Fiji is situated in the hub of the South West Pacific. It is made up of about
332 islands which vary in size from 10,000 sq km to tiny islets, a few meters in
circumference. About a hundred of these islands are usually inhabited while most of
the remaining islands, which are sufficiently large in area are used for temporary
residence or for occasional plantation.
Fiji is located between longitudes 174 degrees east and 177 degrees west and
latitudes 15 degrees and 22 degrees south. The 180th meridian apparently passes
through the Fiji Group, but the international date line is adjusted so that the entire
archipelago, together with the neighboring island kingdom of Tonga may
conveniently fall into the same time zone. Fiji occupies a total land area of 18,272 sq
km Viti Levu and Vanua Levu are the two main islands with an area of 10,429 and
5,556 sq km respectively.
Fiji became independent in 1970 as a Dominion within the Commonwealth of
Nations with a constitution based on the “Westminister” model. Following the two
coups constitutional status of the country changed in 1987 when it was declared a
Republic with a President as Head of State. An Interim Government, charged with
restoring economic stability and returning the country to a parliamentary system had
run the country for almost five years. Considerable success has been achieved in
restoring the economy and a new constitution was promulgated in July 1990 and the
General Elections in June 1992 put into Parliament an elected Government.
The latest population census held in 1986 recorded Fiji’s population at
715,375. This was an increase of 127,307 over the 1976 population giving an average
annual population growth rate of 2.0 per cent per annum over the ten years.
There is ethnic diversity in Fiji where two major races, the Fijians (46 per
cent) and the Indians (48.7 per cent) make up 94.7 per cent of the total population
while the remaining 5.3 per cent comprises Europeans, Chinese and other Pacific
Islanders.