Map of Fiji | Geography | People | Government | Economy | Energy | Communication
Military | Transportation | Transnational Issues | Year: Guide1989199019911992199319941995199619971998199920002001200220032004200520062007200820092010201120122013201420152016201720182019202020212022202320242025 | More stats

top of page


Background: Fiji became independent in 1970 after nearly a century as a British colony. Democratic rule was interrupted by two military coups in 1987 caused by concern over a government perceived as dominated by the Indian community (descendants of contract laborers brought to the islands by the British in the 19th century). A 1990 constitution favored native Melanesian control of Fiji but led to heavy Indian emigration; the population loss resulted in economic difficulties but ensured that Melanesians became the majority. Amendments enacted in 1994 made the constitution more equitable. Free and peaceful elections in 1994 resulted in a government led by an Indo-Fijian. Fiji has been a major contributor to UN peacekeeping missions in various parts of the world.


top of page


Location: Oceania, Melanesia, 2,500 km north of New Zealand in the South Pacific Ocean

Geographic coordinates

Map reference: Oceania, Standard Time Zones of the World

Area
Total area total: 18,270 km²
Land: 18,270 km²

Land boundaries: 0 km

Coastline: 1,129 km

Maritime claims: measured from claimed archipelagic baselines
Continental shelf: 200-m depth or to depth of exploitation; rectilinear shelf claim added
Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
Territorial sea: 12 nm

Climate: tropical marine; only slight seasonal temperature variation

Terrain: mostly mountains of volcanic origin

Elevation

Natural resources: timber, fish, gold, copper, offshore oil potential

Land use
Arable land: 8%
Permanent crops: 5%
Meadows and pastures: 3%
Forest and woodland: 65%
Other: 19%

Irrigated land: 10 km² (1989 est.)

Major rivers

Major watersheds area km²

Total water withdrawal

Total renewable water resources

Natural hazards: cyclonic storms can occur from November to January

Geography
Note: includes 332 islands of which approximately 110 are inhabited


top of page


Population: 764,382 (July 1994 est.)
Growth rate: 1.05% (1994 est.)

Nationality: noun:Fijian(s)

Ethnic groups: Fijian 49%, Indian 46%, European, other Pacific Islanders, overseas Chinese, and other 5%

Languages: English (official), Fijian, Hindustani

Religions: Christian 52% (Methodist 37%, Roman Catholic 9%), Hindu 38%, Muslim 8%, other 2%
Note: Fijians are mainly Christian, Indians are Hindu, and there is a Muslim minority (1986)

Demographic profile

Age structure

Dependency ratios

Median age

Population growth rate: 1.05% (1994 est.)

Birth rate: 24.18 births/1000 population (1994 est.)

Death rate: 6.5 deaths/1000 population (1994 est.)

Net migration rate: -7.15 migrant(s)/1000 population (1994 est.)

Population distribution

Urbanization

Major urban areas

Environment
Current issues: deforestation; soil erosion

Air pollutants

Sex ratio

Mothers mean age at first birth

Maternal mortality ratio

Infant mortality rate: 18.1 deaths/1000 live births (1994 est.)

Life expectancy at birth
Total population: 65.14 years
Male: 62.88 years
Female: 67.51 years (1994 est.)

Total fertility rate: 2.92 children born/woman (1994 est.)

Contraceptive prevalence rate

Drinking water source

Current health expenditure

Physicians density

Hospital bed density

Sanitation facility access

Hiv/Aids

Major infectious diseases

Obesity adult prevalence rate

Alcohol consumption

Tobacco use

Children under the age of 5 years underweight

Education expenditures

Literacy: age 15 and over can read and write (1985 est.)
Total population: 86%
Male: 90%
Female: 81%

School life expectancy primary to tertiary education

Youth unemployment


top of page


Country name
Conventional long form:

Government type: republic
Note: military coup leader Maj. Gen. Sitiveni RABUKA formally declared Fiji a republic on 6 October 1987

Capital: Suva

Administrative divisions: 4 divisions and 1 dependency*; Central, Eastern, Northern, Rotuma*, Western

Dependent areas

Independence: 10 October 1970 (from UK)

National holiday: Independence Day, 10 October (1970)

Constitution: 10 October 1970 (suspended 1 October 1987; a new Constitution was proposed on 23 September 1988 and promulgated on 25 July 1990; the 1990 Constitution is under review; the review will be complete by 1997

Legal system: based on British system

International law organization participation

Citizenship

Suffrage: none

Executive branch
Chief of state: President Ratu Sir Kamisese MARA (since 12 January 1994); First Vice President Ratu Sir Josaia TAIVAIQIA (since 12 January 1994); Second Vice President Ratu Inoke TAKIVEIKATA (since 12 January 1994); note - President GANILAU died on 15 December 1993 and Vice President MARA became acting president; MARA was elected president by the Great Council of Chiefs on 12 January 1994
Head of government: Prime Minister Sitiveni RABUKA (since 2 June 1992)
Presidential Council: appointed by the governor general
Great Council of Chiefs: (highest ranking members of the traditional chiefly system)

Legislative branch: Republic of Fiji Military Forces (RFMF; including a naval division, police)
Senate: nonelective body containing 34 seats, 24 reserved for Melanesians, 9 for Indians and others, 1 for the island of Rotuma
House of Representatives: elections last held 18-25 February 1994 (next to be held NA 1997); results - percent of vote by party NA; seats - (70 total, with ethnic Fijians allocated 37 seats, ethnic Indians 27 seats, and independents and other 6 seats) number of seats by party SVT 31, NFP 20, FLP 7, FA 5, GVP 4, independents 2, ANC 1

Judicial branch: Supreme Court

Political parties and leaders

International organization participation: ACP, AsDB, CP, ESCAP, FAO, G-77, GATT, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, IDA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, ITU, LORCS, PCA, SPARTECA, SPC, SPF, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNIFIL, UNIKOM, UNOMUR, UNTAC, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO

Diplomatic representation
From the us chief of mission: (vacant); Charge d'Affaires William ROPE
From the us chancery: Suite 240, 2,233 Wisconsin Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20,007
From the us telephone: [679] 314-466
From the us fax: (202) 337-1996
From the us consulates: New York
From the us embassy: 31 Loftus Street, Suva
From the us mailing address: P. O. Box 218, Suva
From the us FAX: [679] 300-081

Flag description: light blue with the flag of the UK in the upper hoist-side quadrant and the Fijian shield centered on the outer half of the flag; the shield depicts a yellow lion above a white field quartered by the cross of Saint George featuring stalks of sugarcane, a palm tree, bananas, and a white dove

National symbols

National anthem

National heritage


top of page


Economy overview: Fiji's economy is primarily agricultural, with a large subsistence sector. Sugar exports and tourism are the major sources of foreign exchange. Industry contributes 13% to GDP, with sugar processing accounting for one-third of industrial activity. Roughly 250,000 tourists visit each year. Political uncertainty and drought, however, contribute to substantial fluctuations in earnings from tourism and sugar. In 1992, growth was approximately 3%, based on growth in tourism and a lessening of labor-management disputes in the sugar and gold-mining sectors. In 1993, the government's budgeted growth rate of 3% was not achieved because of a decline in non-sugar agricultural output and damage from Cyclone Kina.

Real gdp purchasing power parity

Real gdp growth rate: 1% (1993 est.)

Real gdp per capita: $4,000 (1993 est.)

Gross national saving

Gdp composition by end use

Gdp composition by sector of origin

Agriculture products: accounts for 23% of GDP; principal cash crop is sugarcane; coconuts, cassava, rice, sweet potatoes, bananas; small livestock sector includes cattle, pigs, horses, and goats; fish catch nearly 33,000 tons (1989)

Industries: sugar, tourism, copra, gold, silver, clothing, lumber, small cottage industries

Industrial production growth rate: 7.5% (1992 est.), accounts for 13% of GDP

Labor force: 235,000
By occupation subsistenceagriculture: 67%
By occupation wageearners: 18%
By occupation salaryearners: 15% (1987)

Unemployment rate: 5.9% (1991 est.)

Youth unemployment

Population below poverty line

Gini index

Household income or consumption by percentage share

Distribution of family income gini index

Budget: revenues:$455 million

Taxes and other revenues

Public debt

Revenue

Fiscal year: calendar year

Inflation rate consumer prices

Central bank discount rate

Commercial bank prime lending rate

Stock of narrow money

Stock of broad money

Stock of domestic credit

Market value of publicly traded shares

Current account balance

Exports: $417 million (f.o.b., 1992)
Commodities: sugar 40%, clothing, processed fish, gold, lumber
Partners: EC 26%, Australia 15%, Pacific Islands 11%, Japan 6%

Imports: $517 million (c.i.f., 1992 est)
Commodities: machinery and transport equipment, petroleum products, food, consumer goods, chemicals
Partners: Australia 30%, NZ 17%, Japan 13%, EC 6%, US 6%

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold

Debt external: $670 million (1994 est.)

Stock of direct foreign investment at home

Stock of direct foreign investment abroad

Exchange rates: Fijian dollars (F$) per US$1 - 1.5239 (January 1994), 1.5418 (1993), 1.5030 (1992), 1.4756 (1991), 1.4809 (1990), 1.4833 (1989)


top of page


Electricity
Capacity: 215,000 kW
Production: 420 million kWh
Consumption per capita: 560 kWh (1992)

Coal

Petroleum

Crude oil

Refined petroleum

Natural gas

Carbon dioxide emissions

Energy consumption per capita


top of page


Telephones

Telephone system

Broadcast media

Internet

Broadband fixed subscriptions


top of page


Military expenditures
Dollar figure: exchange rate conversion - $22.4 million, about 2% of GDP (FY91/92)

Military and security forces

Military service age and obligation

Space program

Terrorist groups


top of page


National air transport system

Civil aircraft registration country code prefix

Airports: 25
Usable: 22
With permanentsurface runways: 3
With runways over 3659 m: 0
With runways 2440-3659 m: 1
With runways 1220-2439 m: 2

Heliports

Pipelines

Railways

Roadways

Waterways: 203 km; 122 km navigable by motorized craft and 200-metric-ton barges

Merchant marine: 8 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 44,911 GRT/54,490 DWT, cargo 1, chemical tanker 2, container 2, oil tanker 1, roll-on/roll-off cargo 2

Ports and terminals


top of page


Disputes international: none

Refugees and internally displaced persons

Illicit drugs