is important to Fiji’s economy. Fijians raise cattle and chickens and grow such crops as coconuts and sugar cane. Gold is the country’s chief mineral. Tourism is a major economic activity, and it employs many islanders. Fiji imports more than it exports. The country imports food, machinery, motor vehicles, and petroleum products. It exports clothing, fish, and sugar. Manufactured products include clothing and food and beverages.

Fiji has been called the “crossroads of the South Pacific.” The airport at Nadi, on Viti Levu, is a busy terminal for planes flying the Pacific. Fiji also lies on major shipping routes and has several excellent harbors.

History.

Melanesians migrated to Fiji thousands of years ago, probably from Indonesia. A small group of Polynesians settled there during the A.D. 100’s. In 1643, Abel Tasman, a Dutch navigator, became the first European to see Fiji (see Tasman, Abel Janszoon). Captain James Cook, a British explorer, visited Vatoa, one of the southern islands, in 1774. During the 1800’s, traders, Methodist missionaries, and escaped Australian convicts came to visit or settle there.

Various Fijian tribes fought one another until 1871, when a chief named Cakobau extended his influence over much of Fiji. With the help of King George Tupou I of nearby Tonga, Cakobau was able to bring peace to Fiji. To protect the country from outside interference, Cakobau asked the United Kingdom to make Fiji a crown colony. The United Kingdom did so on Oct. 10, 1874. Fiji remained a colony until, at its own request, it became an independent nation on Oct. 10, 1970, with Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara serving as prime minister (see Mara, Ratu Sir Kamisese). Since independence, Fiji’s government has encouraged tourism and the development of manufacturing and forestry. The government has also promoted the production of new crops to reduce Fiji’s dependence on sugar cane and coconuts.

Ethnic Fijians traditionally have held the most political power in Fiji. In April 1987, an Indian-backed coalition won a majority in Parliament. The coalition leader, Timoci Bavadra, a Fijian, replaced Mara as prime minister. Bavadra appointed a multiracially balanced Cabinet.

Many Fijians resented Bavadra’s action because they wanted to keep political power only in Fijian hands. Military officers led by Colonel Sitiveni Rabuka overthrew Bavadra and declared the right of Fijians to govern the nation. In December 1987, Rabuka returned Fiji to civilian rule. In 1990, Fiji adopted a Constitution designed to ensure that political power remained with the Fijians. But in 1997, the Constitution was amended to grant political power to all races. In 1999, Mahendra Chaudhry became Fiji’s first prime minister of Indian descent.

In May 2000, failed businessman George Speight sparked a government crisis after he and a group of rebels stormed Parliament, seized Chaudhry and most members of the Cabinet, and held them hostage. Speight and the rebels claimed to represent the interests of native Fijians. The Fijian military took charge of the government and revoked the 1997 Constitution. In mid-July, the hostages were released, and Laisenia Qarase, an ethnic Fijian, was named prime minister. In late July, the Fijian military arrested Speight and more than 350 of his supporters. In August, Speight and a number of his key advisers were charged with treason. In November, Fiji’s High Court ruled that the 1997 Constitution was still in force, and the Fiji Court of Appeal later upheld this ruling. A new interim government was established in March 2001, with Qarase as prime minister.

In August, parliamentary elections were held under the 1997 Constitution. Qarase’s party, dominated by ethnic Fijians, won the largest number of seats, and he remained as prime minister. He appointed a Cabinet that excluded Chaudhry’s party, which was dominated by ethnic Indians. In 2002, however, Fijian courts ruled that Chaudhry’s party had to be included in the Cabinet. In February 2002, Speight, the leader of the May 2000 rebellion, was found guilty of treason by Fiji’s High Court. He received a sentence of life imprisonment.

In 2006, Qarase’s party was reelected for a second five-year term, and Qarase remained prime minister. However, in December of that year, Frank Bainimarama, Fiji’s military chief, seized control of the government. He accused Qarase of corruption and of not dealing effectively with the leaders of the 2000 rebellion. In January 2007, Bainimarama restored power to the president, who swore in Bainimarama as interim prime minister. Bainimarama repeatedly refused international pressure to set a date for new elections. The Pacific Islands Forum, an organization that promotes cooperation between Pacific nations, suspended Fiji’s membership in May 2009 after Bainimarama refused to commit to holding elections that year. The Commonwealth of Nations, an association of independent countries and other political units, most of which have lived under British rule, suspended Fiji’s membership in September after Bainimarama refused to commit to elections in 2010.

Bainimarama eventually agreed to a “road map” to democracy. An independent commission created a draft constitution based on suggestions received from the Fijian public. The commission presented the draft to the government, and it was intended to be reviewed by an expert panel. However, Bainimarama rejected the draft constitution, canceled the expert panel, and replaced the draft constitution with a new one drawn up by his government. Bainimarama passed the new constitution, and it went into effect in September 2013. Bainimarama’s FijiFirst party won the most seats in parliamentary elections held in September 2014, and Bainimarama officially became prime minister. He remained prime minister after elections in November 2018. Following elections in 2022, Sitiveni Rabuka of the People’s Alliance party succeeded Bainimarama as Fiji’s prime minister. Rabuka had led military officers in overthrowing Fiji’s government in 1987.