Rotuma

Tuesday, 01 January 2013

Part 3 of 3 Salat se Rotuma -- Passage to Rotuma - a beautiful remote island in the Pacific

Rare language of Rotuma an island near Fiji

Rotuman Hafa - Fiji Dec 2006, Rotuma Group

WILSON INIA DAY, ROTUMA HIGH SCHOOL 2011

$Atu with men from Malha'a\Hapmak$

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Austral Islands
Coordinates: 23°0′S 150°0′W / 23°S 150°W / -23; -150
The Austral Islands (French: Îles Australes or Archipel des Australes) are the southernmost group of islands in French Polynesia, an overseas collectivity of France in the South Pacific. Geographically, they consist of two separate archipelagos, namely in the northwest the Tubuai Islands (French: Îles Tubuaï) consisting of the Îles Maria, Rimatara, Rurutu, Tubuai Island proper and Raivavae or Raevavae, and in the southeast the Bass Islands (French: Îles basses) composed of the main island of Rapa Iti and the small Marotiri. The islands of Maria and Marotiri are not suitable for sustained habitation. Several of the islands have uninhabited islets or rocks off their coastlines. Austral Islands' population is about 6,300 on almost 150 km². The capital of the Austral Islands administrative subdivision is Tubuai.
The Austral Islands (French: Îles Australes or Archipel des Australes) are the southernmost group of islands in French Polynesia, an overseas collectivity of France in the South Pacific. Geographically, the Austral Islands consist of two separate archipelagos. From northwest to southeast they are:

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Australia
Australia ( /əˈstreɪljə/), officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent as well as the island of Tasmania and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area. Neighbouring countries include Indonesia, East Timor and Papua New Guinea to the north; the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and New Caledonia to the north-east; and New Zealand to the south-east.
For at least 40,000 years before European settlement in the late 18th century, Australia was inhabited by indigenous Australians, who belonged to one or more of roughly 250 language groups. After discovery by Dutch explorers in 1606, Australia's eastern half was claimed by Great Britain in 1770 and settled through penal transportation to the colony of New South Wales from 26 January 1788. The population grew steadily in subsequent decades; the continent was explored and an additional five self-governing Crown Colonies were established.

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Ba Province
Ba is a province of Fiji, occupying the north-western sector of Viti Levu, Fiji's largest island. It is one of fourteen provinces in the nation of Fiji, and one of eight based in Viti Levu. It is Fiji's most populous province, with a population of 231,762 - more than a quarter of the nation's total - at the 2007 census. It covers a land area of 2,634 km² (1,017 sq mi), the second largest of any province.
Ba Province includes the towns and districts of Ba, Magodro, Nadi, Nawaka, Tavua, Vuda and Vitogo. The city of Lautoka and the Yasawa Archipelago, off the western coast of Viti Levu, are also in Ba Province.
Notable residents of Ba Province include Fiji's current president, Ratu Josefa Iloilo and the Chairman of the Great Council of Chiefs, Ratu Ovini Bokini. Former prime ministers Timoci Bavadra and Mahendra Chaudhry, both of whom were deposed in coups, were also from Ba Province.
Vuda Point, in Ba Province, is the traditional landing of the canoes that brought the Melanesian ancestors of the Fijian people to the islands. The nearby village of Viseisei (President Iloilo's hometown) is traditionally considered to be the oldest in Fiji.

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Bua Province
Bua is one of fourteen provinces of Fiji. Located in the west of the northern island of Vanua Levu, it is one of three northern provinces, and has a land area of 1,379 square kilometers. Its population at the 2007 census, the most recent to date, was 14,176, making it the fourth least-populous Province.
Bua is governed by a Provincial Council, chaired by Ratu Filimone Ralogaivau.
Coordinates: 16°46′34″S 178°36′04″E / 16.77611°S 178.60111°E / -16.77611; 178.60111

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Cakaudrove Province
Cakaudrove is one of fourteen provinces of Fiji, and one of three based principally on the northern island of Vanua Levu, occupying the south-eastern third of the island and including the nearby islands of Taveuni, Rabi, Kioa, and numerous other islands in the Vanua Levu Group. It has a total land area of 2,816 square kilometers, with a population of 49,344 at the most recent census in 2007, making it the sixth most populous province. The only major town is Savusavu, with a population of 4,962 in 1996.

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Caroline Islands
Coordinates: 06°03′N 147°05′E / 6.05°N 147.083°E / 6.05; 147.083
The Caroline Islands (Islas Carolinas in Spanish) are a widely scattered archipelago of tiny islands in the western Pacific Ocean, to the north of New Guinea. Politically they are divided between the Federated States of Micronesia in the eastern part of the group, and Palau at the extreme western end. Historically, this area was also called Nuevas Filipinas or New Philippines as they were part of the Spanish East Indies and governed from Manila in the Philippines.
The group consists of about 500 small coral islands, east of the Philippines, in the Pacific Ocean; the distance from Manila to Yap, one of the larger islands of the group, is 1,200 miles (1,900 km).
Most of the islands comprise low, flat coral atolls, but some rise high above sea level.
The native inhabitants speak a variety of Micronesian languages including Yapese, Pohnpeian, Chuukese, Carolinian and Kosraean, as well as the Western Malayo-Polynesian language Palauan. Other significant populations include Filipinos and Japanese.

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Conway Reef
Conway Reef, known since 1976 by its Fijian name Ceva-I-Ra or Theva-i-Ra Reef, (pronounced [ˈðeβaiˈra]), is a coral reef of atoll type 450 km southwest of the Fiji Islands, but part of the Republic of Fiji. It is located at 21°44′18″S 174°38′24″E / 21.73833°S 174.64°E / -21.73833; 174.64. It is 2.5 km long in an east-west direction. On the middle of the reef is a small sand cay, 1.8 meters high and about 320 meters long and 73 meters wide, with a land area of two hectares. A stranded wreck of a coaster lies 240 meters south of the center of the cay, and the wreck of a fishing vessel lies on the northeast end of the reef. The reef is uninhabited apart from a number of birds which appear to have almost no fear of humans. Administratively, the reef it is part of Western Division, Fiji, and of Nadroga-Navosa province.
In 1838 the Royal Navy Captain Drinkwater Bethune of HMS Conway first came across the reef and recorded it, however it was first mapped by the British several years later by Captain Denham of HMS Herald. Three shipwrecks (1979, 1981 and 2008) have occurred on the reef. The most recent being a Chinese fishing vessel (Shin Sheng No.165)

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Cook Islands
The Cook Islands (ⁱ/ˈkʊk ˈaɪləndz/; Cook Islands Māori: Kūki 'Āirani) is a self-governing parliamentary democracy in the South Pacific Ocean in free association with New Zealand. The 15 small islands have a total land area of 240 square kilometres (92.7 sq mi), but the Cook Islands Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) covers 1,800,000 square kilometres (690,000 sq mi) of ocean.
The main population centres are on the island of Rarotonga (14,153 in 2006), where there is an international airport. There is a much larger population of Cook Islanders in New Zealand, particularly the North Island. In the 2006 census, 58,008 self-identified as being of ethnic Cook Island Māori descent.
With about 100,000 visitors travelling to the islands in the 2010-11 financial year,tourism is the country's main industry, and the leading element of the economy, far ahead of offshore banking, pearls, and marine and fruit exports.
Defence and foreign affairs are the responsibility of New Zealand, in consultation with the Cook Islands. In recent times, the Cook Islands have adopted an increasingly independent foreign policy. Although Cook Islanders are citizens of New Zealand, they have the status of Cook Islands nationals, which is not given to other New Zealand citizens.

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Easter Island
Coordinates: 27°7′S 109°22′W / 27.117°S 109.367°W / -27.117; -109.367
Easter Island (Rapa Nui: Rapa Nui, Spanish: Isla de Pascua) is a Polynesian island in the southeastern Pacific Ocean, at the southeasternmost point of the Polynesian Triangle. A special territory of Chile that was annexed in 1888, Easter Island is famous for its 887 extant monumental statues, called moai, created by the early Rapanui people. It is a World Heritage Site (as determined by UNESCO) with much of the island protected within Rapa Nui National Park. In recent times the island has served as a warning of the cultural and environmental dangers of overexploitation. Ethnographers and archaeologists also blame diseases carried by European colonizers and slave raiding of the 1860s for devastating the local peoples.
Easter Island is claimed to be the most remote inhabited island in the world.
The name "Easter Island" was given by the island's first recorded European visitor, the Dutch explorer Jacob Roggeveen, who encountered it on Easter Sunday 1722, while searching for Davis or David's island. Roggeveen named it Paasch-Eyland (18th century Dutch for "Easter Island"). The island's official Spanish name, Isla de Pascua, also means "Easter Island".

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Fiji
Fiji ⁱ/ˈfiːdʒiː/ (Fijian: Viti; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी), officially the Republic of Fiji (Fijian: Matanitu ko Viti; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी गणराज्यFijī Gaṇarājya), is an island nation in Melanesia in the South Pacific Ocean about 1,100 nautical miles (2,000 km; 1,300 mi) northeast of New Zealand's North Island. Its closest neighbours are Vanuatu to the west, France's New Caledonia to the southwest, New Zealand's Kermadec to the southeast, Tonga to the east, the Samoas, France's Wallis and Futuna to the northeast and Tuvalu to the north.
The majority of Fiji's islands were formed through volcanic activity started around 150 million years ago. Today, some geothermal activity still occurs on the islands of Vanua Levu and Taveuni. Fiji has been inhabited since the second millennium BC. The country comprises an archipelago of more than 332 islands, of which 110 are permanently inhabited, and more than 500 islets, amounting to a total land area of circa 18,300 square kilometres (7,100 sq mi). The two major islands, Viti Levu and Vanua Levu, account for 87% of the population of almost 850,000. The former contains Suva, the capital and largest city. Most of Fijians live on Viti Levu's coasts, either in Suva or in smaller urban centres. Viti Levu's interior is sparsely inhabited due to its terrain.

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Gambier Islands
The Gambier Islands or Mangareva Islands (French: Îles Gambier or Archipel des Gambier) are a small group of islands in French Polynesia, located at the southeast terminus of the Tuamotu archipelago. They are generally considered a separate island group from Tuamotu both because their culture and language (Mangarevan) are much more closely related to those of the Marquesas Islands, and because, while the Tuamotus comprise several chains of coral atolls, the Gambiers are of volcanic origin. Because of their proximity, the Acteon Group, and the nearby atoll of Temoe (23°20′46″S 134°28′28″W / 23.34611°S 134.47444°W / -23.34611; -134.47444) are sometimes included among the Gambiers.
The commune of Gambier is made up of the Gambier Islands (with uninhabited Temoe Atoll 40 km east of the main Gambier group), the uninhabited Acteon Group to the west (Matureivavao, Tenararo, Tenarunga, Vahanga), and the atolls of Marutea Sud, Maria Est and Morane. This group of islands and atolls covers an area of 35 km².

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Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain (Welsh: Prydain Fawr, Scottish Gaelic: Breatainn Mhòr, Cornish: Breten Veur) is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, the largest European island, and the largest of the British Isles. With a population of about 60.0 million people in mid-2009, it is the third most populous island in the world, after Java and Honshū. Great Britain is surrounded by over 1,000 smaller islands and islets. The island of Ireland lies to its west. Politically, Great Britain may also refer to the island itself together with a number of surrounding islands which comprise the territory of England, Scotland and Wales.
All of the island is territory of the sovereign state of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and most of the United Kingdom's territory is in Great Britain. Most of England, Scotland, and Wales are on the island of Great Britain, as are their respective capital cities: London, Edinburgh, and Cardiff.

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Guam
Guam (ⁱ/ˈɡwɑːm/; Chamorro: Guåhån) is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States located in the western Pacific Ocean. It is one of five U.S. territories with an established civilian government. Guam is listed as one of sixteen Non-Self-Governing Territories by the Special Committee on Decolonization of the United Nations. The island's capital is Hagåtña (formerly Agaña). Guam is the largest and southernmost of the Mariana Islands.
The Chamorros, Guam's indigenous people, first populated the island approximately 4,000 years ago. The island has a long history of European colonialism. Discovered by Ferdinand Magellan during a Spanish expedition on March 6, 1521, the first colony was established in 1668 by Spain with the arrival of settlers including Padre San Vitores, a Catholic missionary. For more than two centuries Guam was an important stopover for the Spanish Manila Galleons that crossed the Pacific annually. The island was controlled by Spain until 1898, when it was surrendered to the United States during the Spanish-American War and later formally ceded as part of the Treaty of Paris.

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Isla Salas y Gómez
Isla Salas y Gómez, also known as Isla Sala y Gómez, is a small uninhabited Chilean island in the Pacific Ocean. It is the easternmost point in the Polynesian Triangle. Administratively, it is part of the Easter Island Commune in the Easter Island Province of the Valparaíso Region.
Isla Salas y Gómez and its surrounding waters are a Marine Protected Area called Parque Marino Sala y Gómez, with a surface area of 150.000 km2.
Isla Salas y Gómez is located 3,210 km west of the Chilean mainland, 2,490 km west of Chile's Desventuradas Islands, and 390 km east-northeast of Easter Island, the closest landmass. Salas y Gómez consists of two rocks, a smaller one in the west measuring 4 hectare in area (270 meters north-south, 200 meters east-west), and a larger one in the east measuring 11 ha (500 meters north-south, 270 meters east-west), which are connected by a narrow isthmus in the north, averaging approximately 30 meters in width. The total area is approximately 15 hectares (0.15 km²), and the total length northwest-southeast is 770 meters. Its highest point, 30 meters above sea level, is in the south of the eastern rock, less than 30 meters from the shore, above a 10 meter high cliff. The highest elevation on the western rock is 26 meters.

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Kadavu Group
The Kadavu Group is an archipelago south of Viti Levu, one of Fiji's two main islands. Dominated by Kadavu Island, the fourth largest island in Fiji, the group also includes Galoa, Ono, and a number of islets in the Great Astrolabe Reef.
Kadavu Group - satellite view
Coordinates: 19°02′00″S 178°34′01″E / 19.0333°S 178.567°E / -19.0333; 178.567

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Kadavu Island
Kadavu (pronounced [kanˈdaβu]), with an area of 411 square kilometers (159 sq mi), is the fourth largest island in Fiji, and the largest island in the Kadavu Group, a volcanic archipelago consisting of Kadavu, Ono, Galoa and a number of smaller islands in the Great Astrolabe Reef. Its main administrative centre is Vunisea, which has an airport, a high school, a hospital, and a government station, on the Namalata Isthmus where the island is almost cut in two. Suva, Fiji's capital, lies 88 kilometers to the north of Kadavu. The population of the island province was 10,167 at the most recent census in 2007.
Kadavu Island belongs to Kadavu Province.
The island is 60 kilometers long, with a width varying from 365 meters to 13 kilometers. The island is almost sliced in two at the narrow Namalata Isthmus, which separates Namalata Bay on the northern coast from Galoa Harbour on the southern coast. Within Galoa Harbour lie Galoa Island and the tiny islet of Tawadromu. Kadavu is characterized by its rugged and mountainous terrain. The tallest mountain is Nabukelevu, also known as Mount Washington, which stands at 822 meters high, on the western end of the island.

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Kadavu Province
Kadavu Province is one of fourteen provinces of Fiji, and forms part of the Eastern Division, which also includes the Provinces of Lau, Lomaiviti and Rotuma. Kadavu also belongs to the Burebasaga Confederacy, a hierarchy of chiefs from southern and western Fiji.
It consists of Kadavu Island, Ono Island, Galoa Island, Dravuni Island and a few other islands.
The province is divided into 9 tikina (districts) with it's own paramount chief. The tikinas are Ono, Nakasaleka, Yale, Naceva, Tavuki, Drue, Yawe, Ravitaki and Nabukelevu. Each paramount chief is a member of the Kadavu Provinicial Council.
The Kadavu dialects are almost as numerous as the tikinas but with tiny variations between dialects. The Kadavu dialects are closer to the Rewa dialect iin Ono and then closer to the Beqa dialect in the main island and more similarities with the Serua and Nadroga dialects as you move towards the south of the island. This could all indicate the origin of the inhabitants to an extent.
Coordinates: 19°03′S 178°15′E / 19.05°S 178.25°E / -19.05; 178.25

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Kapingamarangi
Coordinates: 1°4′N 154°47′E / 1.067°N 154.783°E / 1.067; 154.783
Kapingamarangi is an atoll and a municipality in the state of Pohnpei of the Federated States of Micronesia. It is by far the most southerly atoll or island of the country and of the Caroline Islands, 300 km south of the next southerly atoll, Nukuoro, and 740 km southwest of the main island of Pohnpei state.
The total area of the atoll, including the lagoon, is 74 km². Out of this, 1.1 km² is land area, spread over 33 wooded islets on the eastern side of the atoll. The western reef rim of the atoll is almost submerged at high water.
Kapingamarangi has a population of about 500 (as of 2007). Several hundred Kapingamarangi people also live in Porakied village in Pohnpei. Their language is Polynesian. The main industry is fishing. Touhou Island, which reaches a height 35 inches and is connected to Veilua Island (Ueru Island) in the north by a causeway, is the capital of the municipality, the center of population and the home of a native chief. Most of the population resides on these two islets, plus on Taringa (south of Touhou), although many of the remaining islets are used for growing fruit and vegetables.

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Kava
Kava or kava-kava (Piper methysticum) (Piper: Latin for 'pepper', methysticum: (Latinized) Greek for 'intoxicating') is a crop of the western Pacific.
The name kava(-kava) is from Tongan and Marquesan; other names for kava include ʻawa (Hawaiʻi), ava (Samoa), yaqona (Fiji), and sakau (Pohnpei).
The roots of the plant are used to produce a drink with sedative and anesthetic properties. Kava is consumed throughout the Pacific Ocean cultures of Polynesia, including Hawaii, Vanuatu, Melanesia and some parts of Micronesia. Kava is sedating and is primarily consumed to relax without disrupting mental clarity. Its active ingredients are called kavalactones. A Cochrane Collaboration systematic review of its evidence concluded it was likely to be more effective than placebo at treating short-term social anxiety. Safety concerns have been raised over liver toxicity, largely due to the use of stems and leaves by supplement makers, as opposed to solely the root of the plant as dictated by traditional uses. However, based on a retrospective study of retained P. methysticum drug materials in Germany, the alkaloid pipermethystine, occurring to about 0.2% in the leaves, is an unlikely cause for the observed hepatotoxicity. Whether kava hepatotoxicity may be due to contamination with aflatoxins or other mould hepatotoxins, requires further studies. Heavy use of kava with comorbid alcohol consumption or an existing liver condition appears to lead to malnutrition, weight loss, liver damage (causing elevated serum γ -glutamyl transferase and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels), renal dysfunction, rashes, pulmonary hypertension, macrocytosis of red cells, lymphocytopenia, and decreasing platelet volumes.

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Kiribati
Kiribati ([kɪribas] KIRR-i-bas or ˌkɪrəˈbɑdi;Gilbertese: [ˈkiɾibas]), officially the Republic of Kiribati, is an island nation located in the central tropical Pacific Ocean. The permanent population is just over 100,000 (2011), and the island nation is composed of 32 atolls and one raised coral island, dispersed over 3.5 million square kilometres, (1,351,000 square miles) straddling the equator, and bordering the International Date Line at its easternmost point.
The name Kiribati is the local pronunciation of "Gilberts", derived from the main island chain, the Gilbert Islands. The capital of South Tarawa consists of a number of islets connected through a series of causeways, located in the Tarawa archipelago. Kiribati became independent from the United Kingdom in 1979. It is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations, the IMF and the World Bank, and became a full member of the United Nations in 1999.
Kiribati was named in French by captains Krusenstern and Louis Isidore Duperrey "îles Gilbert", Gilbert Islands, after the British Captain Thomas Gilbert, who sighted the islands in 1788. The current name, Kiribati, is an adaptation of "Gilberts", from the former European name the "Gilbert Islands". Although the indigenous Gilbertese language name for the Gilbert Islands proper is Tungaru, the new state chose the name "Kiribati", the Gilbertese rendition of "Gilberts", as an equivalent of the former colony to acknowledge the inclusion of islands which were never considered part of the Gilberts chain.

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Lau Islands
The Lau Islands (also called the Lau Group, the Eastern Group, the Eastern Archipelago) of Fiji are situated in the southern Pacific Ocean, just east of the Koro Sea. Of this chain of about one hundred islands and islets, about thirty are inhabited. The Lau Group covers a land area of 188 square miles (487 square km), and had a population of 10,683 at the most recent census in 2007. While most of the northern Lau Group are high islands of volcanic origin, those of the south are mostly carbonate low islands.
Administratively the islands belong to Lau Province.
The British explorer James Cook reached Vatoa in 1774. By the time of the discovery of the Ono Group in 1820, the Lau archipelago was the most mapped area of Fiji.
Political unity came late to the Lau Islands. Historically, they comprised three territories: the Northern Lau Islands, the Southern Lau Islands, and the Moala Islands. Around 1855, the renegade Tongan prince Enele Ma'afu conquered the region and established a unified administration. Calling himself the Tui Lau, or King of Lau, he promulgated a constitution and encouraged the establishment of Christian missions. The first missionaries had arrived at Lakeba in 1830, but had been expelled. The Tui Nayau, who had been the nominal overlord of the Lau Islands, became subject to Ma'afu.

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Lau Province
Lau Province is one of fourteen provinces of Fiji. Its capital is at Tubou, at the southern end of the island of Lakeba. The province forms part of the country's Eastern Division (which also includes the provinces of Kadavu and Lomaiviti), and of the Tovata Confederacy, a traditional hierarchy of chiefs from northern and eastern Fiji.
Geographically it consists of the Lau Archipelago.
Coordinates: 18°20′S 178°30′W / 18.333°S 178.5°W / -18.333; -178.5

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Lautoka
Lautoka is the second largest city of Fiji and the second largest in the South Pacific. It is in the west of the island of Viti Levu, 24 kilometres north of Nadi, and is the second port of entry in Fiji, after Suva. Lying in the heart of Fiji's sugar cane growing region, it is known as the Sugar City. Covering an area of 16 square kilometres, it had a population of 52,220 at the 2007 census, the most recent to date.
Lautoka is known as the Sugar City because of its sugar cane belt areas. The main Lautoka Sugar Mill is the city's biggest employer by far. Built for the Colonial Sugar Refining Company (Fiji) (CSR) by workers from India and the Solomon Islands between 1899 and 1903, it hires some 1,300 employees today. Other industries include timber milling, garment manufacturing, distillery, brewery, jewellery, blending, steelworks, fishing, hatchery, domestic items, paints, and construction.
The name of the city is derived from two Fijian words meaning "spear hit." According to an oral tradition, the name arose following a duel between two chiefs. As one speared the other, he was reported to have cried "Lau-toka!" The first known European sighting of the Lautoka area took place on 7 May 1789. Captain William Bligh spotted and roughly charted the coasts of Lautoka while making his epic voyage to Timor, in the wake of the Mutiny on the Bounty in which he and a few sailors loyal to him were thrown overboard and cast adrift on a life boat.

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Levuka
Levuka is a town on the eastern coast of the Fijian island of Ovalau, in Lomaiviti Province, in the Eastern Division of Fiji. It was formerly the Capital of Fiji. At the census in 2007, the last to date, Levuka town had a population of 1,131 (plus 3,266 living in the peri-urban area as defined by the Bureau of Statistics), about half of Ovalau's 8,360 inhabitants. It is the economic hub and the largest of 24 settlements on the island. Levuka and the island of Ovalau have been seeking recognition from UNESCO as a World Heritage Site for decades.
The modern town of Levuka was founded around 1820 by European settlers and traders as the first modern town in the Fiji Islands, and became an important port and trading post. A disparate band of settlers made up Levuka's population - traders, missionaries, shipwrights, speculators, and vagabonds, as well as respectable businessmen. Marist priests, led by Father Breheret, established a mission in Levuka in 1858. By 1870, the town had a population of more than 800. When the first modern nation state of Fiji was founded in 1871, Seru Epenisa Cakobau was crowned King at Levuka. After Fiji was annexed as a British colony in 1874, Levuka remained the capital until 1877, when the administration was moved to Suva, although the move was not made official until 1882. The move was prompted by concerns that the 600-meter high cliffs surrounding Levuka gave it no room for expansion.

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Lomaiviti Province
Lomaiviti Province is one of the 14 provinces of Fiji. Administratively, it forms part of Fiji's Eastern Division and of the Kubuna Confederacy, one of three traditional chiefly hierarchies in Fiji.
Geographically it consists of the Lomaiviti Islands.
Coordinates: 17°40′S 178°48′E / 17.667°S 178.8°E / -17.667; 178.8

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Mamanuca Islands
The Mamanuca Islands of Fiji are a volcanic archipelago lying to the west of Nadi and to the south of the Yasawa Islands. The group, a popular tourist destination, consists of about 20 islands, but about seven of these are covered by the Pacific Ocean at high tide.
The Mamanuca Islands, just off the coast of Denarau offer crystal clear waters, palm fringed sandy beaches and live coral reefs. There are islands, villages, great resorts to visit, snorkelling and swimming.
One of the islands, Monuriki, was the main location for the 2000 film Cast Away.
Islands in the Mamanuca chain, not all of which are inhabited, include:
Port Denarau is the gateway to the Mamanuca and Yasawa islands. You can take day trips from Denarau to the Mamanuca Islands or find a resort to stay overnight.
Activities in the Mamanucas include sailing, swimming, snorkelling, kayaking, semi-submersible coral viewing, diving, swimming with reef sharks, windsurfing, hiking, visiting villages, mini golf and discovering new secluded beaches.

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Marquesas Islands
Coordinates: 9°27′16″S 139°23′20″W / 9.45444°S 139.38889°W / -9.45444; -139.38889
The Marquesas Islands (French: Îles Marquises or Archipel des Marquises or Marquises; Marquesan: Te Henua (K)enana (North Marquesan) and Te Fenua `Enata (South Marquesan), both meaning "The Land of Men") are a group of volcanic islands in French Polynesia, an overseas collectivity of France in the southern Pacific Ocean. The Marquesas are located at 9° 00S, 139° 30W. The highest point is the peak of Mount Oave (French: Mont Oave) on Ua Pu island at 1,230 m (4,035 ft) above sea level.
The Marquesas Islands form one of the five administrative divisions (subdivisions administratives) of French Polynesia. The capital of the Marquesas Islands administrative subdivision is the settlement of Taiohae on the island of Nuku Hiva. The population of the Marquesas Islands was 8,632 at the August 2007 census.
The first recorded settlers of the Marquessa were Polynesians, who, from archæological evidence, are believed to have arrived before 100 AD. Ethnological and linguistic evidence suggests that they likely arrived from the region of Tonga and Samoa.

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Moala Islands
The Moala Islands are a subgroup of Fiji's Lau archipelago. Its three islands (Matuku, Moala, and Totoya) are located west of the Lau Islands proper, and were historically linked more closely with Bau Island and Viti Levu than with Lau. They we unified by Ratu Sukuna to part of the Lau congregation to support traditional gift through provision of taro and other vegetables. All three islands were defeated by Enele Maafu. The Tongan Prince later the Tui Lau Subdued them and enforced Christianity.
The main economic activity of the Moala Islands is coconut, and root crop farming including marine and fisheries.
Coordinates: 18°50′19″S 179°55′43″W / 18.838714°S 179.928589°W / -18.838714; -179.928589

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Naitasiri Province
Naitasiri is one of the 14 provinces of Fiji and one of eight based in Viti Levu, Fiji's largest island.
Naitasiri as a province covers 1,666 square kilometers (643.25 Square Miles), the Province occupies the area to the north and east of (but does not include) Suva, the capital. Its population at the last census in 2007 was 160,759, making Naitasiri the country's second most populous Province.Its natural resources includes the Medrausucu mountain ranges, vast indigenous forests,five river systems and fertile agricultural land.The Monasavu Hydro-electric dam sits astride its Wainimala headwaters and Nadrau plateau.
Recent public infrastructure works as at 2008 include a new hospital in Vunidawa,roadworks and sealing of the main Sawani to Naqali road and bridge constructions at Navuso (Waimanu River) and Naqali(Waidina River).
Prior to roads being built,the five rivers that flow through the province(Wainibuka,Wainimala,Waidina,Waimanu and the Rewa)were the main avenues of travel and communications.Hence many villages in the province were situated along rivers.

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Namosi Province
Namosi is one of Fiji's fourteen Provinces, and one of eight based in Viti Levu, the largest island. Located to the west of Suva, the Province covers 570 square kilometers. Its population of 6,898 at the 2007 census was the smallest of any Fijian Province.
Namosi Province includes Namosi District, as well as the Districts of Veivatuloa and Wainikoroiluva.
The Province is governed by a Provincial Council, chaired by Ratu Kiniviliame Taukeinikoro.The Paramount Chieftain of Namosi is The Turaga Na Tui Namosi, Ratu Suliano Matanitobua.
Namosi has two towns within its provincial boundaries, being the Town of Navua and Deuba Pacific Harbour.
Namosi as province has explored the potential of generating its own Hydro-Electricity, of which France has offered to support this multi million dollar project now waiting approval from National authorities. Namosi also has potential to generate revenue by means of Copper mining but more in depth research into environmental impact and sustainability will need to take place.

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Nasinu
Nasinu is an urban area on the island Viti Levu in Fiji. It is officially designated a "Town" (and was formally incorporated as such in 1999) despite its population (87,446 at the 2007 Census). Nasinu is the most populous municipality in Fiji, having overtaken that of Suva (the capital), and is one of Fiji's fastest-growing towns. Its land area is the largest of any municipal area in Fiji, and more than twice that of Suva.
Nasinu is governed by a Town Council of 21 members, the largest municipal body in Fiji in terms of the resident population. The Councillors, who serve three-year terms, elect a Mayor for a term of one year, renewable any number of times. The last municipal polls, held on 22 October 2005, were won by the Fiji Labour Party (FLP), which took 14 seats against 7 for the Soqosoqo Duavata ni Lewenivanua (SDL), which had previously controlled the council. The SDL Councillors boycotted the first session of the new council, which elected Rajeshwar Kumar as Mayor, and threatened to challenge the election results in court.

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Nausori
Nausori is a town in Fiji. It had a population of 47,604 at the 2007 census, the most recent to date. This makes it the fourth most populous municipality in the country. Situated 19 kilometers out of Suva, it forms one pole of the burgeoning Suva-Nausori corridor.
Nausori grew up around Fiji's second sugar mill, which functioned between 1881 and 1959. The Rewa Rice Mill is now located there, as is Nausori International Airport, which serves the capital.
Fiji Television reported on March 20, 2006 that an ancient Fijian village, believed to have been occupied by chiefs sometime between 1250 and 1560, had been discovered at Kuku, in Nausori. Its heavily fortified battle fort contained unique features not seen elsewhere in Fiji. Archeologist Sepeti Matararaba of the Fiji Museum expressed astonishment at some of the discoveries at the site, which included an iron axe used by white traders in exchange for Fijian artefacts. Local villages were reported to be rebuilding the site with a view to opening it up to tourists in July 2006.

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New Caledonia
Coordinates: 21°15′S 165°18′E / 21.25°S 165.30°E / -21.25; 165.30
New Caledonia (French: Nouvelle-Calédonie) is a special collectivity of France located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, 1,500 kilometres (930 mi) east of Australia and about 20,000 kilometres (12,000 mi) from Metropolitan France. The archipelago, part of the Melanesia subregion, includes the main island of Grande Terre, the Loyalty Islands, the Belep archipelago, the Isle of Pines and a few remote islets. The Chesterfield Islands in the Coral Sea are also part of New Caledonia. Locals refer to Grande Terre as "Le Caillou", the rock.
New Caledonia has a land area of 18,576 square kilometres (7,172 sq mi). The population (2011 estimate) is 256,275. The capital of the territory is Nouméa.
The earliest traces of human presence in New Caledonia date back to the Lapita period. The Lapita were highly skilled navigators and agriculturists with influence over a large area of the Pacific.
The British first sighted New Caledonia on September 4, 1774, during the second voyage of Captain James Cook. He named the territory New Caledonia, as the north-east of the island reminded him of Scotland. The west coast of Grande Terre was approached by Jean-François de Galaup, comte de Lapérouse in 1788, shortly before his disappearance, and the Loyalty Islands were first visited in 1796. From then until 1840, only a few sporadic contacts with the archipelago were recorded. Contacts became more frequent after 1840, because of the interest in sandalwood from New Caledonia.

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New Zealand
New Zealand (Māori: Aotearoa) is an island country located in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. The country geographically comprises two main landmasses ‒ that of the North and South Islands ‒ as well as numerous smaller islands. New Zealand is situated some 1,500 kilometres (900 mi) east of Australia across the Tasman Sea and roughly 1,000 kilometres (600 mi) south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga. Because of its remoteness, it was one of the last lands to be settled by humans.
During its long isolation, New Zealand developed a distinctive biodiversity of both animal and plant life. Most notable are the large number of unique bird species, many of which became extinct after the arrival of humans and introduced mammals. With a mild maritime climate, the land was mostly covered in forest. The country's varied topography and its sharp mountain peaks owe much to the tectonic uplift of land and volcanic eruptions caused by the Pacific and Indo-Australian Plates clashing beneath the earth's surface.

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Niue
Niue ( /ˈnjuːeɪ/ NEW-ay; Niuean: Niuē) is an island country in the South Pacific Ocean. It is commonly known as the "Rock of Polynesia", and inhabitants of the island call it "the Rock" for short. Niue is 2,400 kilometres (1,500 mi) northeast of New Zealand in a triangle between Tonga to the southwest, the Samoas to the northwest, and the Cook Islands to the southeast. The land area is 260 square kilometres (100 sq mi) with about 1,400 people who are predominantly Polynesian.
Though self-governing, Niue is in free association with New Zealand, and lacks full sovereignty. All Niueans are New Zealand citizens and Queen Elizabeth II is Niue's head of state in her capacity as Queen of New Zealand. Most diplomatic relations are conducted by New Zealand on Niue's behalf. 90-95% of Niuean people live in New Zealand, along with about 70% of the speakers of the Niuean language.^{[citation needed]}
In 2003, Niue became the world's first "WiFi nation", in which free wireless Internet access is provided throughout the country by The Internet Users Society-Niue.

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Norfolk Island
Norfolk Island (ⁱ/ˈnɔrfək ˈaɪlənd/; Norfuk: Norfuk Ailen) is a small island in the Pacific Ocean located between Australia, New Zealand and New Caledonia, 1,412 kilometres (877 mi) directly east of mainland Evans Head, and about 600 kilometres (370 mi) from Lord Howe Island. The island is part of the Commonwealth of Australia, but it enjoys a large degree of self-governance. Together with two neighbouring islands, it forms one of Australia's external territories.
Originally colonised by East Polynesians, Norfolk Island was colonised by Britain as part of its settlement in Australia in 1788. It then served as a convict penal settlement until 1794, when it was abandoned until 1856, when permanent residence on the island for civilians began. In 1901, the island became a part of the Commonwealth of Australia which it has remained until this day.
The evergreen Norfolk Island pine is a symbol of the island and thus pictured on its flag (see illustration). Native to the island, the pine is a key export industry for Norfolk Island, being a popular ornamental tree on mainland Australia, where two related species grow, and also in Europe.

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Nuguria
Nuguria or the Nuguria Islands, also known as the Abgarris or Fead Islands, are a Polynesian outlier and islands of Papua New Guinea. They are located nearly 200 km northeast of New Ireland and consist of two closely spaced atoll formations.
Historical commentary from a frequent visitor to Nuguria: Momentum
Coordinates: 3°20′00″S 154°45′00″E / 3.33333°S 154.75°E / -3.33333; 154.75

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Nukumanu Islands
Nukumanu, formerly Tasman Islands, is a medium sized atoll located in the Southwestern Pacific Ocean, 4 degrees south of the equator.
Administratively Nukumanu is part of Papua New Guinea, but it lies quite far away from the closest territory of Papua New Guinea proper, which is the coast of New Ireland at 682 km to the west. The nearest land is Ontong Java Atoll, located only 38 km to the south of Nukumanu, but the border between Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands runs between these neighboring atolls.
Comprising a ring of more than twenty islets on a reef surrounding a large lagoon, Nukumanu's sandy islands are located on a strip of coral rising no more than a meter above sea level. The main inhabited islands of Nukumanu are located on the eastern end of the atoll.
In Polynesian history, the main cultural and commercial exchanges took place with the inhabitants of neighboring Ontong Java Atoll, with whom Nukumanu people share many cultural affinities.
Towards the end of the 19th century Nukumanu became part of the German colonial empire. It was transferred to Australian administration in 1914, after Germany's defeat in World War I.

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Nukuoro
Nukuoro is an atoll in the Federated States of Micronesia.
It is a municipality of the state of Pohnpei, Federated States of Micronesia. Except for Kapingamarangi, it is the southermost atoll of the country. Nukuoro has a population of 372 (as of 2007), though several hundred Nukuorans live on Pohnpei. The total area, including the lagoon, is 40 km², with a land area of only 1.7 km², which is divided among more than 40 islets that lie on the northern, eastern and southern sides of the lagoon. By far the largest islet is Nukuoro islet, which is the center of population and the capital of the municipality.
The lagoon is 6 kilometers (about 3.7 miles) in diameter. Fishing, animal husbandry, and agriculture (taro and copra) are the main occupations. A recent project to farm black pearl oysters has been successful at generating additional income for the island's people. Nukuoro is remote. It has no airstrip, and a passenger boat calls irregularly only once every few months. The island has no tourism except for the occasional visit by passing sailing yachts. There is a 4 room schoolhouse but children over the age of 14 must travel to Pohnpei to attend high school.

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Ouvéa
Coordinates: 20°39′08″S 166°33′43″E / 20.6522°S 166.5619°E / -20.6522; 166.5619
Ouvéa (local pronunciation: [uˈve.a]) is a commune in the Loyalty Islands Province of New Caledonia, an overseas territory of France in the Pacific Ocean. The settlement of Fayaoué [faˈjawe], on Ouvéa Island, is the administrative centre of the commune of Ouvéa.
Ouvéa is made up of Ouvéa Island, the smaller Mouli Island and Faiava Island, and several islets around these three islands. All these lie among the Loyalty Islands, to the northeast of New Caledonia's mainland.
In April 1988, a bloody hostage taking took place on Ouvéa. Four gendarmes were killed and twenty-seven were held hostage in a cave by supporters of FLNKS. Twelve of the captured gendarmes were released after a while, but six members of a French anti-terrorist squad were also taken hostage. When negotiations to release those taken hostage did not succeed, French security forces besieged the cave and freed the hostages. Eighteen Kanaks and two gendarmes were left dead, and in the aftermath, it was alleged that three Kanaks had been executed or left to die after being arrested.

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Palau
Palau (ⁱ/pəˈlaʊ/, sometimes spelled Belau or Pelew), officially the Republic of Palau (Palauan: Beluu ęr a Belau), is an island country located in the western Pacific Ocean. Geographically part of the larger island group of Micronesia, with the country's population of around 21,000 people spread out over 250 islands forming the western chain of the Caroline Islands. The islands share maritime boundaries with Indonesia, the Philippines, and the Federated States of Micronesia. The most populous island in the group is Koror, with the capital city, Ngerulmud, located on nearby Babeldaob.
The country were originally settled around 3000 years ago by migrants from the Philippines, with a Negrito population sustained until around 900 years ago. The islands were first visited by Europeans in the 18th century, and were made part of the Spanish East Indies in 1885. Following Spain's defeat in the Spanish–American War in 1898, the islands were sold to Imperial Germany in 1899 under the terms of the German–Spanish Treaty, where they were administered as part of German New Guinea. The Imperial Japanese Navy conquered Palau during World War I, and the islands were later made a part of the Japanese-ruled South Pacific Mandate by the League of Nations. During World War II, skirmishes, including the major Battle of Peleliu, were fought between American and Japanese troops as part of the Mariana and Palau Islands campaign. Along with other Pacific Islands, Palau was made a part of the United States-governed Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands in 1947. Having voted against joining the newly-independent Federated States of Micronesia in 1979, the islands gained full sovereignty in 1994 under a Compact of Free Association with the United States.

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Pileni
Coordinates: 10°11′S 166°10′E / 10.183°S 166.167°E / -10.183; 166.167
Pileni is a culturally important island in the Reef Islands, in the northern part of the Solomon Islands province of Temotu. Despite its location in Melanesia, the population of the islands is Polynesian.
Pileni once gave its name to the Samoic-Outlier language spoken there. What used to be called Pileni is now more commonly referred to under its native name Vaeakau-Taumako.

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Pitcairn Islands
The Pitcairn Islands ( /ˈpɪtkɛərn/;Pitkern: Pitkern Ailen), officially named the Pitcairn, Henderson, Ducie and Oeno Islands, form a group of four volcanic islands in the southern Pacific Ocean. The islands are a British Overseas Territory. The four islands—named Pitcairn, Henderson, Ducie, and Oeno—are spread over several hundred miles of ocean and have a total land area of about 18 square miles (47 km²). Only Pitcairn, the second largest and measuring about 2 miles (3.2 km) across, is inhabited.
The islands are best known as home of the descendants of the Bounty mutineers and the Tahitians (or Polynesians) who accompanied them, an event retold in numerous books and films. This history is still apparent in the surnames of many of the islanders. With only about 48 inhabitants (currently from four main families: Christian, Warren, Young, and Brown), Pitcairn is the least populous jurisdiction in the world. The United Nations Committee on Decolonisation includes the Pitcairn Islands on the United Nations list of Non-Self-Governing Territories.

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Ra Province
Ra is one of the fourteen provinces of Fiji. Occupying the northern area of Viti Levu, the largest island, it is one of eight Viti Levu-based Provinces. With a land area of 1341 square kilometers, it had a population of 29,464 at the 2007 census, the last to date. The main urban centre is at Vaileka, with a population of 3,361 in 1996.
The province includes the districts of Nalawa, Nakorotubu, Rakiraki, and Saivou. These four districts have their own paramount chiefs unlike other provinces where there is paramount chief governing the whole province.The four paramount chiefs are the : Tui Nalawa, Tui Naivitilevu, Ratu ni Natauiya and Turaga na Gonesau.
Ra is governed by a Provincial Council, currently chaired by Ratu Meli Bolobolo,Paramount chief of the tikina Rakiraki.
The Ra dialect of Fijian is distinctive in that the consonant /t/, pronounced elsewhere in Fiji, is pronounced as a glottal stop.
Coordinates: 17°30′S 178°10′E / 17.5°S 178.167°E / -17.5; 178.167

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Rewa Province
Rewa is a province of Fiji. With a land area of 272 square kilometers (the smallest of Fiji's Provinces), it includes the capital city of Suva (but not most of Suva's suburbs) and is in two parts - one including part of Suva's hinterland to the west, and a noncontiguous area to the east, separated from the rest of Rewa by Naitasiri Province. The Province had a population of 100,787 at the 2007 census, making it Fiji's third most populous Province.
For both political and traditional reasons, Rewa is a powerful Province. It is not only the hinterland of the national capital, but also the heart of the Burebasaga Confederacy, one of three traditional chiefly hierarchies. The Roko Tui Dreketi, or Paramount Chief of Rewa, is also the head Burebasaga. The last two holders of the title have been women: Ro Lady Lala Mara (1931-2004), the wife of Fiji's longtime Prime Minister and President Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara, and her sister and successor, Ro Teimumu Kepa, who is also Minister of Education in the Qarase government.

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Ringgold Isles
The Ringgold Isles are an archipelago in Fiji, forming an outlier group to Vanua Levu. The Budd, Nukusemanu, and Heemskercq Reefs form part of the group. The group is mostly uninhabited, but Qelelevu has a small village. In 2008 Pacific Rats were eradicated from seven islands of the group in an endeavour facilitated by BirdLife International's Fiji Programme.
Coordinates: 16°30′10″S 179°41′20″W / 16.50278°S 179.68889°W / -16.50278; -179.68889
Cobia is an island in Fiji, and is a member of the Ringgold Isles archipelago, which forms an outlier group to the northern island of Vanua Levu. It has a land area of 69.29 hectares.
Maqewa Island is narrow and rocky. It has a total land area of 26.05 hectares.^{[citation needed]}
16°30′S 179°40.99′E / 16.5°S 179.68317°E / -16.5; 179.68317
A single coral reef with two rock bound islands, one larger than the other
Qelelevu is a coral islet in Fiji, a member of the Ringgold Isles archipelago, which forms an outlier to the northern island of Vanua Levu. Apart from three nearby coral islets, it is 80 kilometres (50 mi) from the nearest island. Qelelevu covers an area of 1.5 square kilometers. Its maximum elevation is 18 metres (59 ft).

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Rotuma
Rotuma is a Fijian dependency, consisting of Rotuma Island and nearby islets. The island group is home to a small but unique indigenous ethnic group which constitutes a recogniseable minority within the population of Fiji, known as "Rotumans". Its population at the 2007 census was 2,002, although many Rotumans live on mainland Fijian islands, totaling 10,000.
These volcanic islands are located 646 kilometres (Suva to Ahau) north of Fiji. Rotuma Island itself is 13 kilometres long and 4 kilometres wide, with a land area of approximately 43 square kilometres. The island is bisected into a larger eastern part, and a western peninsula, by a low narrow isthmus only 230 meters wide, the location of Motusa village (Itu'ti'u district). North of the isthmus is Maka Bay, and in the south Hopmafau Bay. The bays are full of coral reefs, through which there are boat passages.
Rotuma is a shield volcano made of alkali-olivine basalt and hawaiite, with many small cones, and reaches 256 metres (840 ft) above sea level at Mount Suelhof near the center of the island. Satarua Peak, 166 meters high, lies near the eastern end of the island. While very secluded from much of Fiji proper, the large reef and untouched beaches are renowned as some of the most beautiful in all of Fiji.

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Samoa
Samoa (ⁱ/səˈmoʊ.ə/; Samoan: Sāmoa, IPA: [ˌsaːˈmoa]), officially the Independent State of Samoa (Samoan: Malo Sa'oloto Tuto'atasi o Sāmoa), formerly known as Western Samoa, is a country encompassing the western part of the Samoan Islands in the South Pacific Ocean. It became independent from New Zealand in 1962. The two main islands of Samoa are Upolu and one of the biggest islands in Polynesia, Savai'i. The capital city, Apia, and Faleolo International Airport are situated on the island of Upolu.
Samoa was admitted to the United Nations on 15 December 1976. The entire island group, inclusive of American Samoa, was called Navigators Islands by European explorers before the 20th century because of the Samoans' seafaring skills.
The oldest date so far from pre-historic remains in Samoa has been calculated by New Zealand scientists to a likely true age of circa 3,000 years ago from a Lapita site at Mulifanua during the 1970s.
The origins of the Samoans is closely linked to modern research about Polynesia in various scientific disciplines such as genetics, linguistics and anthropology. Scientific research is ongoing although a number of different theories exist; including one proposing that the Samoans originated from Austronesian predecessors during the terminal eastward Lapita expansion period from Southeast Asia and Melanesia between 2,500 and 1,500 BCE. The Samoan origins are currently being reassessed due to new scientific evidence and carbon dating findings from 2003 and onwards.

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Samoan Islands
The Samoan Islands or Samoa Islands is an archipelago covering 3,030 km² (1,170 sq mi) in the central South Pacific, forming part of Polynesia and the wider region of Oceania. The population of the Samoan Islands is approximately 250,000, sharing a common language, Samoan, a culture, known as fa'a Samoa and an indigenous form of governance called fa'amatai.
Due to colonialism, the Samoa Islands and people were divided by Western powers. Today, the islands have two jurisdictions, the independent country of Samoa in the western half of the islands, and the territory of American Samoa comprising the islands to the east. The two regions are separated by 64 km of ocean. Most Samoans are full-blooded and are one of the largest Polynesian populations in the world.
The oldest date so far from prehistoric remains in the Samoan Islands has been calculated from archaeology in Samoa to a likely true age of circa 1,050 BCE from a Lapita site at Mulifanua wharf on Upolu island.
In 1768, the eastern islands were visited by French explorer Bougainville, who named them the Navigator Islands, a name used by missionaries until about 1845 and in official European dispatches until about 1870.

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Savusavu
Savusavu is a town in the Fijian Province of Cakaudrove. The town is located on the south coast of Vanua Levu Island and had a population of 3,372 in the 2007 census.
Savusavu is known as "the hidden paradise of Fiji."
Savusavu is located on Fiji’s northern island of Vanua Levu. It can be reached by plane from Nadi (one hour) or by ferry from Suva or Lautoka (approx 12 hour trip).
It’s famous for its hot springs, located mostly opposite the Hot Springs Hotel – although at low tide you can see the steam from numerous smaller outlets all along the foreshore. In late 19th century these hot springs for a period of two months turned into 12 - 18 m tall geysers.
The old Copra Shed Marina, build in the 19th century, is a major landmark in Savusavu. Renovated in recent years by geologist and Savusavu resident Geoff Taylor, it now houses the Savusavu Yacht Club. Fiji Air offices, Pacific Sun reservations (Formerly Sun Air) offices, a chandlery shop, a geologist's office, a gift shop, travel agency and two rental apartments. There are also moorings for yachts, along with shower and toilet facilities.

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Serua Province
Serua is one of Fiji's fourteen Provinces. Its 830 square kilometers occupy the southernmost areas of Viti Levu, being one of 8 provinces based on Fiji's largest island. It had a population of 18,249 at the 2007 census, the most recent to date. The Pacific Harbour tourist resort and shopping centre is in Serua.
Serua includes Nuku District and three non-contiguous pieces of Serua District, all separated by Nuku.
The province is governed by a Provincial Council, chaired by Atunaisa Lacabuka.
Coordinates: 18°10′S 178°00′E / 18.167°S 178°E / -18.167; 178

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Sikaiana
Sikaiana formerly called Stewart Islands is a small atoll 212 km NE of Malaita. It is almost 14 km in length and its lagoon, known as Te Moana, is totally enclosed by the coral reef. Its total land surface is only 2 km². There is no safe anchorage close to this atoll, which makes it often inaccessible.
Sikaiana is located Latitude: 8° 25' 0 South and Longitude: 162° 52' 0 East. The main island, located at the easternmost corner, is called Sikaiana. The three small islands in the west of the atoll are Tehaolei, Matuiloto and Matuavi. There are also two artificial islands on the reef, Te Palena and Hakatai'atata.
Administratively Sikaiana is an outlying region of Malaita Province in the Solomon Islands. Sikaiana's population is approximately 300 people of Polynesian descent. In 1856, when Hawai‘i was offered the sovereignty of Sikaiana, the Privy Council voted to accept the cession. King Kamehameha IV approved the action, making Hawai‘i an imperial power of sorts. But there were second thoughts. The great distance of the atoll from Honolulu would make administration impossible, and the cession was never formalized. Some residents have claimed to be native Hawaiians and citizens of the United States. According to these residents, the Stewart Islands were given to King Kamehameha IV in 1856, and therefore the islands were part of the Kingdom of Hawai‘i at the time of the United States' annexation in 1898. The United States disagrees, arguing that the 1898 law annexed only the "Hawaiian Islands and their dependencies", and that the law defined dependencies as the islands named by a report by the Hawaiian Commission that omitted the Stewart Islands. Some residents applied to register to vote in Hawai‘i in 1996, but their applications were turned down by the Hawaiian Sovereignty Election Council.

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Solkope
Solkope is a small and densely wooded island off the southern coast of Rotuma in the Fiji Islands, at the edge of the fringing coral reef. It is separated from the main island of Rotuma by a channel that is between 50 and 200 meters wide, and lies immediately southeast of the village of Kalvaka in the district of Noa'tau. It 765 meters long east-west, and up to 515 meters wide, and rises to a height of 128 meters. Its area is 0.3 km². From the sea, it cannot be recognized as a separate island.
In 2000 Solkope was the subject of a land ownership dispute, as a consequence of an attempted secession of Rotuma from Fiji which was jointly orchestrated by the Molmahao Clan of Noa'tau district, and unrecognized micronation Dominion of Melchizedek. According to documents tendered in court [1] pertaining to the case, the native landowner of Solkope Island, Hiagi Apao and Melchizedek's "Head of House of Elders", Tzemach "Ben" David Netzer Korem, concluded a "99 year sovereign master lease agreement", under which control of Solkope was ceded to the "government" of Melchizedek. As at June 2008 the DOM website still lists the island as one of its territories, although Korem is banned from entering Fiji, and there is no Melchizedek presence of any sort on the island.

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Suva
Suva is the capital and largest city of Fiji. It is located on the southeast coast of the island of Viti Levu, in the Central Division, Rewa Province. In 1877, it was decided to make Suva the capital of Fiji when the geography of former main European settlement at Levuka on the island of Ovalau proved too restrictive. The administration of the colony was moved from Levuka to Suva in 1882.
Suva is Fiji's political and administrative capital. It's also the largest and the most sophisticated city in the South Pacific (excluding New Zealand) and has become an important regional centre; students from the Pacific region and a growing expatriate community make up a significant portion of the city's population.
At the 2007 census the city of Suva had a population of 85,691. Including independent suburbs, the population of the Greater Suva urban area was 172,399 at the 2007 census.^{[citation needed]} Suva, along with the bordering cities of Lami, Nasinu, and Nausori have a total urban population of around 330,000, over a third of the nation's population. This urban complex is known also as the Suva-Nausori corridor (not including Lami).

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Tailevu Province
Tailevu is one of the 14 provinces of Fiji. One of eight Provinces based in Viti Levu, Fiji's largest island, its 755 square kilometers occupy the south-eastern fringe of the island, along with some central areas. At the 2007 census, the most recent to date, it had a population of 55,692, the fifth largest among the Provinces. The main urban area of Tailevu is Nausori with a population of 21,645 in 1996.
Tailevu includes the districts of Bau, Nakelo, Verata, Wainibuka, and Sawakasa. Bau District includes Bau Island, the seat of the Kubuna Confederacy, one of three traditional chiefly hierarchies in Fiji. Kubuna's Paramount Chief, called the Vunivalu of Bau, is generally considered the most senior such chief in Fiji. Holders of the title included Seru Epenisa Cakobau, who forged the first nation-state out of the Fiji Islands and established the Kingdom of Viti, having himself crowned as King in 1871 before ceding the islands to the United Kingdom in 1874. The last to hold the title was Ratu Sir George Cakobau, who was also Governor-General of Fiji from 1973 to 1983. Since Cakobau's death in 1989, the office of Vunivalu has been vacant; this is thought to be partly because of disagreements over the succession. Discussions among the clans of Bau are currently underway to find a successor, with Cakobau's son, Ratu George Cakobau, considered a likely candidate.

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Tikopia
Tikopia is a small and high island in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. Covering an area of 5 km² (2 sq. mi.), the island is the remnant of an extinct volcano. Its highest point, Mt. Reani, reaches an elevation of 380 m (1,247 ft) above sea level. Lake Te Roto covers an old volcanic crater which is 80 m deep.
Tikopia's location is relatively remote. It is sometimes grouped with the Santa Cruz Islands. Administratively, Tikopia belongs to Temotu Province as the southernmost of the Solomon Islands.
The population of Tikopia is about 1,200, distributed among more than 20 villages mostly along the coast. The largest village is Matautu on the west coast, not to be confused with Mata-Utu, the capital of Wallis and Futuna. Historically, the tiny island has supported a high-density population of a thousand or so. Strict reproductive policy prevented further increase. Unlike most of the Solomon Islands, the inhabitants are Polynesians, their language, Tikopian, is a member of the Samoic branch of the Polynesian languages and is generally referred to as a Polynesian outlier.

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Tokelau
Tokelau ( /ˈtoʊkəlaʊ/) is a territory of New Zealand in the South Pacific Ocean that consists of three tropical coral atolls with a combined land area of 10 km² and a population of approximately 1,400. The atolls lie north of the Samoan Islands, east of Tuvalu, south of the Phoenix Islands, southwest of the more distant Line Islands (both island groups belonging to Kiribati) and northwest of the Cook Islands.
The United Nations General Assembly designated Tokelau a Non-Self-Governing Territory. Until 1976 the official name was Tokelau Islands. Tokelau is sometimes referred to by the older, colonial name of The Union Islands.
The name Tokelau is a Polynesian word meaning "North Wind". The islands were named the Union Islands and Union Group by European explorers at an unknown time. Tokelau Islands was adopted as the name in 1946, and was contracted to Tokelau on 9 December 1976.
The change from Tokelau Islands to Tokelau marked a slight shift in emphasis, with consequences in regional diplomacy, in that the term Tokelau Islands clearly and substantially referred to a geographical expression, that is, a range of islands, whatever else it may connote. It is not necessarily controversial to refer by name to a range of islands, even though they may come under two or more political jurisdictions. Tokelau, on the other hand, can be taken to refer more immediately to some concept of nationhood, arguably infusing increased meaning to the draft 2006 independence constitution of Tokelau (which somewhat controversially claims Tokelauan inhabited Olohega (or Swains Island), currently part of American Samoa, as part of its national territory).^{[citation needed]}

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Tonga
Tonga, officially the Kingdom of Tonga (Tongan: Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga), is a sovereign state and an archipelago in the South Pacific Ocean, comprising 176 islands scattered over 700,000 square kilometres (270,000 sq mi) of ocean in the South Pacific. Fifty-two of the islands are inhabited.
The Kingdom stretches over a distance of about 800 kilometres (500 mi) in a north-south line located at about a third of the distance from New Zealand to Hawaii.
Tonga also became known as the Friendly Islands because of the friendly reception accorded to Captain James Cook on his first visit there in 1773. He happened to arrive at the time of the ʻinasi festival, the yearly donation of the first fruits to the Tuʻi Tonga, the islands' paramount chief, and received an invitation to the festivities. According to the writer William Mariner, in reality the chiefs had wanted to kill Cook during the gathering, but could not agree on a plan.
Tonga is also the only island nation in the region to have avoided formal colonisation. In 2010, Tonga took a decisive step towards becoming a fully functioning constitutional monarchy after legislative reforms paved the way for its first ever fully representative elections which resulted in the election of Noble Sialeʻataongo Tuʻivakanō as its first democratically elected Prime Minister.

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Tuamotus
The Tuamotus or the Tuamotu Archipelago (French: Îles Tuamotu, officially Archipel des Tuamotu) are a chain of islands and atolls in French Polynesia. They form the largest chain of atolls in the world, spanning an area of the Pacific Ocean roughly the size of Western Europe. The Tuamotu islands were originally settled by Polynesians who share a common culture and language.
French Polynesia is a semi-autonomous island group designated as an overseas country of France. The Tuamotus combine with the Gambier Islands to form the Îles Tuamotu-Gambier which is one of the five administrative divisions of French Polynesia.
The Tuamotus are grouped into sixteen communes: Anaa; Arutua; Fakarava; Fangatau; Hao; Hikueru; Makemo; Manihi; Napuka; Nukutavake; Puka Puka; Rangiroa; Reao; Takaroa; Tatakoto; and Tureia.
The communes on Tuamotu are part of two different electoral districts (circonscriptions électorales) represented in the Assembly of French Polynesia. The Îles Gambier et Tuamotu Est electoral district comprises the commune of Gambier and eleven communes in eastern Tuamotu: Anaa; Fangatau; Hao; Hikueru; Makemo; Napuka; Nukutavake; Pukapuka; Reao; Tatakoto; and Tureia. The other five communes in western Tuamotu – Arutua; Fakarava; Manihi; Rangiroa; and Takaroa – form the Îles Tuamotu Ouest electoral district .

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Tuvalu
Tuvalu (ⁱ/tuːˈvɑːluː/ too-VAH-loo or /ˈtuːvəluː/ TOO-və-loo), formerly known as the Ellice Islands, is a Polynesian island nation located in the Pacific Ocean, midway between Hawaii and Australia. It comprises four reef islands and five true atolls spread out from 6° to 10° south. Its nearest neighbours are Kiribati, Nauru, Samoa and Fiji. Its population of 10,544 makes it the third-least populous sovereign state in the world, with only Vatican City and Nauru having fewer inhabitants. In terms of physical land size, at just 26 square kilometres (10 sq mi) Tuvalu is the fourth smallest country in the world, larger only than the Vatican City at 0.44 km² (0.17 sq mi), Monaco at 1.98 km² (0.76 sq mi) and Nauru at 21 km² (8.1 sq mi).
The first inhabitants of Tuvalu were Polynesian people. In 1568 Spanish navigator Álvaro de Mendaña sailed through the islands and is understood to have sighted Nui during his expedition in search of Terra Australis. In 1819 the island of Funafuti was named Ellice's Island; the name Ellice was applied to all nine islands after the work of English hydrographer Alexander George Findlay (1812–1876). The islands came under Britain's sphere of influence in the late 19th century, when the Ellice Islands were declared a British protectorate by Captain Gibson, R. N. of HMS Curaçao between 9th and 16 October 1892. The Ellice Islands were administered as British protectorate by a Resident Commissioner from 1892 to 1916 as part of the British Western Pacific Territories (BWPT), and later as part of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands colony from 1916 to 1974.

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United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK, or Britain) is a sovereign state located off the north-western coast of continental Europe. The country includes the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands. Northern Ireland is the only part of the UK that shares a land border with another sovereign state—the Republic of Ireland. Apart from this land border the UK is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, the North Sea, the English Channel and the Irish Sea.
The United Kingdom is a unitary state governed under a constitutional monarchy and a parliamentary system, with its seat of government in the capital city of London. It is a country in its own right and consists of four countries: England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. There are three devolved administrations, each with varying powers, based in Belfast, Edinburgh and Cardiff, the capitals of Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. Associated with the UK, but not constitutionally part of it, are three Crown Dependencies. The United Kingdom has fourteen overseas territories. These are remnants of the British Empire which, at its height in 1922, encompassed almost a quarter of the world's land surface and was the largest empire in history. British influence can still be observed in the language, culture and legal systems of many of its former territories.

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University of Utah
The University of Utah (also referred to as The U, the U of U or Utah) is a public, coeducational research university in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States.
As the state's flagship university, Utah offers more than 100 undergraduate majors and more than 90 graduate degree programs. Graduate studies include the S.J. Quinney College of Law and the School of Medicine, Utah's only medical school. As of 2011, there are 23,371 undergraduate students and 7,448 graduate students, for an enrollment total of 30,819; with 84% coming from Utah and 6% coming from foreign countries. Just over 10% of students live on campus.
The university's athletic teams, the Utes, participate in NCAA Division I athletics (FBS for football) as a member of the Pacific-12 Conference. Its football team has received national attention in recent years for winning the 2005 Fiesta Bowl and the 2009 Sugar Bowl.
The university was established in 1850 as the University of Deseret by the General Assembly of the provisional State of Deseret, making it Utah's oldest institution of higher education. It received its current name in 1892, four years before Utah attained statehood, and moved to its current location in 1900.

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Vanua Levu
Vanua Levu (pronounced [βaˈnua ˈleβu]), formerly known as Sandalwood Island, is the second largest island of Fiji. Located 64 kilometres to the north of the larger Viti Levu, the island has an area of 5,587.1 km² and a population of some 130,000.
Geologists believe that Vanua Levu is an amalgamation of several islands that melded through successive stages of uplift. The main part of the island is roughly shaped like a tall, thin triangle 30 to 50 kilometers in width and 180 kilometres in length, rotated so that the point is to the northeast. This point, the northernmost in the Fiji chain, is Udu Point. From the southeastern side of this triangle, a long peninsula stretches out into the Koro Sea. The island is surrounded by coral reefs, and is rough and hilly.
The island is divided horizontally by a rugged mountain range, which forms much of the boundary between the Provinces of Cakaudrove and Macuata. The highest peaks are Mount Batini, also known as Nasorolevu, with an altitude of 1111 meters, and, 16 kilometers further north-east, Dikeva, also known as Mount Thurston, with an altitude of 1030 meters. Vanua Levu's main mountain ranges lie near the windward, southern coasts, making them much wetter. Northern Vanua Levu, by contrast, is dry eight months of the year, enabling sugar cane, the island's major crop, to thrive there. Vanua Levu has a number of rivers, including the Labasa, the Wailevu, and the Qawa. These three form a delta on which the town of Labasa stands. None of the island's rivers are navigable by large vessels.

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Viti Levu
Viti Levu (pronounced [ˈβitʃi ˈleβu]) is the largest island in the Republic of Fiji, the site of the nation's capital, Suva, and home to a large majority of Fiji's population.
The largest island, Viti Levu is home to 70% of the population (about 600,000) and is the hub of the entire Fijian archipelago. It measures 146 kilometers long and 106 kilometers wide and has an area of 10,389 square kilometers comparable to the size of The Big Island of Hawaii or slightly smaller than Connecticut. Geologists believe that Viti Levu has been submerged a number of times, and has been covered by lava and other volcanic materials. Earthquakes and volcanic eruptions account for the somewhat rugged terrain of the island, which is divided into roughly equal halves by a north-south mountain range. The eastern side of the island experiences heavy rainfall, while the western side is noticeably drier. Accordingly, sugar cane production thrives in the west, while a dairy industry is being built in the east. Fiji's biggest cattle ranch, with 7000 head of cattle in its 70 square kilometres, is at Yaqara, halfway between Tavua and Rakiraki. The centre of the island is forested and includes the nation's highest peak Mount Tomanivi (otherwise Mount Victoria) rising to 1,324 meters. The island is the only known home of one of the world's largest insects, the Giant Fijian long-horned beetle.

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Viti Levu Group
The Viti Levu Group in Fiji consists of the island of Viti Levu and its outliers, including Bau, Beqa, Nukulau, and Vatulele. The group had an aggregate area of 10,453 square kilometers and a population of 574,801 at the 1996 census.
Several island groups close to Viti Levu, such as the Lomaiviti and Yasawa islands, could be considered outliers, but are usually classified as separate island chains in their own right.
Coordinates: 18°23′34″S 177°47′40″E / 18.39278°S 177.79444°E / -18.39278; 177.79444

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Wallis and Futuna
Wallis and Futuna, officially the Territory of the Wallis and Futuna Islands (French: Wallis et Futuna or Territoire des îles Wallis et Futuna, Fakauvea and Fakafutuna: Uvea mo Futuna), is a Polynesian French island territory in the South Pacific between Tuvalu to the northwest, Rotuma of Fiji to the west, the main part of Fiji to the southwest, Tonga to the southeast, Samoa to the east, the New Zealand-associated state of Tokelau to the northeast and to a more distant north the Phoenix Islands (Kiribati). (However, Wallis and Futuna is not part of, nor even contiguous with, French Polynesia. Wallis and Futuna is located at the very opposite western end of Polynesia.)
Its land area is 264 km² with a population of about 15,000. Mata-Utu is the capital and biggest city. The territory is made up of three main volcanic tropical islands along with a number of tiny islets, and is split into two island groups that lie about 260 km apart, namely Wallis Islands (Uvea) in the northeast, and Hoorn Islands (also called the Futuna Islands) in the southwest, including Futuna Island proper and the mostly uninhabited Alofi Island.

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Yap
Yap, also known as Wa'ab by locals, is an island in the Caroline Islands of the western Pacific Ocean. It is a state of the Federated States of Micronesia. Yap's indigenous cultures and traditions are still strong compared to other neighboring islands. The island of Yap actually consists of four continental islands (hence the alternative name of the Yap Islands). The four are very close together and joined within a common coral reef and entirely formed from an uplift of the Philippine Sea Plate. The land is mostly rolling hills densely covered with vegetation. Mangrove swamps line much of the shore. An outer barrier reef surrounds the islands, enclosing a lagoon between the fringing barrier reef.
Colonia is the capital of the State of Yap. It administers both Yap proper and fourteen atolls reaching to the east and south for some 800 km (500 mi), namely Eauripik, Elato, Fais, Faraulep, Gaferut, Ifalik, Lamotrek, Ngulu, Olimarao, Piagailoe (West Fayu), Pikelot, Sorol, Ulithi, and Woleai Atolls, as well as the island of Satawal (municipalities in bold).

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Yasawa Islands
Coordinates: 16°55′S 177°20′E / 16.917°S 177.333°E / -16.917; 177.333
The Yasawa Group is an archipelago of about 20 volcanic islands in the Western Division of Fiji, with an approximate total area of 135 square kilometers.
The Yasawa volcanic group consists of six main islands and numerous smaller islets. The archipelago, which stretches in a north-easterly direction for more than 80 kilometers from a point 40 kilometers north-west of Lautoka, is volcanic in origin and very mountainous, with peaks ranging from 250 to 600 meters in height. The only safe passage for shipping is between Yasawa Island (the largest in the archipelago, about 22 kilometers long and less than a kilometer wide) and Round Island, 22 kilometers to the north-east.
The British navigator William Bligh was the first European to sight the Yasawas in 1789, following the mutiny on the HMS Bounty. Captain Barber in the HMS Arthur visited the islands in 1794, but they were not charted until 1840, when they were surveyed and charted by a United States expedition commanded by Charles Wilkes.

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Chamorro people
The Chamorro people, or Chamoru people, are the indigenous peoples of the Mariana Islands, which include the United States territory of Guam and the United States Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands in Micronesia. Today, significant Chamoru populations also exist in several U.S. states including Hawaii, California, Washington, Texas and Nevada. According to the 2000 Census, approximately 65,000 people of Chamoru ancestry live on Guam and another 19,000 live in the Northern Marianas. Another 93,000 live outside the Marianas in Hawaii and the West/Pacific coast of the United States. The Chamoru are primarily of Austronesian stock.
Most Chamorros are Roman Catholic and few in the Marianas still maintain some customs and beliefs from the time before the first European conquests; some residents of the Marianas will still ask permission from ancestral spirits before entering parts of jungles. Traditional healers called suruhanas are still greatly respected for their knowledge of herbal treatments and spirits. Before Spanish colonization, Chamoru life centered on one's clan. Chamorro culture is strongly influenced by Spanish, Filipino, Japanese, and American customs; in addition, Chamorro food is also influenced by the various groups mentioned previously. Today, large extended families remain central to life in the Marianas.

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Daniel Fatiaki
Taniela (Daniel) Vafo'ou Fatiaki CF (born 1954 [1]) was the Chief Justice of Fiji from 1 August 2002, when he succeeded Sir Timoci Tuivaga, till 5 December 2008. As Chief Justice, he presided over both the High Court and the Supreme Court, but is constitutionally barred from presiding over, or even sitting on, the Appeal Court. On 3 January 2007, he was sent on leave by the Republic of Fiji Military Forces, which had seized power on 5 December 2006. On 19 January, he was formally suspended, pending an investigation into allegations of misconduct. This investigation was dropped in December 2008 as part of a deal that involved his formal resignation.
Fatiaki was previously Chairman of the Fiji Law Reform Commission in 1994 and 1995.

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Daniel Rae Costello
Daniel Rae Costello (born 1961 in Suva) is a renowned Pacific musician. His mother, Jessie Rae was of a Samoan/Rotuman and Scottish descent whereas his father, Dan Costello. was Irish and both were born in Fiji. He was brought up in Tavua. His father owned a cattle ranch. He moved with his family to Lautoka since he was 5 and has been there since. He and his younger brother Vince started a band called The Fleet Swingers when he was in Grade 7. His brother was the lead singer.
He along with his brother attended high school in Whangarei, New Zealand. He enjoyed taking part in sports when he was in NZ, taking much interest in rugby, soccer and athletics and even represented North Auckland in the Under 17 soccer team. He completed his last year of school back in Fiji at Marist Brothers High School in Suva. He also won the schools talent contest that year and was asked to perform at Suva Grammar School as a guest artist and that's where he met his future wife, Corrina
After winning a few talent contest, he joined a small group called The Beachcomber Boys who performed daily at the Beachcomber Island Resort.

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Fijian people
Fijian people are the major indigenous people of the Fiji Islands, and live in an area informally called Melanesia. The Fijian people are believed to have arrived in Fiji from western Melanesia approximately 3,500 years ago, though the exact origins of the Fijian people are unknown. Later they would move onward to other surrounding islands including Rotuma,as well as blending with other (Polynesian) settlers on Tonga and Samoa. They are indigenous to all parts of Fiji except the island of Rotuma. The original settlers are now called "Lapita people" after a distinctive pottery produced locally. Lapita pottery was found in the area from 800 BC onward.
As of 2005, Fijians constituted slightly more than half of the Fijian population. Indigenous Fijians are predominantly of Melanesian extraction, with some Polynesian admixture. Other ethnic groups in Fiji include Indo-Fijians, the Rotuman people, and minority communities, which include Caucasians, Chinese, and other Pacific Islanders.
New Zealand has a large Fijian population, according to the Ministry of Pacific Island Affairs. In 2001, Fijian people were the fifth largest Pacific ethnic group living in New Zealand. There was a decrease of 8 percent between 1996 and 2001. The estimated Pacific Islander population size is 231,800 in 2001 Fijians comprising about 7,000 of that.

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Graham Dewes
Graham Charles Dewes (born Suva, 24 January 1982) is a Fijian rugby union player. He plays as a prop.
He got his first cap for Fiji on 26 May 2007 in a 30–15 win over Japan. Dewes was a member of the Fiji squad that entered the 2007 Rugby World Cup finals, playing in four matches and scoring the winning try in the 38–34 win over Wales putting Fiji through to their first quarter final in 20 years. Fiji lost that quarter final to eventual winners South Africa despite drawing 20-all for a period in the 2nd half. He had 7 caps by the end of the competition. His mother is Rotuman from Noa'tau, Rotuma. Before his selection into the 2007 squad he had only played third division rugby in the NPC in New Zealand. He played in Auckland's age grades through to U-23s, and Thames Valley in the NPC. He currently plays for Counties Manukau Steelers in New Zealand.

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Jono Gibbes
Jonathan Brian Gibbes (born 22 January 1977 in Henderson) is the forwards coach of Leinster Rugby in Ireland and former New Zealand rugby union player who captained Waikato, the Chiefs and the New Zealand Māori rugby union team, and appeared in various All Blacks teams.
Gibbes traditionally plays at the position of Blindside Flanker, or No.6, but has also played at Lock. Due to his height of 194 cm, he has often been overlooked by the All Black selectors for being too short for an international class lock.
Weighing in at 109 kg, Gibbes's career has been plagued by injury. Nonetheless his line-out jumping skills are more than impressive and under the guidance of John Mitchell was selected as captain of the Waikato NPC team in 2003. Despite various appearances for the All Blacks, Gibbes highest career achievement was captaining the NZ Maori to their first ever victory over the British Lions 19–13. During the match, which was played at Waikato and Chiefs home ground of Waikato Stadium, Gibbes was on the ground clearly suffering from cramp but miraculously staggered to his feet to make a try-saving tackle.

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Marieta Rigamoto
Marieta Rigamoto is a Fijian politician. As as independent candidate campaigning for improved roads and hospital services in Rotuma, she won a hotly contested election for the Rotuman Communal Constituency in the House of Representatives in 1999, and was returned with an increased majority in the election of 2001. Since then, she has served in the Cabinet of Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase as an Assistant Minister in the Prime Minister's Department, and was appointed Minister for Information and Media Relations on 12 July 2005, succeeding Ahmed Ali, who died on 4 June. She announced in February 2006 that she would not be contesting the upcoming parliamentary election.
Rigamoto was educated at Dudley High School from 1957 to 1962, and subsequently graduated with a Diploma in Tropical Agriculture from the Fiji College of Agriculture in 1965, and with a Bachelor's degree in Science (BSc) from the University of Hawaii in 1969. She later completed postgraduate work at the University of London in 1971.

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Māori people
The Māori (Māori pronunciation: [ˈmaːɔɾi], English: /ˈmaʊəri/) are the indigenous Polynesian people of New Zealand. The Māori originated with settlers from eastern Polynesia, who arrived in New Zealand in several waves of canoe voyages at some time before 1300 CE. Over several centuries in isolation, the Polynesian settlers developed a unique culture that became known as the "Māori", with their own language, a rich mythology, distinctive crafts and performing arts. Early Māori formed tribal groups, based on eastern Polynesian social customs and organisation. Horticulture flourished using plants they introduced, and later a prominent warrior culture emerged.
The arrival of Europeans to New Zealand starting from the 17th century brought enormous change to the Māori way of life. Māori people gradually adopted many aspects of Western society and culture. Initial relations between Māori and Europeans were largely amicable, and with the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840 the two cultures coexisted as part of a new British colony. Rising tensions over disputed land sales led to conflict in the 1860s. Social upheaval, decades of conflict and epidemics of introduced disease took a devastating toll on the Māori population, which went into a dramatic decline. But by the start of the 20th century the Māori population had begun to recover, and efforts were made to increase their standing in wider New Zealand society. Traditional Māori culture has enjoyed a revival, and a protest movement emerged in the 1960s advocating Māori issues.

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Native Hawaiians
Native Hawaiians (in Hawaiian, kānaka ʻōiwi, kānaka maoli or Hawaiʻi maoli) refers to the indigenous Polynesian people of the Hawaiian Islands or their descendants. Native Hawaiians trace their ancestry back to the original Polynesian settlers of Hawaii.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau report for 2000, there are 401,162 people who identified themselves as being "native Hawaiian" alone or in any combination. 140,652 people identified themselves as being "native Hawaiian" alone. The majority of native Hawaiians reside in State of Hawaiʻi, California, Nevada and Washington. Two-thirds live in the State of Hawaiʻi while the other one-third is scattered among other states with a high concentration in California.
The history of native Hawaiians, and of Hawaiʻi in general, is classified into four major periods: antiquity (Ancient Hawaiʻi), monarchy (Kingdom of Hawaiʻi), territorial (Territory of Hawaiʻi), and statehood (State of Hawaiʻi).
The early settlement history of Hawaiʻi is still not completely resolved. Some believe that the first Polynesians arrived in Hawaiʻi in the 3rd century from the Marquesas and were followed by Tahitian settlers in AD 1300 who conquered the original inhabitants. Others believe that there was only a single, extended period of settlement. Patrick Kirch, in his 2001 Hawaiki, argues for an extended period of contact but not necessarily for a Tahitian invasion:

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Negrito
The Negrito are a class of several ethnic groups who inhabit isolated parts of Southeast Asia.
Their current populations include 12 Andamanese peoples of the Andaman Islands, six Semang peoples of Malaysia, the Mani of Thailand, and the Aeta, Agta, Ati, and 30 other peoples of the Philippines. Reports from British traders also speak of negrito people on Borneo (Sarawak). (Journal of the Malayan Branch Royal Asiatic Society, Vol. XXIX, part 1, 1956)
Negritos share some common physical features with African pygmy populations, including short stature, natural afro-hair texture, and dark skin; however, their origin and the route of their migration to Asia is still a matter of great speculation. They are the most genetically distant human population from Africans at most loci studied thus far (except for MC1R, which codes for dark skin).
They have also been shown to have separated early from Asians, suggesting that they are either surviving descendants of settlers from an early migration out of Africa, commonly referred to as the Proto-Australoids, or that they are descendants of one of the founder populations of modern humans.

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Paul Manueli
Colonel Paul Manueli is a former Commander of the Royal Fiji Military Forces, a former Fiji Cabinet minister, Senator and successful businessman.
Manueli is of Rotuman and Samoan descent, he was a soldier in the Royal Fiji Military Forces, and a graduate of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in England. He had a distinguished career with the Fijian military, and while still a lieutenant, was appointed to the post of district officer on Rotuma for an interim period in 1960. He went on to become a Colonel and the first indigenous Commander of the Fiji Military Forces, which he led from 22 February 1974 until February 22, 1979.
Following his retirement, he has enjoyed considerable success as a business leader and has served on the boards of numerous corporations, including General Manager of BP in the South Pacific. After the 1987 Fijian coups d'état, Manueli has held the portfolios of Minister for Home Affairs, Finance Minister and Minister for Justice in the Fijian Parliamentary Cabinet. Originally a member of the post-coup interim government, Manueli subsequently sought election and won the sole seat for the Rotuman Communal Constituency and was made a Cabinet Minister in Sitiveni Rabuka's governments. He is currently Rotuma's representative on the Great Council of Chiefs. He also is a member of the executive board of Warwick International Hotels.

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Rebecca Tavo
Rebecca Tavo (b. March 23, 1983 in Port Hedland, Western Australia) is an Australian, dual international, rugby union and Touch football player. She is the current captain for the Australian women's sevens team.
In 2006 she became BHP Billiton's first female train driver . She is also the first Rotuman female to play rugby internationally.

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Rotuman People
The Rotuman people are the indigenous inhabitants of Rotuma, a small island group forming part of the Republic of Fiji. The island itself is a cultural melting pot at the crossroads of the Micronesian, Melanesian and Polynesian divisions of the Pacific Ocean, and due to the seafaring nature of traditional Pacific cultures, the indigenous Rotuman have adopted or share many aspects of its multifaceted culture with its Melanesian, Micronesian and Polynesian neighbours.
It is believed by many academics that the first inhabitants of the island were probably the ancient (Melanesian) seafaring people the Lapita, followed by waves of Micronesians and finally by Polynesians, giving Rotumans a similar but thoroughly distinct language, cultural heritage and metaphysical understanding to that of their preceding parent cultures.
Rotuman mythology typically points to Samoans as the first people to inhabit the island of Rotuma. The most prominent creation myth speaks of Raho, a Samoan prince who, shamed by his family, sought a new home with his daughters. He travelled across the Pacific in his canoe, and when he came to a spot with two protruding rocks, poured baskets of sand from Samoa over the rocks, forming the islands of Rotuma.

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Rotuman people
The Rotuman people are the indigenous inhabitants of Rotuma, a small island group forming part of the Republic of Fiji. The island itself is a cultural melting pot at the crossroads of the Micronesian, Melanesian and Polynesian divisions of the Pacific Ocean, and due to the seafaring nature of traditional Pacific cultures, the indigenous Rotuman have adopted or share many aspects of its multifaceted culture with its Melanesian, Micronesian and Polynesian neighbours.
It is believed by many academics that the first inhabitants of the island were probably the ancient (Melanesian) seafaring people the Lapita, followed by waves of Micronesians and finally by Polynesians, giving Rotumans a similar but thoroughly distinct language, cultural heritage and metaphysical understanding to that of their preceding parent cultures.
Rotuman mythology typically points to Samoans as the first people to inhabit the island of Rotuma. The most prominent creation myth speaks of Raho, a Samoan prince who, shamed by his family, sought a new home with his daughters. He travelled across the Pacific in his canoe, and when he came to a spot with two protruding rocks, poured baskets of sand from Samoa over the rocks, forming the islands of Rotuma.

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Samoans
The Samoan people are a Polynesian ethnic group of the Samoan Islands, sharing genetics, language, history and culture. Due to colonialism, the home islands are politically and geographically divided between the country of Samoa, official name Independent State of Samoa (formerly Western Samoa until country name change in 1997); and American Samoa, an unincorporated territory of the United States.
Samoans living in Samoa in 2006 were estimated at 188,000 The majority of ethnic Samoans now reside in other countries, primarily in New Zealand (115,000 in 2001) and Australia (39,992 in 2006)
Although the Samoan Natives (Tagata Mao'i) have long claimed to be the indigenous people of their islands, holding firm to the belief that Samoans were birthed by special creation in Samoa, it has been theorized by many linguists and anthropologists, based on linguistic commonalities as well as archaeological findings, that migrants from Southeast Asia arrived in the Samoan Islands approximately 3500 years ago, settling in what has come to be known as "Polynesia" further to the east. This approximation is based on the so-called "Lapita" pottery that has been dated to that time; it is possible, as the natives suggest, however, that the Samoan Islands were in fact settled some time prior to 1000 BC and that the original settlement actually predates the arrival of those to whom the pottery was culturally relevant. Furthermore, the Samoans have developed a language, culture, and social practice most divergent from the other ethnic groups associated with the Lapita pottery and the term "Austronesia".

wn.com/Samoans
Sapeta Taito
Sapeta Sokag‘aitu Taito (born 1986) is a Fiji Islander actress. She played the lead role in Fiji's first feature film, The Land Has Eyes, in 2004.
Born in Suva, Fiji, Taito moved to Rotuma at a young age. She studied at the Lelean Memorial School in Suva, and then studied Science at the University of the South Pacific, majoring in biology and chemistry, with the aim of later studying medicine and becoming a surgeon.
She auditioned successfully for the lead role, that of a young Rotuman woman, in the film The Land Has Eyes, despite never having seen a film before. She attended the film’s world premiere at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival, travelling outside Fiji for the first time to do so.

wn.com/Sapeta_Taito
Selina Gilsenan
Selina Gilsenan (born 31 May 1978) is a retired Australian netball player. Gilsenan has Rotuman ancestry form her mother.
After a successful year playing in the Commonwealth Bank Trophy premiership-winning team in 2001, national selectors identified Selina's talent and she received her first invitation to join the Australian squad in 2002. However it was not until early 2005 that Selina received her first call up to the Australian open team, making her debut in a match against England, which Australia won by 40 goals.
A rib injury forced Selina out of Australian team contention for the next international test series, but she fought her way back into contention in late 2005, and has been a permanent member of the team ever since. She was one of Australia's best on court in a silver-medal-winning performance in the 2006 Commonwealth Games final, and after a sterling performance against New Zealand mid-year, cemented her position as Australia's first-choice wing defence.
One of netball's most consistent players, Selina is renowned for her speed and persistence, being nicknamed "the rash" by some opponents. She has been an integral member of the Sydney Swifts national league team since 2000, and has played a key role in their four premierships (2001, 2004, 2006 and 2007). She was named the best player on court in the 2007 grand final. A versatile player and natural athlete, Selina forms a formidable combination with fellow Australian representatives Liz Ellis and Mo'onia Gerrard, and rarely puts in a poor performance. Furthermore her great presentation and likeable nature make her a top ambassador for netball and Australian sport.

wn.com/Selina_Gilsenan
Setanta Ó hAilpín
Setanta Ó hAilpín (born in Sydney, Australia on 18 March 1983) is a Fijian-Irish sportsman. He was a hurler with the Cork senior team before becoming a professional Australian Rules footballer. He is of mixed Irish and Rotuman background. His brothers Seán Óg, Teu and Aisake are also noted sportsmen.
Ó hAilpín was born in Australia to an Irish father and a mother from the Fijian dependency of Rotuma. The family moved to Cork in Ireland in 1988 and Ó hAilpín played both hurling and Gaelic football for Na Piarsaigh, eventually concentrating on hurling. In 2000 he was selected for the Cork minor team. He studied at Waterford Institute of Technology and starred on its Fitzgibbon Cup-winning side in March 2003.
He joined his elder brother, Seán Óg, on the Cork team for the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship 2003, which lost the final to Kilkenny in September. His contribution to the campaign earned him an All-Star award and the Young Hurler of the Year award.
In December 2003 Ó hAilpín announced his move to Australia to play Australian rules football for the Carlton Football Club in Melbourne. This was considered surprising, as AFL recruiters in Ireland primarily targeted Gaelic footballers and Ó hAilpín had concentrated on hurling. Younger brother Aisake followed Setanta to Carlton, while elder brother Seán Óg continued with the Cork hurlers.

wn.com/Setanta_Ó_hAilpín
Seán Óg Ó hAilpín
Seán Óg Ó hAilpín (born 22 May 1977 in Rotuma, Fiji) is an Irish-Fijian sportsperson. A former dual player, he currently plays hurling with his local club Na Piarsaigh and is a member of the Cork senior inter-county team. Ó hAilpín captained Cork to the All-Ireland title in 2005. His brothers Setanta, Teu, and Aisake are also notable sportsmen.
Ó hAilpín was born on the island of Rotuma, 646 kilometres north of the main Fiji islands to Seán Ó hAilpín, an oil-rig worker and a native of Fermanagh in Northern Ireland, and his wife Emilie, a hotel worker and a Rotuman. The eldest of six children, he was the only Ó hAilpín to be born on his mother's native island.
When Ó hAilpín was three years-old the family emigrated to Sydney in Australia. It was here that he first gained an interest in various sports, particularly rugby league. His years in Australia also saw the birth of Ó hAilpín's siblings - Teu, Sarote, Setanta and Aisake. Both Setanta and Aisake would later play for the Carlton Football Club in the Australian Football League. Teu subsequently played both hurling and football in Ireland and Britain.

wn.com/Seán_Óg_Ó_hAilpín
Tahitians
The Tahitians, or Maohis, are indigenous peoples of Tahiti and thirteen other Society Islands, as well as the modern population of these lands of mixed ancestry (French: demis). The Tahitians are one of the most significant indigenous Polynesian peoples of Oceania.
The original Tahitian society was unaware of metal as it was based on Stone Age technology. However, it enabled Tahitians to clear land for cultivation on the fertile volcanic soils and build fishing canoes, their two basic subsistence activities. The tools of the Tahitians when first discovered were made of stone, bone, shell or wood.
The Tahitians were divided into three major classes (or castes): ari'i,ra'atira and manahune.Ari'i were relatively few in number while manahune constituted the bulk of population and included some members who played essential roles in the society. It is estimated that by the first contact with Europeans in 1767 the population of Tahiti was no more than 40,000 while other Society Islands held probably 15,000-20,000 natives.

wn.com/Tahitians
Vilsoni Hereniko
Vilsoni Hereniko (born October 13, 1954) is a Fiji Islander playwright, film director and academic. He was the writer and director of Fiji's first ever (and so far only) feature film, The Land Has Eyes (Pear ta ma 'on maf).
Hereniko is a Rotuman, born in Mea village, Hapmak, Itu'ti'u District, Rotuma, Fiji. He was schooled in his native Rotuma, obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree and a Graduate Certificate in Education from the University of the South Pacific in 1997, a Masters degree in Education at the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and, in 1991, a PhD in literature and language at the University of the South Pacific. He is now a professor at the University of Hawai'i's Center for Pacific Islands Studies, where he teachers literature, theatre and film.
Hereniko published his first plays in the mid-1970s, including Don't Cry Mama, A Child For Iva, Sera's Choice and The Monster. In 1997 he received the Elliott Cades Writing Award for his overall contributions to literature.
Hereniko has served on the jury and selection committee of the Hawai‘i International Film Festival. The Land Has Eyes, set in his native Rotuma, was his first feature film, in 2004. It was presented at the Sundance Film Festival in 2004, and was Fiji's official submission to the 2006 Academy Awards. It received the "Best Overall Entry" award at the 2005 Wairoa Maori Film Festival, and the "Best Dramatic Feature" award at the 2004 Toronto ImagineNative Film & Media Arts Festival.

wn.com/Vilsoni_Hereniko

Rotuman Traditional Medicine

Video 28 in the Introduction to Ethnobotany series. Presented by Will McClatchey. Medicina...

published: 16 May 2012

author: 73rdStProductions

OUR TRIP TO ROTUMA 2000.mpg

Akata and Alan Hodgkinson journey to Rotuma in island hopper plane. Note this part is in b...

published: 17 Dec 2010

author: AkataToma

Part 3 of 3 Salat se Rotuma -- Passage to Rotuma - a beautiful remote island in the Pacific

A Tagata Pasifika documentary special: Our own Ngaire Fuata travels to her father's homela...

published: 12 May 2011

author: tagatapasifika1

Rare language of Rotuma an island near Fiji

Rare language of Rotuma an island near Fiji Tagata Pasifika Tangata Pacifika Pacifica 29 J...

published: 30 Jul 2010

author: tagatapasifika1

rotuma my paradise island home

dedicated to all rotumans out there and also an educational video used to help the rest of...

published: 15 Jul 2007

author: Alfie Prasad

Big Rotuman Hafa

Part Of The Opening For The Methodist Conference 2006...

published: 14 Jul 2009

author: Tui T

rotuma music

noh ma gou...

published: 01 Oct 2010

author: MrKafoa

Rotuman Hafa - Fiji Dec 2006, Rotuma Group

Rotuman hafa - tautoga for Itumuta Day...

published: 25 Mar 2007

author: hugagesea

Atumatu Helava - Rotuma

Rotuma Os Hanua Helava: Music by Divine - Fred and Hanisi Kado. Pictures of Rotuma from co...

published: 20 May 2009

author: Ro2manRaho

Rotuma Day 2007

Rotuman dance at Seven Stars Celebration in Fremont, CA...

published: 19 May 2007

author: crazee4jp

WILSON INIA DAY, ROTUMA HIGH SCHOOL 2011

...

published: 03 Sep 2011

author: harmony791

Rotuman Music

Atu with men from Malha'a\Hapmak...

published: 12 Jan 2009

author: Ravai Fesaitu

Sydney & Canberra Rotuma Day 2012 - Part 1

Sydney & Canberra Rotuma Day 2012 - Part 1...

published: 18 May 2012

author: vaimea1

Rotuma Day Suva 2012-mak'taktak

Itu'muta Mak'Taktak...

published: 23 May 2012

author: George Fasala

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photo: AP / New York City Police Department

In this image provided by the New York City Police Department, a composite sketch showing the woman believed to have pushed a man to his death in front of a subway train on Thursday, Dec. 27, 2012 is shown.

US woman charged with hate crime in subway death

Taipei Times

30 Dec 2012

A woman who told police she shoved a man to his death off a subway platform because she has hated Muslims since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the US and thought he was one was charged on Saturday with murder as a hate crime, prosecutors said ... Menendez, 31, was awaiting arraignment on the charge on Saturday evening, Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said. She faces 25 years to life in prison if convicted ... On Dec ... ....(size: 3.0Kb)

photo: WN / Bhaskar Mallick

India Bright Moon on the City Sky in Kolkata on Monday 03 July 2012 in Eastern India City

A science news preview of 2013

BBC News

30 Dec 2012

Comet Ison is likely to light up the skies in 2013. David Shukman, science editor, BBC News Continue reading the main story Related Stories. A science news preview of 2012. As the Philippines, New Jersey and Britain count the cost of ferocious flooding, expect another year in which extreme weather exacts a human toll. Partly this is because more and more of us live in harm's way on coasts and flood plains ... ....(size: 9.2Kb)

photo: AP / Felicia Fonseca

File - Ram Herder, 89, is shown on May 22, 2008 in his Sanders, Ariz. home that was provided by the federal government as part of a massive relocation project to move Navajos from land Congress said belonged to the Hopi Tribe.

A New Year's Resolution: An Apology Day?

WorldNews.com

01 Jan 2013

Article by WN.com Correspondent Dallas Darling. For good reason Mark Charles, a member of the Navajo Nation, is deeply offended that buried on page 45 of the 2010 Defense Appropriation Act (after pages on the maintenance and operation of the United States Military) is an "official" apology to Native American People ... political leaders and officials find it extremely difficult in expressing remorse for past mistakes ... Escorted by the U.S....(size: 5.6Kb)

photo: AP / John MacDougall

German Chancellor Angela Merkel gestures while posing for photographs after recording her annual New Year's speech at the chancellery in Berlin Sunday, Dec. 30, 2012.

Merkel warns Germans of tough economic times ahead

BBC News

31 Dec 2012

Chancellor Angela Merkel has warned that the German economic climate in 2013 will be "even more difficult". In her new year message, she also cautioned that the eurozone debt crisis was far from over. However, she did say that reforms designed to address the roots of the problem were beginning to bear fruit ... In a taped interview to be broadcast later on Monday, Mrs Merkel urged Germans to be more patient ... Voters 'wary' ... ....(size: 2.3Kb)

photo: AP / Shaam News Network

In this image taken from video obtained from the Shaam News Network, which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, smoke rises from buildings from heavy shelling in Homs, Syria, on Thursday, Dec. 27, 2012.

Syria risks becoming ‘new Somalia’: UN envoy

Zeenews

30 Dec 2012

London. UN-Arab League envoy to Damascus, Lakhdar Brahimi, has said that a diplomatic solution to the conflict in Syria seemed far away, adding that the country risked being slithering into ‘hell’ ... (ANI). For Zee News’s Updates, follow us on Twitter , Facebook, Google+, Pinterest. First Published ... ....(size: 1.7Kb)

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What's on your menu this Christmas?

Stuff

21 Dec 2012

Tell us what's on your menu this Christmas. Are you sticking with a traditional spread or trying something new? How many people are you celebrating with this year?. In my family, Christmas is a chance to eat our way through dozens of dishes. We're a colourful bunch with an equally colourful menu. My mum is Chinese and my dad is Rotuman (Rotuma is a little island near Fiji) ... ....(size: 2.1Kb)

58 Courses and Still Counting for FRU Educato... 22 October, 2012 (Fiji Rugby Union)

noodls

22 Oct 2012

Joeli Tubu a retired referee of 22 years became an educator in 2008 and has since then been travelling to remote areas around Fiji, the furthest being Rotuma. . Ironically though, Harrington was Tubu's educator and awarded him with his Match Educator Official license. ... "All I want from the Match Officials is for them to be successful in terms of officiating ... But now my participants can be as many as 45." ... (noodl....(size: 6.4Kb)

FRU Staff Farewell Eddie Waqa 28 September, 2012 (Fiji Rugby Union) (Fiji Rugby Union)

noodls

28 Sep 2012

Rugby Development Officer and Coach of the winning u20 Baby Fijians in France in 2006. He would surely be missed at FRU. ... Through his coaching clinics and development work he has been able to train more than 500 coaches and more than half of the secondary school rugby players around Fiji, travelling to remote areas around Vanua Levu, Viti Levu and the maritime zones including Rotuma. ... distributed by ... (noodl. 16036472) ....(size: 3.2Kb)

Rotuma Trip Hailed a Success 18 September, 2012 (15905610)

noodls

18 Sep 2012

Rotuma Trip Hailed a Success 18 September, 2012The Fiji Rugby Union's Development Unit has hailed their first ever trip to Rotuma a success. The four Development officers, Sale Sorovaki, Alivereti Mocelutu, Joeli Tubu and Eddie Waqa spent a week in Rotuma to conduct courses on IRB Level 1, 7s and 15s coaching courses and a Level 1 Match Officiating Courses....(size: 4.7Kb)

Seventh Wairoa Maori Film Festival

Scoop

05 Jun 2012

Tuesday, 5 June 2012, 1.21 pm. Press Release. Wairoa Maori Film Festival. THE SEVENTH ANNUAL WAIROA MAORI FILM FESTIVAL was celebrated this weekend when over two hundred people gathered at Kahungunu Marae, Nuhaka, to celebrate the best of Maori and indigenous film making ... The evening then moved into the afternoon with film maker Nikki Si'ulepa introducing two films, SALAT SE ROTUMA and SNOW IN PARADISE ...   {parsetags ... ....(size: 8.5Kb)

Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month: local events

The Examiner

22 May 2012

... (New Guinea, New Caledonia, Vanuatu, Fiji and the Solomon Islands), Micronesia (Marianas, Guam, Wake Island, Palau, Marshall Islands, Kiribati, Nauru and the Federated States of Micronesia) and Polynesia (New Zealand, Hawaiian Islands, Rotuma, Midway Islands, Samoa, American Samoa, Tonga, Tuvalu, Cook Islands, French Polynesia and Easter Island)....(size: 7.7Kb)

How a shocking attack led to woman's arrest

The Australian

24 Feb 2012

POLICE have labelled it one of the most shocking crimes they have seen. This is how the drama unfolded on the day 25-year-old Dana Vulin was set alight, and in the week that followed the horrific attack that changed her life forever. FEBRUARY 16.. 5.45am-6.25am. Ms Vulin has accelerent thrown on her and is set alight in her Rivervale apartment ... 6.25am ... 6.30am ...   ... Coffin Cheater Joseph Rotuma comments on Ms Vulin's Facebook page, saying....(size: 3.2Kb)

Bainimarama's draft speech from 6th January 2012

Scoop

07 Jan 2012

Saturday, 7 January 2012, 1.13 pm. Opinion. Thumbs up for Democracy in Fiji. Bainimarama's draft speech from 6th January 2012. An insider was able to give me Bainimarama’s draft of his speech dated 6th January. His draft was then sent to Qorvis who turned it into the speech we all heard on Friday 6th ... That is a great idea and we are going to close Rotuma to all civilians and turn it into a massive detention centre ... (Note to self ... ....(size: 8.0Kb)

Rethink urged over kava ban

Canberra Times

14 Oct 2011

Pacific Island community members were instructed by police to stop serving a traditional kava drink to the public at the festival in February ... Rotuma representative to the ACT Pacific Islands United Council Gina Pene said kava was an important part of some cultural events ... Ms Pene said people from Rotuma had their own culture and language and it was important for those traditions to continue. ....(size: 2.1Kb)

Rethink urged over kava ban + PHOTOS

Canberra Times

14 Oct 2011

Kava could be back on the menu at next year's Multicultural Festival after the ACT Government asked Commonwealth drug regulators to relax restrictions on the use of the plant for cultural purposes ... Drug scheduling decisions made by federal authorities are automatically adopted under ACT law ... Rotuma representative to the ACT Pacific Islands United Council Gina Pene said kava was an important part of some cultural events ... ....(size: 1.9Kb)

Young achievers great inspiration, says PM

NZ Herald

10 Aug 2011

Six young Kiwis have been acknowledged in the 2011 Prime Minister's Pacific Youth Awards, which recognise young people who have excelled in their chosen field and help them to continue their studies ... MARK DEWES. KEEN TO LEARN WETA'S MAGIC ... Mr Dewes, whose island roots stem from Tonga, Tuvalu and Rotuma, has a bachelor of fine arts degree from the University of Auckland's Elam School of Fine Arts ... JOYCE TOLEAFOA ... JESSICA PAPALI'I CURTIN ... ... ....(size: 8.0Kb)

Aviat Networks to Deploy High-Density All-IP Microwave Trunking Platform for Telecom Fiji Limited

PR Newswire

04 Aug 2011

My news for Investors AtLeast one of the check box should be selected You are following news about Follow the latest news about AVNW.   High-Capacity Aviat WTM 6000 Radios to be Configured for Upgrade Path to Full Ethernet Functionality When Required in Future. , Aug. 4, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Aviat Networks, Inc ... The TFL network consists of 55 telephone exchanges throughout and Rotuma, connecting more than 101,000 customers ... ....(size: 6.8Kb)

Fred Marafono: South Pacific warrior whose heart belongs in Sierra Leone

The Independent

03 Jul 2011

Fred Marafono makes an unlikely African warrior. For a start, the accent is South Pacific, not Sierra Leonean. The skin, though tanned, is not black. And the long white hair tied in a ponytail is more eco-campaigner than militia fighter ... but now it is acceptable ... 1940 Kauata "Fred" Marafono born 13 December on the tiny Pacific island of Rotuma, 350 miles north of Fiji ... 1957 Leaves Rotuma to study at agricultural college in Navuso, Fiji ... ....(size: 9.3Kb)

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This article is about the Fijian dependency. For other uses, see Rotuma (disambiguation).

Rotuma Island (Fijian dependency) Rotuma

Rotuma with Districts and main villages
Official language(s)		Rotuman, English
Ethnic groups		Rotuman, Fijian, Samoan
Government		Dependency of Fiji
-	District Officer (Gagaj Pure)	Lewis Ting
-	Chairman of the Rotuma Island Council (Gagaj Jeaman)	Tarterani Rigamoto
Independence		from Great Britain (becoming Dependency of Fiji)
-	Date	October 10, 1970
Area
-	Total	46 km² 18 sq mi
Population
-	2007 census	2,002
Currency		Fiji dollar (`FJD`)
Time zone		(UTC+12)
Calling code		679

Rotuma is a Fijian dependency, consisting of Rotuma Island and nearby islets. The island group is home to a small but unique indigenous ethnic group which constitutes a recogniseable minority within the population of Fiji, known as "Rotumans". Its population at the 2007 census was 2,002, although many Rotumans live on mainland Fijian islands, totaling 10,000.

1 Geography and geology
2 History
3 Demographics
4 Prominent Rotumans and people of Rotuman descent
5 Politics and society
6 See also
7 References
8 External links

Geography and geology [link]

These volcanic islands are located 646 kilometres (Suva to Ahau) north of Fiji. Rotuma Island itself is 13 kilometres long and 4 kilometres wide, with a land area of approximately 43 square kilometres. The island is bisected into a larger eastern part, and a western peninsula, by a low narrow isthmus only 230 meters wide, the location of Motusa village (Itu'ti'u district). North of the isthmus is Maka Bay, and in the south Hopmafau Bay. The bays are full of coral reefs, through which there are boat passages.

Rotuma is a shield volcano made of alkali-olivine basalt and hawaiite, with many small cones, and reaches 256 metres (840 ft) above sea level at Mount Suelhof near the center of the island. Satarua Peak, 166 meters high, lies near the eastern end of the island.^[1] While very secluded from much of Fiji proper, the large reef and untouched beaches are renowned as some of the most beautiful in all of Fiji.

There are some islands located at a distance between 50 meters and 2 kilometers from the main island, but still within the fringing reef:

Solnoho (south)
Solkope and Sari'i (southeast)
'Afgaha and Husia Rua (far southeast)
Husia (Husiati'u) and Husiamea'me'a (close southeast)
Hạuamea'me'a and Hạua (Hạuati'u) (close together northeast).

Additionally, there is a separate chain of islands between 3-6 kilometers northwest and west of the westernmost point of Rotuma Island. From northeast to southwest, are:

History [link]

Linguistic evidence [link]

Linguistic evidence suggests an original settlement from Fiji. Linguists include the Rotuman language in a subgroup with the languages of western Fiji, but Rotuman also has a large number of Polynesian loanwords, indicating later contact with Samoa and Tonga.

Origins in oral history [link]

Rotuman oral history indicates that the islands' first inhabitants came from Samoa, whence they were led by a man named Raho. Shortly thereafter, further settlers arrived from Tonga. Later, additional settlers came from Tonga and Kiribati. In the 1850s and 1860s, Tongan Prince Ma'afu claimed Rotuma, and sent subordinates to administer the main island and islets.^[3]

Ratzel^[4] wrote about a legend relating to the Samoans and Rotuma as follows:

"Thus the Samoans relate that one of their chiefs fished up Rotuma and planted coco-palm on it. But in a later migration the chief Tokaniua came that way with a canoe full of men and quarrelled with him about the prior right of possession."

European contact [link]

The first known European sighting of Rotuma was in 1791, when Captain Edward Edwards and the crew of HMS Pandora landed in search of sailors who had disappeared following the Mutiny on the Bounty. There has been some argument whether the island discovered by Quirós known as Tuamaco fits the description and location of Rotuma, but so far no claim has been fully substantiated.

Mid-19th century [link]

A favorite of whaling ships in need of reprovisioning, in the mid-nineteenth century Rotuma became a haven for runaway sailors, some of whom were escaped convicts. Some of these deserters married local women and contributed their genes to an already heterogeneous pool; others met violent ends, reportedly at one another's hands. Rotuma was visited as part of the United States Exploring Expedition in 1840.

Cession to Britain [link]

Wesleyan missionaries from Tonga arrived on Rotuma in 1842, followed by Catholic Marists in 1847. Conflicts between the two groups, fuelled by previous political rivalries among the chiefs of Rotuma's seven districts, resulted in hostilities that led the local chiefs in 1879 to ask Britain to annexe the island group. On 13 May 1881, Rotuma was officially ceded to the United Kingdom, seven years after Fiji became a colony. The event is annually celebrated as Rotuma Day.

Demographics [link]

Although the island has been politically part of Fiji since 1881, Rotuman culture more closely resembles that of the Polynesian islands to the east, most noticeably Tonga, Samoa, Futuna, and Uvea. Because of their Polynesian appearance and distinctive language, Rotumans now constitute a recognizable minority group within the Republic of Fiji. The great majority of Rotumans (9,984 according to the 2007 Fiji census) now live elsewhere in Fiji, with 1,953 Rotumans remaining on Rotuma. Rotumans are culturally conservative and maintain their customs in the face of changes brought about by increased contact with the outside world. As recently as 1985, some 85 percent of Rotumans voted against opening the island up to tourism, wary of the influence of Western tourists. P&O Cruises landed on the island twice in the 1980s.

Prominent Rotumans and people of Rotuman descent [link]

The late Principal, Chief and Senator Aisea Aitu.
Colonel Paul Manueli a former Commander of the Royal Fiji Military Forces, Fiji Cabinet minister, Senator and successful businessman.
Field Marshal, Major General Jioji Konousi Konrote, a Cabinet Minister and former High Commissioner to Australia.
Former Information Minister Marieta Rigamoto.
Chief Justice Daniel Fatiaki.
Irish sportsmen brothers Seán Óg and Setanta Ó hAilpín.
NRL player John Sutton.
Dr. Hiagi Wesley (Director of Jonathan Napela Center for Hawaiian and Pacific Islands Studies at Brigham Young University-Hawai'i).
Professor Victor Narsimulu, Editor of Pacific Rim Journal/Associate Instructor: Pacific Islander-American Studies; University of Utah.
Vilsoni Hereniko, playwright and film director.
Sapeta Taito, actress (The Land Has Eyes).
Jono Gibbes (maternal side), a New Zealand rugby union player.
Graham Dewes, a Fiji rugby union player.
Daniel Rae Costello, a Fijian-born Musician with Rotuman descent.
Rebecca Tavo, Australian Touch Rugby Player with Rotuman father.^[5]
Selina Gilsenan, Former Australian Netball Player with Rotuman mother.
Ngaire Fuata, New Zealand Television producer and singer with Rotuman father.^[6]

Walter. G. Rigamoto, Former Supervisor of Elections and Ombudsman of Fiji

Politics and society [link]

Main article: Local government of Fiji

Rotuma was governed as an integral part of the Colony of Fiji after cession to Great Britain in 1881. Following Fiji's independence in 1970 and the military coups of 1987, Rotuma remained with Fiji.

Social organization [link]

Rotuma is divided into seven autonomous districts, each with its own headman or chief (Gagaj 'es Itu'u), with villages:

Noa'tau (extreme southeast): Fekeioko, Maragte'u, Faf'iasina, Matu'ea, 'Ut'utu, Kalvaka
Oinafa (east): Oinafa, Lopta, Paptea
Pepjei (southeast): 'Ujia, Uạnheta, Avave
Juju (south): Tuại, Haga, Juju
Itu'muta (western peninsula): Maftoa, Lopo
Itu'ti'u (west, but east of western peninsula): Savlei, Lạu, Feavại, Tuạ'koi, Motusa, Hapmak, Losa, Fapufa, Ahạu (Government Station)
Malha'a (north): Pepheua, 'Else'e, 'Elsio

The district chiefs and elected district representatives make up the Rotuma Island Council . The districts are divided into subgroupings of households (ho'aga) that function as work groups under the leadership of a subchief (gagaj 'es ho'aga). All district headmen and the majority of ho'aga headmen are titled. In addition, some men hold titles without headship (as tög), although they are expected to exercise leadership roles in support of the district headman. Titles, which are held for life, belong to specified house sites (fuạg ri). All the descendents of previous occupants of a fuạg ri have a right to participate in the selection of successors to titles.

On formal occasions titled men and dignitaries such as ministers and priests, government officials, and distinguished visitors occupy a place of honor. They are ceremonially served food from special baskets and kava. In the daily routine of Village life, however, they are not especially privileged. As yet no significant class distinctions based on wealth or control of resources have emerged, but investments in elaborate housing and motor vehicles by a few families have led to visible differences in standard of living.

Political organization [link]

At the time of discovery by Europeans there were three pan-Rotuman political positions: the fakpure, the sạu, and the mua. The fakpure acted as convener and presiding officer over the council of district headmen and was responsible for appointing the sạu and ensuring that he was cared for properly. The fakpure was headman of the District that headed the alliance that had won the last war. The sạu's role was to take part in the ritual cycle, oriented toward ensuring prosperity, as an object of veneration. Early European visitors referred to the sạu as "king," but he actually had no secular power. The position of sạu was supposed to rotate between districts, and a breach of this custom was considered to be incitement to war. The role of mua is more obscure, but like the sạu, he was an active participant in the ritual cycle. According to some accounts the mua acted as a kind of high priest.

Following Christianization in the 1860s, the offices of sạu and mua were terminated. Colonial administration involved the appointment by the governor of Fiji of a Resident Commissioner (after 1935, a District Officer) to Rotuma. He was advised by a council composed of the district chiefs. In 1940 the council was expanded to include an elected representative from each district and the Assistant Medical Practitioner. Following Fiji's independence in 1970, the council assumed responsibility for the internal governance of Rotuma, with the District Officer assigned to an advisory role. Up until the first coup, Rotuma was represented in the Fiji legislature by a single senator.

Administratively, Rotuma is fully incorporated into Fiji, but with local government so tailored as to give the island a measure of autonomy greater than that enjoyed by other political subdivisions of Fiji. Rotuma has the status of a Dependency, and its administrative capital is 'Ahạu in the district of Itu'ti'u, where the "tariạgsạu" (traditionally the name of the sạu's palace) meeting house for the Council of Rotuma is based.

At the national level, Fijian citizens of Rotuman descent elect one representative to the Fijian House of Representatives, and the Council of Rotuma nominates one representative to the Fijian Senate. Rotuma is also represented in the influential Great Council of Chiefs by three representatives chosen by the Council of Rotuma. For electoral purposes, Rotumans were formerly classified as Fijians, but when the Constitution was revised in 1997-1998, they were granted separate representation at their own request. (The majority of seats in Fiji's House of Representatives are allocated on a communal basis to Fiji's various ethnic groups) In addition, Rotuma forms part (along with Taveuni and the Lau Islands) of the Lau Taveuni Rotuma Open Constituency, one of 25 constituencies whose representatives are chosen by universal suffrage.

Social control [link]

The basis for social control is a strong socialization emphasis on social responsibility and a sensitivity to shaming. Gossip serves as a mechanism for sanctioning deviation, but the most powerful deterrent to antisocial behavior is an abiding belief in imminent justice, that supernatural forces (the 'atua or ghosts of ancestors) will punish wrongdoing. Rotumans are a rather gentle people; violence is extremely rare and serious crimes nearly nonexistent.

Conflict [link]

Prior to cession, warfare, though conducted on a modest scale, was endemic in Rotuma. During the colonial era political rivalries were muted, since power was concentrated in the offices of Resident Commissioner and District Officer. Following Fiji's independence, however, interdistrict rivalries were again given expression, now in the form of Political contention. Following the second coup, when Fiji left the British Commonwealth of Nations, a segment of the Rotuman population, known as the "Mölmahao Clan" of Noa’tau rejected the council's decision to remain with the newly declared republic. Arguing that Rotuma had been ceded to Great Britain and not to Fiji, these rebels declared in 1987 independence of Republic of Rotuma and were charged with sedition. It did not have any substantive support, majority opinion appears to favor remaining with Fiji, but rumblings of discontent remain.

References [link]

Islands of Fiji, Island Directory, United Nations Environment Programme

^ http://permanent.access.gpo.gov/websites/pollux/pollux.nss.nima.mil/NAV_PUBS/SD/pub126/126sec03.pdf
^ http://www.rotuma.net/os/lajereports/LRI2007turtlereport.pdf
^ "The Rotuman People", p. 4, in Te'o Tuvale, An Account of Samoan History up to 1918
^ The History of Mankind by Professor Friedrich Ratzel, Book II, Section A, The Races of Oceania page 173, MacMillan and Co., Ltd., published 1896
^ http://www.rotuma.net/os/sports/sports2009/sports0901.htm
^ http://tvnz.co.nz/view/tvone_minisite_story_skin/415110

External links [link]

Rotuma website - an exhaustive website on all things Rotuman by anthropologists Alan Howard and Jan Rensel
The Land Has Eyes - an award-winning film set in Rotuma made by Rotumans.
Rotuman Hafa - Rotuman dance (see also Tautoga)
Amateur radio - Amateur radio operations from Rotuma, with information on Rotuman history, culture, flora, fauna, geography, etc.; lengthy bibliography.
General information, energy supply
The Vertebrates of Rotuma and Surrounding Waters, by George R. Zug, Victor G. Springer, Jeffrey T. Wiliams and G. David Johnson, Atoll Research Bulletin, No. 316

v t e Political divisions of Fiji

Divisions	Central Eastern Northern Western

Provinces	Ba Bua Cakaudrove Kadavu Lau Lomaiviti Macuata Nadroga Navosa Naitasiri Namosi Ra Rewa Serua Tailevu

Dependency	Rotuma

Cities	Lautoka Suva

Towns	Ba Labasa Lami Levuka Nadi Nasinu Nausori Savusavu Sigatoka Tavua

v t e Polynesia

Polynesian triangle	Austral Islands Cook Islands Easter Island Gambier Islands Hawaiian Islands Marquesas New Zealand Pitcairn Islands Sala y Gómez Rotuma Samoan Islands Society Islands Tokelau Tonga Tuamotus Tuvalu Wallis and Futuna Islands

Polynesian outliers	Anuta Emae Futuna Kapingamarangi Loyalty Islands Mele Nuguria Nukumanu Nukuoro Ontong Java Ouvéa Pileni Rennell Sikaiana Takuu Tikopia

Polynesian-influenced	Lau Islands

Culture of indigenous Oceania

List of resources about traditional arts and culture of Oceania

Art

ahu · Australia · Austronesia · Cook Islands · Hawaiʻi · kapa (Hawaiʻi) · lei (Hawaii) · magimagi · Māori · moai · New Zealand · nguzu nguzu · Oceania · Papua New Guinea · reimiro · tā moko · tapa ["masi" (Fiji), "ngatu" (Tonga), "siapo" (Sāmoa), " ʻuha" (Rotuma)] · tabua · ta'ovala · tattoo · tēfui · tivaivai

Broad culture

areca nut · Kava culture · kava, " ʻawa" (Hawaii), "yaqona" (Fiji), or "sakau" (Pohnpei) · Sāmoa 'ava ceremony · Lapita · Māori · Polynesia · Polynesian navigation · wood carving

Geo-specific, general

Australia · Australian Aboriginal astronomy · Austronesia · Caroline Islands, -Pwo · Chatham Islands · Cook Islands · Easter Island · Fiji, -Lau Islands, -traditions and ceremonies · Guam · Hawaiʻi, -Lomilomi massage · Kiribati · French Polynesia's Marquesas Islands · Marshall Islands, -Stick charts of · Federated States of Micronesia · Nauru · New Caledonia · New Zealand · Niue · Norfolk Island · Palau · Papua New Guinea · Pitcairn Islands · Sāmoa · Solomon Islands · Tonga · Torres Strait Islands · Tuvalu · Vanuatu · Wallis and Futuna · Yap, -navigation, -Weriyeng navigation school

Canoes

Aboriginal Dugout · Alingano Maisu · Drua · Dugout (boat) · Hawaiʻiloa · Hōkūleʻa · Modern Hawaiian outrigger · Māori migration · Outrigger · Polynesian sailing · Proa · Waka,-List of · Walap

Dance

'aparima · cibi · fara · fire dancing · firewalking · haka · hivinau · hula · kailao · kapa haka · Kiribati · meke · 'ote'a · pa'o'a · poi · Rotuma · siva · Tahiti · tāmūrē · tautoga · Tonga · 'upa'upa

Festivals

Australia's Garma Festival · Hawaiʻi's Aloha Festivals, Merrie Monarch Festival, and World Invitational Hula Festival · Fiji · New Zealand's Pasifika Festival · The Pacific Community's Festival of Pacific Arts · Festivals in Papua New Guinea

Languages

by area

v t e Languages of Oceania

Sovereign states	Australia East Timor (Timor-Leste) Fiji Indonesia Kiribati Marshall Islands Federated States of Micronesia Nauru New Zealand Palau Papua New Guinea Samoa Solomon Islands Tonga Tuvalu Vanuatu

Dependencies and other territories	American Samoa Christmas Island Cocos (Keeling) Islands Cook Islands Easter Island French Polynesia Guam Hawaii New Caledonia Niue Norfolk Island Northern Mariana Islands Pitcairn Islands Tokelau Wallis and Futuna

by category

Languages of Oceania

Literature

v t e Literature of Oceania

Sovereign states	Australia East Timor (Timor-Leste) Fiji Indonesia Kiribati Marshall Islands Federated States of Micronesia Nauru New Zealand Palau Papua New Guinea Samoa Solomon Islands Tonga Tuvalu Vanuatu

Dependencies and other territories	American Samoa Christmas Island Cocos (Keeling) Islands Cook Islands Easter Island French Polynesia Guam Hawaii New Caledonia Niue Norfolk Island Northern Mariana Islands Pitcairn Islands Tokelau Wallis and Futuna

Music

Austral Islands (French Polynesia) · Australia · Austronesia · Cook Islands · Easter Island · Fiji · Guam · Hawaiʻi · Kiribati · Lali · Māori · Melanesia · Northern Mariana Islands · Micronesia · Federated States of Micronesia · Nauru · New Caledonia · New Zealand · Niue · Palau · Papua New Guinea · Polynesia · Sāmoa · Slit drum · Solomon Islands · Tahiti · Tokelau · Tonga · Tuvalu · Vanuatu · Wallis and Futuna

Mythology

Australian Aboriginal · Fijian · Hawaiian · Mangarevan · Maohi · Māori · Melanesian · Menehune · Micronesian · Oceanian legendary creatures · Polynesian · Rapa Nui · Vanuatu

People

Indigneous Australian · Austronesian · Chamorro · Chatham Islander (Moriori or Rekohu) · Fijian · Hawaiian (kānaka maoli) · Māori · Marshallese · Melanesian · Micronesian · Negrito · Norfolk Islander · Papuan · Polynesian · Indigenous Polynesian (Mā’ohi) · Rapanui · Rotuman · Samoan · Tahitian · Tongan · Torres Strait Islander

Religion

v t e Religion in Oceania

Sovereign states	Australia East Timor (Timor-Leste) Fiji Indonesia Kiribati Marshall Islands Federated States of Micronesia Nauru New Zealand Palau Papua New Guinea Samoa Solomon Islands Tonga Tuvalu Vanuatu

Dependencies and other territories	American Samoa Christmas Island Cocos (Keeling) Islands Cook Islands Easter Island French Polynesia Guam Hawaii New Caledonia Niue Norfolk Island Northern Mariana Islands Pitcairn Islands Tokelau Wallis and Futuna

Not included: Oceanian: cinema, (indigenous) currency, dress, folkore, cuisine. Also see Category:Oceanian culture.

v t e Rotuma Group

Islands	Rotuma Solnohu Solkope 'Afgaha Husia Hạuameamea Hạua Uea Hafhai Hafhaveiaglolo Hofhahoi Hatana Hạf’liua

Districts	Itu'muta Itu'ti'u Juju Malhaha Noa’tau Oinafa Pepjei

v t e Islands of Fiji

Principal islands	Viti Levu Vanua Levu

Significant outliers	Conway Reef Kadavu Taveuni Rotuma

Archipelagos	Kadavu Group Lau Islands Lomaiviti Islands Mamanuca Islands Moala Islands Ringgold Isles Rotuma Group Vanua Levu Group Viti Levu Group Yasawa Islands

Coordinates: 12°30′S 177°4.8′E / 12.5°S 177.08°E / -12.5; 177.08

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http://nl.wn.com/Rotuma (eiland)

http://pt.wn.com/Rotuma

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Daniel Rae Costello
Born	1961
Origin	Suva, Fiji
Occupations	Musician

Daniel Rae Costello (born 1961 in Suva^[1]) is a renowned Pacific musician. His mother, Jessie Rae was of a Samoan/Rotuman and Scottish descent whereas his father, Dan Costello. was Irish and both were born in Fiji. He was brought up in Tavua. His father owned a cattle ranch. He moved with his family to Lautoka since he was 5 and has been there since. He and his younger brother Vince started a band called The Fleet Swingers when he was in Grade 7. His brother was the lead singer.

1 Personal life
2 Music
3 References
4 External links

Personal life [link]

He along with his brother attended high school in Whangarei, New Zealand. He enjoyed taking part in sports when he was in NZ, taking much interest in rugby, soccer and athletics and even represented North Auckland in the Under 17 soccer team. He completed his last year of school back in Fiji at Marist Brothers High School in Suva. He also won the schools talent contest that year and was asked to perform at Suva Grammar School as a guest artist and that's where he met his future wife, Corrina

After winning a few talent contest, he joined a small group called The Beachcomber Boys who performed daily at the Beachcomber Island Resort.

Music [link]

In 1979, he recorded his first solo-album called "Tropical Sunset" which wasn't much of a success but a year later, his album, Lania which was a huge success in Fiji and around the pacific. After his mother died in 1985, he changed his name to Daniel Rae Costello. He moved to Australia a few years later because of the 1987 Coup where he wrote two songs, Samba and Take me to the Island and returned to Fiji and started his own Studio and Production Suite called "Tango Sound Productions" and recorded his first big hit album, Samba. Since 1978, he has recorded 30 albums to date in the last 30 years. He is now an accomplished songwriter, composer, arranger, audio engineer, vocalist, musician and producer in the pacific region. He recently recorded an album with Tonny Willefrom the Dutch group Pussycat, called Let The World Sing. The first single, originally a hit for Pussycat Georgie gained numerous airplays on Fiji radio.

References [link]

^ GarageBand.com year of birth and place

External links [link]

Persondata
Name	Costello, Daniel Rae
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1961
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death

This biography of a Fiji Islander is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

This article on a singer is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

http://wn.com/Daniel_Rae_Costello

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Make changes yourself !

Contents

Geography and geology [link]

History [link]

Linguistic evidence [link]

Origins in oral history [link]

European contact [link]

Mid-19th century [link]

Cession to Britain [link]

Demographics [link]

Prominent Rotumans and people of Rotuman descent [link]

Politics and society [link]

Social organization [link]

Political organization [link]

Social control [link]

Conflict [link]

See also [link]

References [link]

External links [link]

http://wn.com/Rotuma

Related pages:

http://it.wn.com/Rotuma

http://cs.wn.com/Rotuma

http://es.wn.com/Rotuma

http://ru.wn.com/Ротума

http://nl.wn.com/Rotuma (eiland)

http://pt.wn.com/Rotuma

http://pl.wn.com/Rotuma

http://fr.wn.com/Rotuma

http://de.wn.com/Rotuma (Fidschi)

Contents

Personal life [link]

Music [link]

References [link]

External links [link]

http://wn.com/Daniel_Rae_Costello