Fiji


Figure 1.--Fiji is a South Pacific island covered with palm trees. Here is a scene from the 1930s just before World War II.

Fiji is a group of volcanic islands in the South Pacific lying between Vanuatu and Samoa. The principal island is Viti Levu. Melanesian and Polynesian peoples settled the Fijian islands about 1,500 BC. The indigenous name of the islands was Viti, an Austronesian word which meant 'east' or 'sunrise'. Until the arrival of the British, the main island of the Fiji group, was split between the coastal and inland people. The coastal people were hierarchical while the inland oeoole were more egalitarian. European traders and missionaries came to the island (early-19th century). Tgey found the native Fijian confederacies waging wars with each other. Cakobau, a Ratu (chief), became the dominant force in the western islands (1850s). Continued conflict and unrest, however, convinced him and a convention of chiefs to accept British rule (1874). Under British rule, the countryside was finally pacified. Plantation agriculture was introduced and indentured workers were brought in from India. Traditional institutions, especially the system of communal land ownership, were maintained. Immigrants have accepted some traditional Fijian cultural patterns, but the country is today a multi-ehnic society, with immigrants from Europe, South Asia, and East Asia, There has, however, been no consensus emerging on an agreed national culture and national ethos. Many immigrants do not view themselves as Fijian. During the Pacific War, Fiji was eyed by the Japanese as it epanding the empire in the first 6 months of the Pacific War. It proved to be just outside the area conquered by Japan. Fiji became an important base and staging area for the United States. A constitutional conference in London agreed that Fiji should become a fully sovereign and independent nation within the Commonwealth. Fiji became independent (1970). We are looking into boys' activities. We have some onformation on he schools and relgion.

Geography

Fiji is a group of volcanic islands in the South Pacific lying between Vanuatu and Samoa. The principal island is Viti Levu. There are, however some 320 additional islands, less than a third of which are inhabited. Viti Levu and Vanua Levu account for 87 percent of the country's land mass. iti Levu has the major seaports, airports, roads, schools, and tourist centers, and the capital, Suva. Fiji has a maritime tropical climate. There is high humidity and rainfall along the windward coasts and a more arid climate in the interiors and along the leeward coasts. Here savanna grassland was the natural vegetation, but much of the native savanna grassland has been converted into sugarcane plantations.

History

Fiji is a group of volcanic islands in the South Pacific lying between Vanuatu and Samoa. The principal island is Viti Levu. Melanesian and Polynesian peoples settled the Fijian islands about 1,500 BC. The indigenous Fijians are related to the Lapita peoples, a seafaring group from wha is now eastern Indonesia or the Philippines. Melanesians from the west and Polynesians (Lapita descendants) from the east reached the Islands over time. The indigenous name of the islands was Viti, an Austronesian word which meant 'east' or 'sunrise'. Until the arrival of the British, the main island of the Fiji group, was split between the coastal and inland people. The coastal people were hierarchical while the inland oeoole were more egalitarian. European traders and missionaries came to the island (early-19th century). They found the native Fijian confederacies waging wars with each other. Cakobau, a Ratu (chief), became the dominant force in the western islands (1850s). Continued conflict and unrest, however, convinced him and a convention of chiefs to accept British rule (1874). Under British rule, the countryside was finally pacified. During the Pacific War, Fiji was eyed by the Japanese as it epanding the empire in the first 6 months of the Pacific War. It proved to be just outside the area conquered by Japan. Fiji became an important base and staging area for the United States. A constitutional conference in London agreed that Fiji should become a fully sovereign and independent nation within the Commonwealth. Fiji became independent (1970).

Economy

Plantation agriculture was introduced and indentured workers were brought in from India. Traditional institutions, especially the system of communal land ownership, were maintained.

Ethnicity

European opening plantations, especially sugar plantations, needed labor. Idigenous Fijians did not want to work the plantations. They brought in lanorors from different parts of India, people whom are now called Indo-Fijians. The worked as indentured laborers on the sugar plantations. After their term of their indentured labor, many decided to remain in Fiji. Some became merchants and even entered business. Others became free peasant farmers. The early Indian immigrants were joined other Indian migrants from the merchant class, for some reason from from Gujarat. There were also European immigrants, primarily from Australia, Britain, and New Zealand. Immigrants have accepted some traditional Fijian cultural patterns, but the country is today a multi-ehnic society, with immigrants from Europe, South Asia, and East Asia, There has, however, been no consensus emerging on an agreed national culture and national ethos. Many immigrants do not view themselves as Fijian. And many indigenous Fijians resented the success of he Indo-Fijians, especially the merchant class.

Activities

We do not yet have much information on boys' activities. The single most important activity is school. The first schools on Fiji were established by missionaries. Primary school for the first 8 years in Fiji during the the 1990s is free and compulsory. Amost all Fijian children attend primary school. This is possible because there are many small one room schools located in villages throughout the islands. There are both state public schools and privaste schools. Missions schools function under government supervision. Government spending for education is substantial, about 4.5 percent of GDP (1990). Less than half of the primary students continue on to secondary schools (mid-1990s). Religion is another important activity. The indigenous Fijian religion was animistic and polytheistic. There was an important cult of notable chiefs. . Fijians believed in a life after death. A little more than half of modern Fijians are Christian, including most of the native Fijians. Most of the rest are people who follow religions that come from South Asia. Most are Hindus (nearly-40 percent) and neraly-10 percent are Muslim. There are also small numbers of Sikhs as well as those who adhere to no religious community. Christianity was brought to the islands in the 1830s primarily by Methodist missionaries. Other denominations became active after World War II, and fundamentalist and evangelical sects have grown in membership over the last two decades. Indo-Fijian Hindus follow a variety of religious customs brought by their forebears from India and are divided between the reformed and the orthodox. The religious practices of Hindus, Muslims, and Sikhs inherited from India are characterized by fasts, feasts, and festivals as well as prescribed rituals that cover major life events.








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Created: 9:37 PM 1/17/2010
Last updated: 10:41 PM 6/17/2011