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Fiji has experienced many coups recently, in 1987, 2000, and 2006. Fiji has been suspended various times from the Commonwealth of Nations, a grouping of mostly former British colonies. It was readmitted to the Commonwealth in December 2001, following the parliamentary election held to restore democracy in September that year, and has been suspended again because of the 2006 coup, but has been readmitted a second time after the 2014 election. Other Pacific Island governments have generally been sympathetic to Fiji's internal political problems and have declined to take public positions.
Fiji, officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean about 1,100 nautical miles 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. Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about 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 most outlying island is Ono-i-Lau. The two major islands, Viti Levu and Vanua Levu, account for 87% of the total population of 883,483. The capital, Suva, on Viti Levu, serves as the country's principal cruise-ship port. About three-quarters of Fijians live on Viti Levu's coasts, either in Suva or in smaller urban centres such as Nadi—where tourism is the major local industry—or Lautoka, where the sugar-cane industry is paramount. Due to its terrain, the interior of Viti Levu is sparsely inhabited.
The economy of Fiji is one of the most developed among the Pacific islands. Nevertheless, Fiji is a developing country endowed with forest, mineral and fish resources. The country has a large subsistence agriculture sector, which accounts for 18% of gross domestic product, although it employed some 70% of the workforce as of 2001. Sugar exports and the growing tourist industry are the major sources of foreign exchange. Sugar cane processing makes up one-third of industrial activity. Coconuts, ginger, and copra are also significant.
Fijians are a nation and ethnic group native to Fiji, who speak Fijian and share a common history and culture.
The Tamil diaspora refers to descendants of the Tamil immigrants who emigrated from their native lands to other parts of the world. They are found primarily in Malaysia, Singapore, Myanmar, South Africa, Pakistan, Réunion, Mauritius, Fiji, Australia, New Zealand, Europe, North America, and the Caribbean.
Hinduism in Fiji has a following primarily among the Indo-Fijians, who are descendants of indentured workers brought to Fiji by the British, as cheap labor for colonial sugarcane plantations. Hindus, along with Indian Muslims, Christians and Sikhs, started arriving in Fiji starting with 1879 through 1920 when slavery-like indenture system was abolished by Britain. Some Indo-Fijians came to the island nation in the 1920s and 1930s. Fiji identifies people as Indo-Fijians if they can trace their ancestry to the Indian subcontinent, but not necessarily India. Most of the Hindus in Fiji, however, are of Indian descent.
The Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora refers to the global diaspora of Sri Lankan Tamil origin. It can be said to be a subset of the larger Sri Lankan and Tamil diaspora.
Fiji Hindi or Fijian Hindi, also known locally as simply Hindustani, is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by most Fijian citizens of Indian descent, though a few speak other languages at home. It is an Eastern Hindi language, generally considered to be an older dialect of the Awadhi language spoken in central and east Uttar Pradesh that has been subject to considerable influence by Bhojpuri, Magahi and other Bihari languages. It has also borrowed some words from the English and Fijian languages. Many words unique to Fiji Hindi have been created to cater for the new environment that Indo-Fijians now live in. First-generation Indians in Fiji, who used the language as a lingua franca in Fiji, referred to it as Fiji Baat, "Fiji talk". It is closely related to Caribbean Hindustani and the Hindustani language spoken in Mauritius and South Africa.
In early August 1972, the President of Uganda, Idi Amin, ordered the expulsion of his country's Asian minority, giving them 90 days to leave the country. At the time of the expulsion, there were approximately 80,000 individuals of Indian descent in Uganda, of whom 23,000 had had their applications for citizenship both processed and accepted. Although the latter were ultimately exempted from the expulsion, many chose to leave voluntarily. The expulsion took place against a backdrop of Indophobia in Uganda, with Amin accusing a minority of the Asian population of disloyalty, non-integration and commercial malpractice, claims Indian leaders disputed. Amin defended the expulsion by arguing that he was "giving Uganda back to ethnic Ugandans".
Unlike the majority of Fiji's Indian population, who are descendants of Indian indentured labourers brought to Fiji between 1879 and 1916, most of the Sikhs came to Fiji as free immigrants. Most Sikhs established themselves as farmers. Sikhs also came to Fiji as policemen, teachers and preachers. In recent years large numbers of Sikhs have emigrated from Fiji, especially to the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand. Sikhs in Fiji are generally referred to as Punjabis.
Fiji has three official languages under the 1997 constitution : English, iTaukei and Hindi. The iTaukei language is spoken either as a first or second language by most indigenous Fijians who make up around 54% of the population.
The British diaspora consists of people of British ancestry and their descendants who emigrated from the United Kingdom. The largest concentrations of people of self-identified British descent in the world outside of the United Kingdom and its Overseas Territories are found in New Zealand (59%), Australia (46%), Canada (31%), the United States (11%) and parts of the Caribbean. Additionally, countries with over 100,000 British expatriates include Spain, the Republic of Ireland, South Africa, France, Germany, and the United Arab Emirates.
Indian Canadians are Canadians with ancestry from India. The term Indo-Canadians or East Indian is sometimes used to avoid confusion with the First Nations of Canada. Statistics Canada specifically uses the term Asian Indian to refer to Indian Canadians. Categorically, Indian Canadians comprise a subgroup of South Asian Canadians which is a further subgroup of Asian Canadians. According to Statistics Canada, Indian Canadians are one of the fastest growing communities in Canada, making up the second largest non-European group after Chinese Canadians.
Indo-Fijians or Indian-Fijians, are Fiji citizens who are fully or partially of Indian descent, which includes descendants who trace their heritage from various regions of the Indian subcontinent. Although Indo-Fijians constituted a majority of the Fijian population from 1956 through the late 1980s, discrimination and the resulting brain drain has resulted in them numbering 313,798 (37.6%) out of a total of 827,900 people living in Fiji today.
Emigration from the United States is a complex demographic process where individuals born in the United States move to live in other countries. The process is the reverse of the immigration to the United States. The United States does not keep track of emigration, and counts of Americans abroad are thus only available courtesy of statistics kept by the destination countries.
Overseas Indians, officially known as Non-Resident Indians (NRI/NRIs) or Persons of Indian Origin (PIO/PIOs), are people of Indian birth, descent or origin who live outside the Republic of India. According to a Ministry of External Affairs report, there are 28 million NRIs and PIOs residing outside India. According to the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, India remains the largest country of origin for expatriates and immigrant communities with a 17.5 million-strong diaspora across the world.
Fijian Americans refers to Americans citizens who are native to or descendants of people from the Fiji Islands. Most of Fijian Americans are of ethnic iTaukei or Indian descent. Fijian Americans are considered Pacific Islanders in the United States Census. There are 32,304 Fijian Americans living in the U.S. as of 2010, with 75% of them living in the state of California alone.
The Malaysian diaspora are Malaysian emigrants from Malaysia and their descendants that reside in a foreign country. Population estimates vary from seven hundred thousand to one million, both descendants of early emigrants from Malaysia, as well as more recent emigrants from Malaysia. The largest of these foreign communities are on the Australian external territory of Christmas Island where they make up the majority as well as significant minorities in Singapore, Australia, Brunei and the United Kingdom.
British Bhutanese are people of Bhutanese ancestry who are citizens of the United Kingdom or resident in the country. This includes people born in the UK who are of Bhutanese descent, and Bhutan-born people who have migrated to the UK.
References
- ↑ "Fiji population up 50,000 in 10 yrs". Government of Fiji. 31 October 2007. Retrieved 25 January 2013.
- ↑ Migration facts, stats and maps
- ↑ People born in Fiji
- ↑ Ethnic Diversity – Country of Birth of Residents 2006
- ↑ "QuickStats About Culture and Identity". stats.govt.nz. 19 April 2007. Archived from the original on 1 December 2007.
- ↑ British residents born abroad
- ↑ Microsoft Word – 05-05-ana1.rtf
- ↑ "00 Upfront.pmd" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 March 2007. Retrieved 29 March 2007.
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