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 Fiji| Facts & Figures |
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| President: Ratu Josefa Iloilo (2000) Prime Minister: Frank Bainimarama (2007) Total area: 7,054 sq mi (18,270 sq
km) Population (2009 est.): 944,720
(growth rate: 1.3%); birth rate: 21.9/1000; infant mortality rate:
11.6/1000; life expectancy: 70.73; density per sq km: 51
Capital and largest city (2003 est.):
Suva (on Viti Levu), 177,300 Monetary unit: Fiji dollar More Facts & Figures |
GeographyFiji consists of 332 islands in the southwest
Pacific Ocean about 1,960 mi (3,152 km) from Sydney, Australia. About 110
of these islands are inhabited. The two largest are Viti Levu (4,109 sq
mi; 10,642 sq km) and Vanua Levu (2,242 sq mi; 5,807 sq km).
GovernmentRepublic.
HistoryFiji, which had been inhabited since the second
millennium
B.C.
, was explored by the Dutch and
the British in the 17th and 18th centuries. In 1874, an offer of cession
by the Fijian chiefs was accepted, and Fiji was proclaimed a possession
and dependency of the British Crown. In the 1880s large-scale cultivation
of sugarcane began. Over the next 40 years, more than 60,000 indentured
laborers from India were brought to the island to work the plantations. By
1920, all indentured servitude had ended. Racial conflict between Indians
and the indigenous Fijians has been central to the small island's
history.
Fiji became independent on Oct. 10, 1970. In
Oct. 1987, Brig. Gen. Sitiveni Rabuka staged a coup to prevent an
Indian-dominated coalition party from taking power. The military coup
caused an exodus of thousands of Fijians of Indian origin who suffered
ethnic discrimination at the hands of the government.
A new constitution, which took effect in July
1998, provided for a multiracial cabinet and raised the prospect of a
coalition government. The previous constitution had guaranteed dominance
to ethnic Fijians. In 1999, Fiji's first ethnic Indian prime minister,
Mahendra Chaudhry, took office.
Continuing ethnic tensions, partly fueled by
economic problems, plunged Fiji into a national nightmare in 2000. On May
19, a group of armed soldiers entered Parliament and took three dozen
people hostage, including Prime Minister Chaudhry. George Speight, a
part-Fijian businessman, led the insurrection, and he demanded that the
1998 constitution be rewritten to allow dominance of ethnic Fijians. The
standoff lasted two months. In July 2000, Speight and other coup leaders
were taken into custody and charged with treason. In Feb. 2002, Speight
was sentenced to death, but his sentence was commuted.
Although the coup was foiled, deposed
prime minister Chaudhry and his democratically elected government were not
restored to power. Instead, the military and the Great Council of Chiefs,
a group of 50 traditional Fijian leaders, appointed an interim government
dominated by ethnic Fijians. Elections were held in 2001, but no party
achieved a majority. Interim prime minister Laisenia Qarase's Fijian
United Party won 31 of 71 seats, and Qarase was sworn in as prime minister
in September. His cabinet consisted entirely of ethnic Fijians, but the
supreme court declared Qarase's government unconstitutional in 2003. In
2004, political infighting stalled the implementation of a new multiethnic
cabinet. Much to Prime Minister Qarase's displeasure, Vice President Ratu
Jope Seniloli and four other prominent figures were convicted for their
part in the 2000 coup and imprisoned in Aug. 2004. In 2005, Qarase backed
a highly controversial bill that included an amnesty clause for the 2000
coup leaders. The bill was supported by the Great Council of Chiefs and
the ethnic Fijian establishment but vehemently rejected by the opposition
(led by former prime minister Chaudhry, who was deposed in the coup) as
well as the military. Qarase was narrowly reelected in May 2006 for
another five-year term.
In December Fiji's military commander, Commodore
Frank Bainimarama, announced he had assumed executive power, deposed Prime
Minister Qarase, and appointed Jona Senilagakali, a medical doctor, as
interim prime minister. It was the country's fourth coup since 1987.
Tensions had built up over several years between the military and Qarase
over a corruption scandal and issues regarding the 2000 coup—the
military accused the prime minister of excessive leniency toward those who
had orchestrated that coup.
In January 2007, Bainimarama reinstated Josefa Iloilo
as president. Senilagakali resigned as interim prime minister, and
Bainimarama succeeded him.
Bainimarama and the military grabbed more power in April of 2009. Reacting to a ruling by Fiji's Court of Appeal, which stated that the military government was illegally appointed after the 2006 coup and that democratic elections should be held as soon as possible, Bainimarama refused to step down and instead increased censorship of Fiji's media, expelled foreign journalists, and announced that elections would not be held until 2014.
President Ratu Josefa Iloilo, believed to be a puppet of Bainimarama, announced that the constitution had been abrogated. In response, both Australia and New Zealand have threatened travel and trade-related sanctions.
See also
Encyclopedia:
Fiji
U.S. State Dept. Country Notes:
Fiji
Statistics Bureau
http://www.statsfiji.gov.fj/
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