Top 10 Largest Cities or Towns of Fiji
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1)
Suva
2)
Lautoka
3)
Nadi
4)
Labasa
5) Ba
6)
Levuka
7)
Sigatoka
8)
Rakiraki
9)
Savusavu
10)
Tavarua
Fiji, officially the
Republic of Fiji, is an island country 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,
New Caledonia to the southwest, New Zealand's
Kermadec Islands to the southeast,
Tonga to the east, the Samoas and
France's
Wallis and Futuna to the northeast, and
Tuvalu to the north.
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 about 18,300 square kilometres (7,100 sq mi). The farthest island is Onu-i-Lau. The two major islands,
Viti Levu and
Vanua Levu, account for 87% of the population of almost 860,000. The capital and largest city, Suva, is on Viti Levu. About three-quarters of
Fijians live on Viti Levu's coasts, either in Suva or in smaller urban centres like Nadi (tourism) or Lautoka (sugar cane industry). Viti Levu's interior is sparsely inhabited due to its terrain.
The majority of
Fiji's islands were formed through volcanic activity starting 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
. In the 17th and
18th centuries, the
Dutch and the
British explored Fiji, which was a
Crown Colony until
1970, this administration lasting almost a century. During
World War II, thousands of Fijians volunteered to aid in
Allied efforts via their attachment to the
New Zealand and
Australian army units.
The Republic of
Fiji Military Forces (
RFMF) consist of land and naval units.
Fiji has one of the most developed economies in the
Pacific island realm due to an abundance of forest, mineral, and fish resources. Today, the main sources of foreign exchange are its tourist industry and sugar exports. The country's currency is the
Fijian dollar.
Following a coup in
2006,
Ratu Epeli Nailatikau became Fiji's president after a high court ruled that the military leadership was unlawfully appointed. Fiji's local government, in the form of city and town councils, is supervised by the
Ministry of
Local Government and
Urban Development.
Pottery art from
Fijian towns shows that Fiji was settled before or around
3500 to
1000 BC, although the question of
Pacific migration still lingers. It is believed that the
Lapita people or the ancestors of the
Polynesians settled the islands first but not much is known of what became of them after the
Melanesians arrived; they may have had some influence on the new culture, and archaeological evidence shows that they would have then moved on to
Samoa, Tonga and even
Hawai'i.
The first settlements in Fiji were started by voyaging traders and settlers from the west about 5000 years ago.
Lapita pottery shards have been found at numerous excavations around the country.
Aspects of Fijian culture are similar to the
Melanesian culture of the western Pacific but have a stronger connection to the older Polynesian cultures.
Trade between these three nations[clarification needed] long before
European contact is quite obvious with canoes made from native Fijian trees found in Tonga and
Tongan words being part of the language of the Lau group of islands.
Pots made in Fiji have been found in Samoa and even the
Marquesas Islands.
Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiji