Rotuma is a self-governing heptarchy, generally designated a dependency of Fiji. Rotuma commonly referred to Rotuma Island, the only permanently inhabited and by far the largest of all the islands in the Rotuma Group. Officially, the Rotuma Act declares that Rotuma consists of Rotuma Island as well as its neighbouring islands, rocks, and reefs across the entire Rotuma Group. The dependency is situated around 500 km west of the French islands of Wallis and Futuna and a similar distance north of the Fijian mainland. Its capital is Ahau, a hamlet consisting of a number of colonial-era buildings. Rotuma exists as a dependency of Fiji but itself contains its own socioreligious pene-enclave known traditionally as Faguta where the chiefs and their villages adhere to the practices of worship, festival dates, and French-based writing system of the Marists, based at Sumi.
Since becoming independent of the United Kingdom in 1970, Fiji has had four constitutions, and the voting system has changed accordingly.
The 1997 Constitution of Fiji begins with a Preamble, which sets out the historical, cultural, and political reasons for the drafting of the 1997 Constitution.
Rotuman, also referred to as Rotunan, Rutuman or Fäeag Rotuạm, is an Austronesian language spoken by the Indigenous Rotuma people in the South Pacific. Linguistically, as well as culturally, Rotuma has had Polynesian-influence culture and was incorporated as a dependency into the Colony of Fiji in 1881. Contemporary Rotuman is a result of significant Polynesian borrowing, following Samoan and Tongan migrations into Rotuma.
Injimo Managreve is a former chairman of the Council of Rotuma, the legislative body for the Fijian island dependency which enjoys a considerable degree of local autonomy.
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 m wide, and lies immediately southeast of the village of Kalvaka in the district of Noaʻtau. It 765 m long east–west, and up to 515 m wide, and rises to a height of 128 m. Its area is 0.3 km2. From the sea, it cannot be recognised as a separate island.
The National Congress of Fiji was a Fijian political party that existed from 1965 to 1967. It was created to represent Indo-Fijians as a rival to the Citizens Federation. It soon merged, along with the General Electors Association, which mainly represented Fijians of European descent, to form the Alliance Party.
Dance in Rotuma refers to the traditional and modern dance styles performed by the people of the island of Rotuma, which became a dependency of Fiji in 1881. Despite Rotuma's political and historical links with Fiji, the island's culture shows strong Polynesian influences, particularly from Samoa and Tonga, which, along with Fiji, feature strongly in the history and traditions of the Rotuman people.
Lio 'On Famör Rotuma or LFR was a political party in Fiji. Formed in 1999, it sought to represent the interests of the Rotuman people in their main representative constituency, the Rotuman Communal Constituency, which, under the 1997 Constitution, elected a Member of Parliament in the House of Representatives for all people of Rotuman descent across the nation of Fiji. Although the party never won a seat in Parliament, it tightly contested the parliamentary elections of 1999 and 2001.
Gagaja is a Rotuman word denoting the position of "Chief" or "Lord". This could be a formal chiefly position in one of the seven districts or a village chief as well as to anyone else, such as the Chairman of the Rotuma Island Council to whom respect and deference is owed based on their own skills and attributes. Unlike in many other Pacific cultures, the official chiefly positions are not allocated according to any strict primogeniture, but rather are elected from all eligible males within certain kạinaga to whom the chiefly title belongs.
Noaʻtau is one of the seven districts on the island of Rotuma, a dependency of Fiji. It includes the villages of Kalvaka, ʻUtʻutu, Matuea, Maragteu, Fafaisina, and Fekeoko.
Ituʻtiʻu is one of the seven districts on the island of Rotuma, a dependency of Fiji. Rotuma's capital, the village of Ahau, is located in this district. It also includes the villages of Savlei, Lau, Feavai, Tuakoi, Motusa, Ropure, Melsaʻa, and Losa.
Nigel Tausie Ashton Simpson is a former English rugby union player.
The Rotumans are a Polynesian ethnic group native to Rotuma, an island group forming part 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.
Fiji has three official languages under the 1997 constitution : English, Fijian and Fiji Hindi. The Fijian language is spoken as the first language by most indigenous Fijians who make up around 54% of the population.
The Land Has Eyes is a 2004 Rotuman-language Fijian film written and directed by Vilsoni Hereniko. It is the first ever feature film from Rotuma.
Uea is a high rocky offshore island of Rotuma. Uea is one of a number of outliers lying off the west coast of Rotuma. It is the second largest island and is the highest island in the Rotuma Group with an elevation of 260 metres (850 ft).
Solnohu or Sol Nohu, also known as Solnoho, Solnahu and Solnahou, is a small crescent-shaped uninhabited island in the Rotuma Group of Fiji. The island is of special importance in Rotuman and Tongan funerary customs.
Rotuman New Zealanders are Rotuman immigrants in New Zealand, typically from Rotuma Island or Fiji, their descendants, and New Zealanders of Rotuman ethnic descent. At the time of the 2018 New Zealand census, 981 people in New Zealand were surveyed as being of Rotuman descent.
Rachael Mario is a Rotuman New Zealand community leader, social worker, and advocate for the Rotuman language. She is Chairperson of the Auckland Rotuman Fellowship Group. She also helped setup the world's first Rotuman Community Centre in 2020, where language and culture is taught and promoted.
