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.
They inspired awe amongst the Tongans, and all their Manufactures, especially bark cloth and clubs, were highly valued and much in demand. They were described as formidable warriors and ferocious cannibals, builders of the finest vessels in the Pacific, but not great sailors. An official account of the emergence of the name states:įijians first impressed themselves on European consciousness through the writings of the members of the expeditions of Cook who met them in Tonga. The name of Fiji's main island, Viti Levu, served as the origin of the name "Fiji", though the common English pronunciation is based on that of Fiji's island neighbours in Tonga.
In 1987, following a series of coups d'état, the military government that had taken power declared it to be a republic. Fiji operated as a Crown colony until 1970, when it gained independence and became known as the Dominion of Fiji. In 1874, after a brief period in which Fiji was an independent kingdom, the British established the Colony of Fiji.
Europeans first visited Fiji in the 17th century. Humans have lived in Fiji since the second millennium BC-first Austronesians and later Melanesians, with some Polynesian influences. The geothermal systems on Viti Levu are non-volcanic in origin and have low-temperature surface discharges (of between roughly 35 and 60 degrees Celsius). Some geothermal activity still occurs today on the islands of Vanua Levu and Taveuni. The majority of Fiji's islands were formed by volcanic activity starting around 150 million years ago.
The interior of Viti Levu is sparsely inhabited because of its terrain. About three-quarters of Fijians live on Viti Levu's coasts: either in the capital city of Suva or in smaller urban centres such as Nadi-where tourism is the major local industry or in Lautoka, where the sugar-cane industry is dominant. About 87% of the total population of 883,483 live on the two major islands, Viti Levu and Vanua Levu. The most outlying island group is Ono-i-Lau.
Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands-of which about 110 are permanently inhabited-and more than 500 islets, amounting to a total land area of about 18,300 square kilometres (7,100 sq mi). It lies about 1,100 nautical miles (2,000 km 1,300 mi) northeast of New Zealand. Fiji ( / ˈ f iː dʒ i/ ( listen) FEE-jee Fijian: Viti, Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, Fijī), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean.