Fiji (redirected from Sovereign Democratic Republic of Fiji)

Fiji (fē`jē) or Viti (vē`tē), officially Republic of the Fiji Islands, republic made up of a Melanesian island group (2005 est. pop. 893,000), c.7,000 sq mi (18,130 sq km), South Pacific. Suva is the capital.

Land

Fiji comprises c.320 islands, of which some 105 are inhabited. Viti Levu, the largest, constitutes half the land area and is the seat of Suva. The other important islands are Vanua Levu (the second largest), Taveuni, Kadavu, Koro, Gau, and Ovalau. In the group's center is the Koro Sea, east of which is the Lau group. The Yasawa and Mamanuca groups are west of Viti Levu. The larger islands are volcanic and mountainous; the highest peak, Mt. Victoria, or Tomaniivi (4,341 ft/1,323 m), is on Viti Levu, which has the longest river, the Rewa. Fiji's climate is warm and humid. There are dense tropical forests on the windward sides of the islands and grassy plains and clumps of casuarina and pandanus on the leeward sides; mangrove forests are abundant, and hot springs are common in the mountain regions. The chief towns are generally seaports: Suva and Lautoka on Viti Levu; and Levuka, on a small island E of Viti Levu.

Economy

Fiji's fertile soil yields sugarcane, tropical fruits, taro, cotton, pineapples, bananas, wood, and coconuts. Sugar, whose processing accounts for a third of Fiji's industrial production, is the main export. The industry has suffered since the late 1990s because of low world prices, drought, and inefficiencies, and the government is seeking to diversify the island's commercial agriculture. Gold, silver, clothing, copra, and processed fish are also exported. The European Union nations and Australia receive most of its exports. Limestone quarrying is also important. Imports, principally from Australia, New Zealand, and Japan, consist largely of foodstuffs, manufactures, and machinery. Tourism is the major industry. The Univ. of the South Pacific is located at Suva.

People and Government

The Fijians are a dark-skinned people of Melanesian origin and predominate mainly in the western islands; they account for nearly half the population. The indigenous people of the eastern islands are largely Polynesian. Indians, who mainly came from 1879 to 1916 as indentured workers for the British, make up less than half the population (many left after the 1987 coup) and are engaged chiefly in the sugar industry and commerce. There are also small groups of Europeans, Chinese, and Micronesians. The native Fijians are mainly Christian; the Indians are about three quarters Hindu and one quarter Muslim. The official language is Fijian, but English and Hindi are also spoken.

Fiji is governed under the 1990 constitution as amended. The president, who is elected by the Great Council of Chiefs and serves for five years, appoints the prime minister. Parliament consists of a 34-seat senate whose members are appointed, mainly by the president in consultation in part with the Great Council of Chiefs, and a 71-seat house of representatives, whose members are elected to five-year terms. Most house seats are reserved for members fo Fiji's ethnic groups; 25 are subject to open election. Administratively, Fiji is divided into four divisions and the dependency of Rotuma.

History

The Melanesians presumably arrived (with Lapita-styled pottery) in the islands over 3,000 years ago. The first Europeans to visit Fiji were the Dutch navigator Abel Tasman in 1643 and British Capt. James Cook in 1774. In the early 1800s the first European settlement was established at Levuka, which became an important whaling port in the mid-1800s. A Fijian national government, with a tribal chief as king, was established in Levuka in 1871, but in 1874, at the request of Fiji's tribal chiefs, Great Britain annexed the islands. The capital was moved to Suva in 1882. During World War II the islands were an important supply point.

In 1970, Fiji gained independence as a member of the Commonwealth with Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara as prime minister. In 1987, Col. Sitiveni Rabuka led two coups that wrested control of the racially divided nation's government from the ethnic Indians. Fiji was declared a republic; it also was expelled (1987–97) from the Commonwealth. In 1990 a new constitution granted nonurban native Fijians a disproportionate say in the government. Two years later Rabuka became prime minister, and in 1994 Mara was appointed president.

The constitution was amended in 1997 to give nonethnic Fijians a larger voice, and in May, 1999, Labor party leader Mahendra Chaudhry was the first ethnic Indian to become prime minister of Fiji, replacing Rabuka. A May, 2000, coup attempt led by Fijian businessman George Speight took Chaudhry hostage and demanded an end to Indian participation in Fijian politics; the crisis led the army to seek Mara's resignation and briefly take power. The army appointed (July, 2000) an ethnic Fijian–dominated government headed by Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase; Ratu Josefa Iloilo became president. Speight, after releasing his hostages, demanded a strong influence in the new government but was arrested by the army, and his insurgency was quashed. In 2002 he pled guilty to treason and was sentenced to life in prison.

Qarase's government was subsequently ruled illegal by the courts, and Ratu Tevita Momoedonu was appointed prime minister of a caretaker government in Mar., 2001. New parliamentary elections in August–September resulted in a victory for the Fiji United party (SDL), which formed a Fiji-nationalist coalition government with the Conservative Alliance; Qarase again became prime minister. The post-coup period saw many Indo-Fijians forced off leased farms when ethnic Fijian landowners, who control roughly 90% of the land, did not renew leases.

In July, 2003, Qarase's government was ruled unconstitutional because it did not include members of the opposition Labor party. In September the Labor party refused to join the government when Qarase excluded Chaudhry, and the situation remained unresolved until late in 2004 when Chaudhry decided to lead the opposition. Also in 2004, Ratu Jope Seniloli, the vice president, was convicted on charges stemming from his appointment as president by George Speight during the attempted coup in 2000; he subsequently resigned after serving a shortened sentence.

A government proposal in mid-2005 to offer amnesty to persons involved in the coup sparked protests from the opposition and from the army, whose commander threatened to intervene if such a law was passed. The Great Council of Chiefs, however, supported the proposal. Tensions between the government and army continued into 2006. The military chief, Commodore Voreqe "Frank" Bainimarama, was accused in the spring by Qarase's party of illegally campaigning against it, and later in the year Bainimarama called for Qarase's government to drop ethnically divisive legislation or resign. Meanwhile, President Iloilo was reelected in Mar., 2006. Qarase's coalition won the May parliamentary elections, and the Labor party subsequently agreed to participate in the multiparty cabinet, although Chaudry did not accept a post.

In November Qarase agreed to drop the coup amnesty proposal, but relations between the government and military remained tense; the preceding month Qarase had attempted to replace Bainimarama as military chief, but the proposed replacement refused the post. The military ultimately overthrew the government in December, and Bainimarama initially assumed the post of interim president. Opposition from the Council of Chiefs led Bainimarama to restore Iloilo to the presidency in Jan., 2007, but at the same time the president announced that he supported the commodore and Bainimarama became interim prime minister. In April the Bainimarama's government suspended the members of the Great Council of Chiefs because of the lack of cooperation with the government. The move followed the council's refusal to approve the government's choice for vice president.

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Fiji

 officially Republic of Fiji

Country and archipelago, South Pacific Ocean. It lies east of Vanuatu and southwest of Samoa. Area: 7,055 sq mi (18,272 sq km). Population (2005 est.): 846,000. Capital: Suva. The majority of Fijians are of mixed Melanesian-Polynesian ancestry, with a large South Asian minority. Languages: English (official), Fijian. Religions: Christianity (mostly Protestant, also other Christians, Roman Catholic), Hinduism, Islam. Currency: Fiji dollar. Fiji lies 1,300 mi (2,100 km) north of New Zealand and comprises some 540 islets and 300 islands, of which about 100 are inhabited. The main islands are Viti Levu and Vanua Levu. Fiji also includes, since 1881, Rotuma, an island located about 400 mi (640 km) to the northwest. The two large islands are mountainous and volcanic in origin, rising abruptly from densely populated coasts to forested central mountains. The smaller islands are also volcanic, and all are ringed by rocky shoals and coral reefs. The coastal deltas of the principal rivers contain most of the fertile arable land. The climate is tropical oceanic. Fiji has a market economy based largely on agriculture (particularly sugar production), tourism, and light industries; gold and silver are mined. Fiji is a republic with two legislative houses; its chief of state is the president, while the head of government is the prime minister. Archaeological evidence shows that the islands were occupied in the late 2nd millennium BC. The first European sighting was by the Dutch in the 16th century; in 1774 the islands were sighted by Capt. James Cook, and in 1792 Capt. William Bligh explored them. Traders and the first missionaries arrived in 1835, and European settlers began arriving in the 1860s. In 1874 Fiji was proclaimed a crown colony. It became independent as a member of the Commonwealth in 1970 and was declared a republic in 1987 following a military coup. Elections in 1992 restored civilian rule. A new constitution was approved in 1997.

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Fiji

The code name for Windows Media Center TV Pack 2008. See Media Center TV Pack.

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Fiji

1. an independent republic, consisting of 844 islands (chiefly Viti Levu and Vanua Levu) in the SW Pacific: a British colony (1874--1970); a member of the Commonwealth (1970--87 and from 1997); the large islands are of volcanic origin, surrounded by coral reefs; smaller ones are of coral. Official language: English. Religion: Christian and Hindu. Currency: dollar. Capital: Suva. Pop.: 847 000 (2004 est.). Area: 18 272 sq. km (7055 sq. miles)

2. another word for Fijian