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Fiji officially the Republic of the Fiji Islands is an island nation in Melanesia in the South Pacific Ocean about 2000 km northeast of New Zealand’s North Island. Its more immediate neighbors are Vanuatu to the west, France’s New Caledonia to the southwest, New Zealand’s Kermadec to the southeast, Tonga to the east, the Samoas and France’s Wallis and Futuna to the northeast and Tuvalu to the north.
Fiji’s Exclusive Economic Zone contains approximately 330 islands, of which about one third are inhabited. It covers about 1.3 million square kilometers of the South Pacific Ocean.
Fiji’s total land area is 18,333 square kilometers. There are two major islands – Viti Levu is 10,429 square kilometers and Vanua Levu 5,556 square kilometers. The four largest islands, Viti Levu, Vanua Levu, Taveuni and Kadavu are surrounded by coral reefs and have mountains located in the central region of each islanded which cover a large portion of the land mass.
General Information:
Capital: Suva
Coordinates: 18°10′S 178°27′E
Official language: English, Bau Fijian, Hindi
Population: 849,000
Currency: Fijian dollar (FJD)
Time zone: (UTC+12)
Drives on the left
Calling code: 679
History:
According to Fijian legend, the great chief Lutunasobasoba led his people across the seas to the new land of Fiji. Most authorities agree that people came into the Pacific from Southeast Asia via the Malay Peninsula. Here the Melanesians and the Polynesians mixed to create a highly developed society long before the arrival of the Europeans.
The Europeans that first arrived in Fiji include shipwrecked sailors, Australian escapees, traders, planters and of course the missionaries who arrived around 1830.
Fiji gained independence from Britain on October 10, 1970, after nearly a century as a British colony. The country is a democratically governed republic with a legal system based on British law. It became a republic in 1987 and continues to be a member of the Commonwealth. The country is also an active member of the international community.
On a per-capita basis, Fiji contributes more troops to United Nations peacekeeping missions than any other country. It’s sent military forces to Kosovo, East Timor and Sinai as well as observer missions to Kuwait and Papua New Guinea.
Climate:
The climate in Fiji is tropical marine and so warm most of the year round with minimal extremes. The warm season is from November till April and the cooler season May to October. Temperature in the cool season still averages 22 °C. Humidity tends to be higher in the south and east and much less in the west and north. The rainy season, from November to April coincides with the hot and humid months and the cooler months are from May to October. Cyclones occur about once a year (10–12 times per decade).
Religion:
A multi-racial, multi-cultural nation, Fiji is represented by all the major religions of the world. This is quickly obvious to the visitor who will see Christian churches, Mosques, Sikh and Hindu temples in towns and the countryside. More than half of Fiji’s population are Christians (52.9%), Hindus (38.1%), Muslim (7.8%), Sikhs (0.7%), others (0.5%).
Culture:
Fiji’s culture is a rich mosaic of indigenous, Indian, Chinese and European traditions, comprising social polity, language, food (based mainly from the sea, casava, dalo & other vegetables), costume, belief systems, architecture, arts, craft, music, dance and sports.
The original inhabitants are now called "Lapita people" after a distinctive type of fine pottery they produced, remnants of which have been found in practically all the islands of the Pacific, east of New Guinea, though not in eastern Polynesia. Linguistic evidence suggests that they came from northern or central Vanuatu, or possibly the eastern Solomon’s.
Language:
English is the lingua franca, but Fijian and Hindi are also taught in schools as part of the school curriculum. Indigenous Fijians have their own dialects and you can tell where one comes from, from their dialect. Indians too have their own, and generally speak a distinctive Fiji-Hindi dialect. This is not the same as the one spoken in India.
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