Where the whalers went; an index to the Pacific ports and islands visited by American whalers (and some other ships) in the 19th century, Canberra, Pacific Manuscripts Bureau, 1984, p.26. In September 2009, Fiji was removed from the Commonwealth of Nations because this act failed to put the country on track to forming a democracy. Over the next 30 years, Apolosi was re-arrested, jailed and exiled, with the British viewing him as a threat right up to his death in 1946.[80]. Humans have lived in Fiji since the second millennium BC—first Austronesians and later Melanesians, with some Polynesian influences. Calculate Distance. To the north lies the Polynesian island of Tuvalu. An armed force of 87 men shelled and burnt the village of Deoka, and a skirmish ensued which resulted in the deaths of over 40 Wainimala. In April 2009, the Fiji Court of Appeal overturned the High Court decision that Commander Bainimarama's takeover of Qarase's government was lawful and declared the interim government to be illegal. Gordon was immediately faced with an insurgency of the Qalimari and Kai Colo people. Aspects of Fijian culture are similar to the Melanesian culture of the western Pacific but have a stronger connection to the older Polynesian cultures. Some geothermal activity still occurs today on the islands of Vanua Levu and Taveuni. A further 8 seats were reserved for "General electors" – Europeans, Chinese, Banaban Islanders, and other minorities; 3 of these were "communal" and 5 "national". Omissions? [125] Government investment in research and development tends to favour agriculture. Fact Check: What Power Does the President Really Have Over State Governors? [75], By the end of October 1876, the "Little War" was over, and Gordon had succeeded in vanquishing the rebels in the interior of Viti Levu. Fiji's gold mining industry is based in Vatukoula. In the years that followed, Ratu Sir Lala Sukuna, as he was later known, established himself as the most powerful chief in Fiji and forged embryonic institutions for what would later become the modern Fijian nation. [136] The Methodist Church, to which a large majority of indigenous Fijians belong, also reacted strongly to the proposal, stating that allowing any Fiji citizen to call themselves "Fijian" would be "daylight robbery" inflicted on the indigenous population.[137]. Fiji's main airline is Fiji Airways.[122]. It is near Australia and New Zealand in the Pacific Ocean. [110] Fiji has a significant number of soft coral reefs, and scuba diving is a common tourist activity. The first was conducted by Gordon's second cousin, Arthur John Lewis Gordon, against the Qalimari insurgents along the Sigatoka River. Gordon adopted the chiefly titles Roko and Buli to describe these deputies and established a Great Council of Chiefs which was directly subject to his authority as Supreme Chief. It has the 26th largest Exclusive Economic Zone of 1,282,978 km2. Culturally conservative Rotuma with its 2,000 people on 44 km2 (17 sq mi) geographically belongs to Polynesia, and enjoys relative autonomy as a Fijian dependency. Ethnic Fijians make up 57% of Fiji's population while Indo-Fijians make up 37%. He gave Qarase an ultimatum date of 4 December to accede to these demands or to resign from his post. [38][circular reference]. Robert S. Swanston, the minister for Native Affairs in the Kingdom, organised the training and arming of suitable Fijian volunteers and prisoners to become soldiers in what was invariably called the King's Troops or the Native Regiment. Higher education is offered at technical institutes and is structured around two-year diploma programs. The membership of other ethnic groups is about 4.5%. Politics in Fiji normally take place in the framework of a parliamentary representative democratic republic wherein the Prime Minister of Fiji is the head of government and the President the Head of State, and of a multi-party system. Government expenditure on health research has remained fairly constant, at about 5% of total government research spending, according to the Fijian National Bureau of Statistics. Realizing that they had no choice, Fiji's chiefs decided to negotiate for the best deal they could get. They called their home Viti, but the Tongans called it Fisi, and it was by this foreign pronunciation, Fiji, first promulgated by Captain James Cook, that these islands are now known. [55] Likewise, in the east of the island on the upper reaches of the Rewa River, villages were burnt, and many Kai Colo were shot by the vigilante settler squad called the Rewa Rifles.[56]. Fiji has a high literacy rate (91.6 percent), and although there is no compulsory education, more than 85 percent of the children between the ages of 6 to 13 attend primary school. Between 1879 and 1916, tens of thousands of Indians moved to Fiji to work as indentured labourers, especially on sugarcane plantations. The percentage of the population of Indo-Fijian descent has declined significantly over the last two decades through migration for various reasons. The regiment was attached to New Zealand and Australian army units during the war. The second campaign was led by Louis Knollys against the Kai Colo in the mountains to the north of the river. Schooling is free and provided by both public and church-run schools. The population of Fiji is mostly made up of native Fijians, who are Melanesians (54.3%), although many also have Polynesian ancestry, and Indo-Fijians (38.1%), descendants of Indian contract labourers brought to the islands by the British colonial powers in the 19th century. The solution was to form an army. At the club level there are the Skipper Cup and Farebrother Trophy Challenge. Cakobau's influence, however, began to wane, and his heavy imposition of taxes on other Fijian chiefs, who saw him at best as first among equals, caused them to defect from him. Savage was permitted to take wives and establish himself in a high rank in Bau society in exchange for helping defeat local adversaries. The primary water source for Fiji is the Pacific Ocean, which is accessible from every shore along the coasts of the island. Winds are moderate, though cyclones occur about once annually (10–12 times per decade). [92] The PER had been put in place in April 2009 when the former constitution was abrogated. The primary school system consists of eight years of schooling and is attended by children from the ages of 6 to 14 years. [131] 3,000 people or 0.3% of the people living in Fiji are from Australia. Rainfall is variable, with the warm season experiencing heavier rainfall, especially inland. In 2016, they won Fiji's first ever Olympic medal in the Rugby sevens at the Summer Olympics, winning gold by defeating Great Britain 43–7 in the final.[154]. [53], With the rapid increase in white settlers into the country, the desire for land acquisition also intensified. [43] Christianised Fijians, in addition to forsaking their spiritual beliefs, were pressured into cutting their hair short, adopting the sulu form of dress from Tonga, and fundamentally changing their marriage and funeral traditions. The life expectancy in Fiji was 72.1 years. Executive power is exercised by the government, legislative power is vested in both the government and the Parliament of Fiji, and the judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature. One was travel at their own expense and the other free of charge but subject to certain conditions. Airports Fiji Limited (AFL) is responsible for the operation of 15 public airports in the Fiji Islands. While most people have a general understanding of where Fiji is located on a map, pinpointing the specific location might prove to be a challenge. Fiji Location Map About Map - Where is Fiji located on the world map? Some of the Europeans who came to Fiji in this period were accepted by the locals and were allowed to stay as residents. Bainimarama handed down a list of demands to Qarase after a bill was put forward to parliament, part of which would have offered pardons to participants in the 2000 coup attempt. Total Area of Fiji It is part of the Ring of Fire, the string of volcanoes around the boundary of the Pacific Ocean.[3]. The main airport in the second largest island of Vanua Levu is Labasa Airport[121] located at Waiqele, southwest of Labasa Town. The national football team defeated New Zealand 2–0 in the 2008 OFC Nations Cup,[157] on their way to a joint-record third-place finish. How far is it to Fiji? The antipodes of Fiji are in eastern Mali, around the northernmost bend of the Niger River. There had also been a military coup in 1987. Gordon also constructed a military fortress, Fort Canarvon, at the headwaters of the Sigatoka River where a large contingent of soldiers were based to maintain British control. [113] Honeymoons are very popular as are romantic getaways in general. [111] There are bus stops, and in rural areas buses are often simply hailed as they approach. The level of political tension varies among different regions of the country. The action was taken because Bainimarama failed to hold elections by 2010 as the Commonwealth of Nations had demanded after the 2006 coup. On 2 May 2009, Fiji became the first nation ever to have been suspended from participation in the Pacific Islands Forum, for its failure to hold democratic elections by the date promised. With 34.6%[5] of the population (including almost two-thirds of ethnic Fijians), the proportion of the population adhering to Methodism is higher in Fiji than in any other nation. The situation intensified further in early 1873 when the Burns family was killed by a Kai Colo raid in the Ba River area. There are also small but economically significant groups of Europeans, Chinese, and other Pacific island minorities. However, the military, especially the nation's top military commander, Frank Bainimarama, strongly opposed this bill. However, the current constitution refers to all Fijian citizens as "Fijians". In 1998, Fiji adopted a new constitution that specified that its government would be run by a multiracial cabinet. An official account of the emergence of the name states: Fijians first impressed themselves on European consciousness through the writings of the members of the expeditions of Cook who met them in Tonga. Since the programme's inception in 2013, EPIC has also developed a master's programme in renewable energy management for the University of Fiji.[125]. Two outlying regions are Rotuma, 400 km (250 mi) to the north, and the uninhabited coral atoll and cay Ceva-i-Ra or Conway Reef, 450 km (280 mi) to the southwest of main Fiji. When you divide the population by the total area, your result is the population density in terms of people per square mile. It was replaced in 2012 with the new "Bole" (pronounced mBolay) war cry. They are: Fiji was divided into three confederacies or governments during the reign of Seru Epenisa Cakobau, though these are not considered political divisions, they are still considered important in the social divisions of the indigenous Fijians: Endowed with forest, mineral, and fish resources, Fiji is one of the most developed of the Pacific island economies, though still with a large subsistence sector. Cotton cultivation was potentially an extremely profitable business. [57] The formation of this force did not sit well with many of the white plantation owners as they did not trust an army of Fijians to protect their interests.