KEY FACTS
Joined Commonwealth: 1970 (rejoined in 1997 after ten-year lapse)
Population: 875,000 (2012)
GDP p.c. growth: 1.0% p.a. 1990–2012
UN HDI 2012: world ranking 96
Official language: English
Time: GMT plus 12
Currency: Fiji dollar (F$)
Geography
Area: 18,333 sq km
Coastline: 1,130 km
Capital: Suva
The Republic of Fiji lies 1,850 km north of Auckland, New Zealand, and 2,800 km north-east of Sydney, Australia. It consists of about 300 islands (100 inhabited) and 540 islets, spread over three million sq km. It is surrounded by the island groups of (clockwise from north) Tuvalu, Wallis and Futuna, Tonga, New Caledonia, Vanuatu and Solomon Islands. The largest islands are Viti Levu (‘Great Fiji’), Vanua Levu, Taveuni and Kadavu.
Main towns:
Suva (capital, pop. 194,900 in 2010, comprising Nasinu 88,600 and Lami 20,600), Nausori (55,500), Lautoka (55,200), Nadi (47,000) and Ba (16,200) on Viti Levu; and Labasa (28,400) on Vanua Levu.
Society
KEY FACTS 2012
Population per sq km: 48
Life expectancy: 70 years
Net primary enrolment: 96% (2011)
Population:
875,000 (2012); 53 per cent of people live in urban areas; growth 0.8 per cent p.a. 1990–2012; birth rate 21 per 1,000 people (34 in 1970); life expectancy 70 years (60 in 1970). More than 50 per cent of the people are ethnic Fijians, who are of mixed Melanesian–Polynesian origin, and most of the rest are of Indian origin. There are small populations of Europeans, Banabans, Tuvaluans and Chinese.
Language:
The official language is English, but Fijian, of which there are more than 300 dialects, is widely spoken. A single dialect, Bauan, is used in the media. Hindi is the main language of the Indian population, although it is now distinct from that spoken in mainland India. English, Fijian and Hindi are all taught in schools and most of the population is at least bilingual.
Education:
Public spending on education was four per cent of GDP in 2011. There are ten years of compulsory education starting at the age of six. Primary school comprises six years and secondary seven, with cycles of four and three years. Some 91 per cent of pupils complete primary school (2008). The school year starts in January. The main campuses of the regional University of the South Pacific (founded 1968) and the Fiji National University are located in Suva. The University of the South Pacific has further campuses in Fiji, at Labasa and Lautoka. The Fiji National University, formally established in 2010, was formed by the merger of seven tertiary institutions: the College of Advanced Education; College of Agriculture (Koronivia campus); Institute of Technology (Samabula campus, Suva); Lautoka Teachers College (Lautoka campus); School of Medicine (Suva); School of Nursing (Suva); and Training and Productivity Authority, and has many campuses across the country. The oldest of these institutions, the School of Medicine (established in 1885) and the School of Nursing (1893), were merged in 2010 to become the Fiji National University College of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences.
