Fiji, officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about 1,100 nautical miles north-northeast of New Zealand. 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 group is Ono-i-Lau. About 87% of the total population of 924,610 live on the two major islands, Viti Levu and Vanua Levu. About three-quarters of Fijians live on Viti Levu's coasts: either in the capital city of Suva; or in smaller urban centres such as Nadi—where tourism is the major local industry; or in Lautoka, where the sugar-cane industry is dominant. The interior of Viti Levu is sparsely inhabited because of its terrain.
Lautoka is the second largest city in Fiji. It is on the west coast of the island of Viti Levu, in the Ba Province of the Western Division. Lying in the heart of Fiji's sugar cane-growing region, the city has come to be known as the Sugar City. Covering an area of 32 square kilometres, it had a population of 71,573 at the 2017 census, the most recent to date.
Ono Island is a member of the Kadavu Group, an outlier to Kadavu Island, to the south of Viti Levu, one of Fiji's two main islands. It is separated from Kadavu Island by the Ono Channel. Located at 18.88° South and 178.50° East, this volcanic island is enclosed by the Great Astrolabe Reef. It covers an area of 30 square kilometers. Its maximum altitude is 354 meters. There are seven villages: Vabea (south), Waisomo (south), Narikoso (southeast), Naqara (northeast), Nabouwalu (northwest), Buliya, Dravuni.
Vatukoula is a gold mining settlement in Fiji, 9 km inland from the Town of Tavua on the island of Viti Levu.
Nadroga-Navosa is one of the fourteen provinces of Fiji and one of eight based in Viti Levu, Fiji's largest island. It is about 2,385 square kilometers and occupies the South-West and Central areas of Viti Levu, Fiji's principal island. The province includes the Mamanuca Archipelago, off the west coast of Viti Levu, Vatulele, as well as the remote Conway Reef in the southwest. The population at the 2017 census was 58,931, being the fifth largest province. The main town in Nadroga-Navosa is Sigatoka, with a population of 9622.
Degeneria is a genus of flowering plants endemic to Fiji. It is the only genus in the family Degeneriaceae. The APG IV system of 2016, recognizes this family, and assigns it to the order Magnoliales in the clade magnoliids.
The red-throated lorikeet is a critically endangered lorikeet endemic to Fiji. It is 18 cm long and is bright green overall, with red cheeks, throat and thighs.
Mount Koroyanitu, also known as Mount Evans is the fourth highest peak in Fiji and located in the Evans Ranges in the Western Division of the island of Viti Levu. It is 1195 meters or 3920 feet high. Koroyanitu in Fijian means "Village of the Devil".
The Fiji Museum is a museum in Suva, Fiji located in the capital city's botanical gardens, Thurston Gardens.
Tavarua is an island resort in Fiji. It has an area of 29 acres (120,000 m2). It is close to the main Fijian island, Viti Levu, and is surrounded by a coral reef. It is also known to be shaped, somewhat, like a heart.
Denarau Island is a small private resort development on the western side of Viti Levu in the Republic of Fiji. The 2.55 km2 resort is reached via a short causeway over a creek and is located 5 km north west of the town Nadi and 10 km west of Nadi International Airport.
Malolo Lailai, also known as Plantation Island, is the second largest and most developed of the Mamanuca Islands, lying 20 kilometres west of Nadi on Fiji's main island Viti Levu. Malolo Lailai is the centre of tourism in the Mamanuca Islands, and consists of four resorts, a number of residential houses, a marina and a golf course. The island can be reached in 50 minutes from Port Denarau by the Malolo Cat, a catamaran, or by Malolo Lailai Airport, a 10-minute flight from Nadi International Airport. Separated by a small isthmus which can be walked at low tide, the larger island of Malolo Levu lies north-west of Malolo Lailai.
Richard Russell Waldron was a purser "and special agent" in the Wilkes Expedition, together with younger brother Thomas Westbrook Waldron (consul). Several landmarks were named after him or his brother. After the expedition was completed Waldron enjoyed some popularity and influence in Washington, D.C.
Thomas Westbrook Waldron was a captain's clerk on the Wilkes Expedition, and the first United States consul to Hong Kong. His service to the United States consular service was honoured by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during a ceremony in 2009.
The Second Fiji expedition was an 1859 United States Navy operation against the native warriors of Seru Epenisa Cakobau on the island of Waya in Fiji. Following the death of two American traders on Waya, the Pacific Squadron launched a punitive expedition against the Wayans and defeated them in a pitched battle at the village of Somatti.
Coral Coast is the stretch of coastline between Sigatoka and Suva, on the island of Viti Levu, in Fiji.
The majority of Fiji's islands were formed through volcanic activity starting around 150 million years ago. Today, some geothermic activity still occurs on the is lands of Vanua Levu and Taveuni. Fiji was settled first by the Lapita culture, around 1,500–1,000 years BCE, followed by a large influx of people with predominantly Melanesian genetics about the time of the beginning of the Common Era. Europeans visited Fiji from the 17th century, and, after a brief period as an independent kingdom, the British established the Colony of Fiji in 1874. Fiji was a Crown colony until 1970, when it gained independence as the Dominion of Fiji. A republic was declared in 1987, following a series of coups d'état.
The Fiji tropical moist forests is a tropical moist forest ecoregion in Fiji and Wallis and Futuna. It covers the windward sides of Viti Levu and Vanua Levu, Fiji's largest islands, as well as the smaller Fijian islands and the three islands that make up Wallis and Futuna, an overseas territory of France.
The Ndakunimba Stones are the remains of a 50-foot-tall monolith carved with petroglyphs, located in Dakuniba, a remote village in Cakaudrove Province on Vanua Levu, Fiji. They comprise about 14 stone fragments of various sizes, with deeply carved angular figures.
Naval Base Fiji was a naval base built by the United States Navy in 1942 to support the World War II effort. The base was located on Fiji in the Central Pacific Ocean. The base was built as one of many advance bases in the island-hopping campaign towards the Empire of Japan. The US Navy built seaports, seaplane bases and airfields used for staging in the Pacific War.
