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Fiji

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Countries; Geography of
Oceania (Australasia)

                       Matanitu Tu-Vaka-i-koya ko Viti
   फ़िजी فِجی
   Republic of the Fiji Islands

   Flag of Fiji Coat of arms of Fiji
   Flag         Coat of arms
   Motto: Rerevaka na Kalou ka Doka na Tui
   (English: Fear God and honour the Queen)
   Anthem: God Bless Fiji
   Location of Fiji
   Capital
   (and largest city)    Suva
                         18°10′S 178°27′E
    Official languages   English, Bau Fijian, and Hindustani (Hindi]]/Urdu)
   Government            Republic
    - President          Ratu Josefa Iloilo
    - Prime Minister     Laisenia Qarase
    - GCC Chairman       Ratu Ovini Bokini
    - Great Chief        Queen Elizabeth II^1
       Independence      from UK
    - Date               10 October 1970
                                    Area
    - Total              18,274 km² ( 155th)
                         7,056 sq mi
    - Water (%)          negligible
                                 Population
    - July 2006 estimate 905,949 ( 156th)
    - Density            46/km² ( 148th)
                         119/sq mi
        GDP ( PPP)       2005 estimate
    - Total              $5.447 billion ( 149th)
    - Per capita         $6,375 ( 93rd)
        HDI  (2006)      0.752 (medium) ( 90th)
         Currency        Fijian dollar ( FJD)
         Time zone       ( UTC+12)
       Internet TLD      .fj
       Calling code      +679
   ^1 recognised by the Great Council of Chiefs.

   Fiji (Fijian: Viti; Hindustānī: फ़िजी فِجی), officially the Republic of
   the Fiji Islands, is an island nation in the South Pacific Ocean, east
   of Vanuatu, west of Tonga and south of Tuvalu. The country occupies an
   archipelago of about 322 islands, of which 106 are permanently
   inhabited; in addition, there are some 522 islets. The two major
   islands, Viti Levu and Vanua Levu, account for some 87% of the total
   population. The name Fiji is the old Tongan word for the islands, which
   is in turn derived from the Fijian name Viti.

History

   Levuka, 1842.
   Enlarge
   Levuka, 1842.

   The first inhabitants of Fiji arrived from South East Asia long before
   contact with European explorers in the 17th century. Evidence shows
   through pottery excavated from Fijian towns that Fiji was settled
   before or around 1000 BC. This academic question of Pacific migration
   still lingers. It is documented that Fiji was visited by the Dutch
   explorer Abel Tasman in an attempt to find the Great Southern Continent
   in 1643. It was not until the 19th century, however, that Europeans
   came to the islands to settle there permanently. The islands came under
   British control as a colony in 1874. It was granted independence in
   1970. Democratic rule was interrupted by two military coups in 1987,
   caused by concern over a government perceived as dominated by the
   Indo-Fijian (Indian) community. A consequence of the second 1987 coup
   was that the British Monarchy and the Governor General were replaced by
   a non-executive President, and the long form of the country's name
   changed from Dominion of Fiji to Republic of Fiji (in turn changed to
   Republic of the Fiji Islands in 1997). The coups contributed to heavy
   Indian emigration; the population loss resulted in economic
   difficulties, but ensured that Melanesians became the majority.

   A 1990 constitution guaranteed ethnic Fijian control of Fiji.
   Amendments enacted in 1997 made the constitution more equitable. Free
   and peaceful elections in 1999 resulted in a government led by an
   Indo-Fijian. A year later, this was deposed in a coup led by George
   Speight, a hardline Fijian nationalist. Fiji's membership of the
   Commonwealth of Nations was suspended due to the anti-democratic
   activities connected with the 2000 coup. Democracy was restored towards
   the end of 2000, and Laisenia Qarase, who had led an interim government
   in the meantime, was elected Prime Minister. Fiji was readmitted to the
   Commonwealth as a Commonwealth Republic in 2001.

   For a country of its size, Fiji has exceptionally capable armed forces,
   and has been a major contributor to UN peacekeeping missions in various
   parts of the world.

Politics

   The Politics of Fiji take place in a framework of a parliamentary
   representative democratic republic, whereby the Prime Minister of Fiji
   is the head of government, and of a pluriform multi-party system.
   Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is
   vested in both the government and the Parliament of Fiji. The Judiciary
   is independent of the executive and the legislature.

Administrative divisions

   Fiji is divided into four parts, called divisions (capitals in
   parentheses):
     * Central Division (Suva)
     * Northern Division ( Labasa)
     * Eastern Division (Levuka)
     * Western Division ( Lautoka)

   These divisions are further subdivided into fourteen provinces.
   Additionally, the island of Rotuma, north of the main archipelago, has
   the status of a dependency. It is officially included in the Eastern
   Division for statistical purposes, but administratively has a degree of
   internal autonomy.

   Municipal governments, with City and Town Councils presided over by
   Mayors, have been established in Suva, Lautoka, and ten other towns.

Geography

   Map of Fiji
   Enlarge
   Map of Fiji

   Fiji consists of 322 islands, of which 110 are inhabited, and 522
   smaller islets. The two most important islands are Viti Levu and Vanua
   Levu. Viti Levu hosts the capital city of Suva, and is home to nearly
   three quarters of the population. The islands are mountainous, with
   peaks up to 1,300 metres (4,250  ft), and covered with tropical
   forests. Other important towns include Nadi (the location of the
   international airport), and Lautoka. The main towns on Vanua Levu are
   Labasa and Savusavu. Other islands and island groups include Taveuni
   and Kadavu (the third and fourth largest islands respectively), the
   Mamanuca Group (just outside Nadi) and Yasawa Group, which are popular
   tourist destinations, the Lomaiviti Group, outside of Suva, and the
   remote Lau Group. Rotuma, some 500 kilometres (310  mi) north of the
   archipelago, has a special administrative status in Fiji.

Economy

   Fiji, endowed with forest, mineral, and fish resources, is one of the
   more developed of the Pacific island economies, though still with a
   large subsistence sector. Fiji experienced a period of rapid growth in
   the 1960s and 70s but stagnated in the early 1980s. The coups of 1987
   caused further contraction. Economic liberalisation in the years
   following the coup created a boom in the garment industry and a steady
   growth rate despite growing uncertainty of land tenure in the sugar
   industry. The expiration of leases for sugar cane farmers (along with
   reduced farm and factory efficiency) has led to a decline in sugar
   production despite a subsidised price. Subsidies for sugar have been
   provided by the EU and Fiji has been the second largest beneficiary
   after Mauritius.

   Urbanization and expansion in the service sector have contributed to
   recent GDP growth. Sugar exports and a rapidly growing tourist industry
   — with 430,800 tourists in 2003 and increasing in the subsequent years
   — are the major sources of foreign exchange. Sugar processing makes up
   one-third of industrial activity. Long-term problems include low
   investment and uncertain property rights. The political turmoil in Fiji
   has had a severe impact on the economy, which shrank by 2.8% in 2000
   and grew by only 1% in 2001. The tourism sector recovered quickly,
   however, with visitor arrivals reaching pre-coup levels again during
   2002, which has since resulted in a modest economic recovery. This
   recovery continued into 2004 but grew by 1.7% in 2005 and is projected
   to grow by 2.0% in 2006. Although inflation is low, the policy
   indicator rate of the Reserve Bank of Fiji was raised by 1% to 3.25% in
   February 2006 due to fears of excessive consumption financed by debt.
   Lower interest rates have so far not produced greater investment for
   exports. However, there has been a housing boom from declining
   commercial mortgage rates.

   Until recently, the tallest building in Fiji was the 14-story Reserve
   Bank of Fiji Building in Suva, which opened in 1984. As of November
   2005, the 17 story Suva Central commercial centre is now the tallest
   building in Fiji.

Demographics

Ethnic groups

   The population of Fiji is mostly made up of native Fijians, a people of
   mixed Polynesian (partly Tongan) and Melanesian ancestry (54.3%), and
   Indo-Fijians (38.1%), descendants of Indian contract labourers brought
   to the islands by the British in the 19th century. The percentage of
   the population of Indian descent has declined significantly over the
   last two decades because of emigration.

   About 1.2% are Rotuman — natives of Rotuma Island, whose culture has
   more in common with countries such as Tonga or Samoa than with the rest
   of Fiji. There are also small, but economically significant, groups of
   Europeans, Chinese and other minorities.

   Relationships between ethnic Fijians and Indo-Fijians have often been
   strained, and the tension between the two communities has dominated
   politics in the islands for the past generation. The level of tension
   varies between different regions of the country.

Languages

   Three official languages are prescribed by the constitution: English,
   which was introduced by the former British colonial rulers, Bau Fijian,
   spoken by ethnic Fijians, and Hindustani, the main language spoken by
   Indo-Fijians. Citizens of Fiji have the constitutional right to
   communicate with any government agency in any of the official
   languages, with an interpreter to be supplied on request.

   The use of English is one of the more enduring legacies of almost a
   century of British rule. Widely spoken by both ethnic Fijians and
   Indo-Fijians, English is the main medium of communication between the
   two communities, as well as with the outside world. It is the language
   in which the government conducts most of its business, and is the main
   language of education, commerce, and the courts.

   Fijian belongs to the Austronesian family of languages. Fijian proper
   is closely related to the Polynesian languages, such as Tongan. There
   are many dialects, but the official standard is the speech of Bau, the
   most politically and militarily powerful of the many indigenous
   kingdoms of the 19th Century.

   "Hindustani" is considered an umbrella term in India for the standard
   languages Hindi (preferred by Hindus) and Urdu (preferred by Muslims),
   as well as many closely related tongues that are sometimes considered
   separate languages. A patois known as Fiji Hindi descends from one of
   the eastern forms of Hindustani, called Awadhi and has synthesized a
   number of North Indian languages and adopted a considerable number of
   loanwords from English and Fijian. It has developed some unique
   features that differentiate it from the Awadhi spoken on the Indian
   subcontinent, although not to the extent of hindering mutual
   understanding. It is spoken by nearly the entire Indo-Fijian community
   regardless of ancestry, except for a few elders.

   In addition to the three official languages, several other languages
   are spoken. On the island of Rotuma, Rotuman is used; this is more
   closely related to the Polynesian languages than to Fijian. Some Fijian
   dialects, especially in the west of the country, differ markedly from
   the official Bau standard, and would be considered separate languages
   if they had a codified grammar or a literary tradition. Among the
   Indo-Fijian community, there a proportion of Gujarati speaking and
   Punjabi speaking communities, and a few older Indo-Fijians still speak
   Telugu and Tamil, with smaller numbers of Bihari, Bengali, and others.

   In the Fijian alphabet, some of the letters have unusual values. For
   one, the "c" is a voiced "th" sound, [ð]. (For example, the name of
   Fiji-born New Zealand rugby player Joe Rokocoko is often
   mis-pronounced. The correct pronunciation is IPA: [rɒkɒˈðɒkɒ].) Another
   difference is that the letters "b" and "d" are always pronounced with a
   nasal before them, [mb, nd], even at the beginning of a word. The "q"
   is pronounced like a "g" with a nasal "ng" before it, [ŋg] as in the
   word "finger", while the "g" is pronounced like the "ng" of the word
   "singer", [ŋ].

Religion

   Religion is one of the faultlines between indigenous Fijians and
   Indo-Fijians, with the former overwhelmingly Christian (99.2% at the
   1996 census), and the latter mostly Hindu (76.7%) and Muslim (15.9%).

   The largest Christian denomination is the Methodist Church of Fiji and
   Rotuma. With 36.2% of the total population (including almost two-thirds
   of ethnic Fijians), its share of the population is higher in Fiji than
   in any other nation. Roman Catholics (8.9%), the Assemblies of God
   (4%), and Seventh-day Adventists (2.9%) are also significant. These and
   other denominations also have small numbers of Indo-Fijian members;
   Christians of all kinds comprise 6.1% of the Indo-Fijian population.
   Much major Roman Catholic missionary activity was conducted through the
   Vicariate Apostolic of Fiji.

   Hindus belong mostly to the Sanatan sect (74.3% of all Hindus) or else
   are unspecified (22%). The small Arya Samaj sect claims the membership
   of some 3.7% of all Hindus in Fiji. Muslims are mostly Sunni (59.7%) or
   unspecified (36.7%), with an Ahmadiya minority (3.6%) regarded as
   heretical by more orthodox Muslims.

   The Sikh religion comprises 0.9% of the Indo-Fijian population, or 0.4%
   of the national population in Fiji. Their ancestors came from the
   Punjab region of India.

Sport

   The national sport of Fiji is considered to be rugby union (see Rugby
   union in Fiji). The national team is quite successful, and have
   competed at four Rugby World Cups, the first being in 1987, which has
   also thus far been their best result, reaching the quarter finals. Fiji
   also compete in the Pacific Tri-Nations and the Pacific Nations Cup.
   The sport is governed by the Fiji Rugby Union who are a member of the
   Pacific Islands Rugby Alliance, and contribute to the Pacific Islanders
   rugby union team. At club level there is the Colonial Cup and the
   Pacific Rugby Cup. The Fiji sevens team are also one of the most
   successful rugby 7s teams in the world.
   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiji"
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   with only minor checks and changes (see www.wikipedia.org for details
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