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 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 898,760. 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.
Endowed with forest, mineral, and fish resources, Fiji is one of the most developed of the Pacific island economies, though it remains a developing country with a large subsistence agriculture sector. Agriculture 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.
Buckwheat, or common buckwheat, is a plant cultivated for its grain-like seeds and as a cover crop. A related and more bitter species, Fagopyrum tataricum, is a domesticated food plant common in Asia and Central and Eastern Europe. Despite the name, buckwheat is not related to wheat, as it is not a grass. Instead, buckwheat is related to sorrel, knotweed, and rhubarb. Because its seeds are rich in complex carbohydrates, it is referred to as a pseudocereal.
Millstones or mill stones are stones used in gristmills, for grinding wheat or other grains.
Wheat flour is a powder made from the grinding of wheat used for human consumption. Wheat varieties are called "soft" or "weak" if gluten content is low, and are called "hard" or "strong" if they have high gluten content. Hard flour, or bread flour, is high in gluten, with 12% to 14% gluten content, and its dough has elastic toughness that holds its shape well once baked. Soft flour is comparatively low in gluten and thus results in a loaf with a finer, crumbly texture. Soft flour is usually divided into cake flour, which is the lowest in gluten, and pastry flour, which has slightly more gluten than cake flour.
Raita is the common name of a condiment, originating from the Indian subcontinent, made with dahi together with raw or cooked vegetables, more seldom fruit, or in the case of boondi raita, with fried droplets of batter made from besan.
Sharp or SHARP may refer to:
The Fiji national rugby union team competes every four years at the Rugby World Cup, and their best performances were the 1987 and 2007 tournaments when they defeated Argentina and Wales respectively to reach the quarterfinals. Fiji also regularly plays test matches during the June and November test windows. Fiji also plays in the Pacific Tri-Nations, and has won the most Pacific Tri-Nations Championships of the three participating teams.
Arepa is a type of food made of ground maize dough or cooked flour prominent in the cuisine of Colombia and Venezuela.
Cheez-It is a cheese cracker manufactured by the Kellogg Company through its Sunshine Biscuits division. Approximately 26 by 24 mm, the almost square crackers are made with wheat flour, vegetable oil, sharp cheddar cheese, salt, and spices.
A tabua is a polished tooth of a sperm whale that is an important cultural item in Fijian society. They were traditionally given as gifts for atonement or esteem, and were important in negotiations between rival chiefs. The dead men would be buried with their tabua, along with war clubs and even their strangled wives, to help them in the afterlife. Originally they were very rare items, available only from beached whales and from trade from neighbouring Tonga, but when the market became known in the early 19th century thousands of teeth, and fake teeth made from ivory and walrus tusks entered the market. This trade led to the development of the European art of scrimshaw.
Brown bread is a designation often given to breads made with significant amounts of whole grain flour, usually wheat, and sometimes dark-colored ingredients such as molasses or coffee. In Canada, the United Kingdom and South Africa it simply refers to wholemeal or whole wheat bread, except in the Maritimes, where it implies bread made with molasses. In some regions of the US, the bread is simply called wheat bread in contrast to white bread.
Adi Mere Tuisalalo Samisoni is a Fijian businesswoman and politician, from Lomaloma village on the island of Vanua Balavu in Fiji's Lau archipelago. Samisoni currently serves as a SODELPA Opposition Member of Parliament and holds a Doctorate and Masters in Business Administration. She owns Hot Bread Kitchen and resides in Suva Fiji's Capital. She has served as Mayor of Lami and as a member of the now-defunct House of Representatives.
Sugar cane grew wild in Fiji and was used as thatch by the Fijians for their houses (bures). The first attempt to make sugar in Fiji was on Wakaya Island in 1862 but this was a financial failure. With the cotton boom of the 1860s there was little incentive to plant a crop that required high capital outlay but after a slump in cotton prices in 1870, the planters turned to sugar. In an effort to promote the production of sugar in Fiji, the Cakobau Government, in December 1871, offered a 500-pound reward for the first and best crop of twenty of sugar from canes planted before January 1873.
The flour riot of 1837 was a food riot that broke out in New York City in February 1837, and lasted less than a day. This violent civil disturbance grew out of a public meeting called by the Locofocos to protest runaway prices, as hungry workers plundered private storerooms filled with sacks of hoarded flour. Commodity prices had skyrocketed over the winter of 1836–37, an inflationary boom fueled by foreign investment and two successive years of wheat crop failures. The riot was also a sign of the impending financial crisis known as the Panic of 1837, that hit the American economy the following month.
Sharp Corporation is a Japanese multinational corporation that designs and manufactures electronic products, headquartered in Sakai-ku, Sakai. Since 2016 it has been a subsidiary of Taiwan-based Foxconn Group. Sharp employs more than 50,000 people worldwide. The company was founded in September 1912 in Tokyo and takes its name from one of its founder’s first inventions, the Ever-Sharp mechanical pencil, which was invented by Tokuji Hayakawa in 1915.
Murukku is a savoury, crunchy snack originating from the Indian subcontinent, popular in southern India, and Sri Lanka. The snack's name derives from the Tamil word for "twisted", which refers to its shape. In India, Murukku is especially popular in the states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Andhra Pradesh. It is also popular in countries with substantial presence of Indian and Sri Lankan diaspora, including Singapore, Fiji, and Malaysia.
Women in Fiji live in or are from the Republic of Fiji. On March 8, 2007, The Fiji Times ONLINE described Fijian women as playing an important role in the fields of economic and social development in Fijian society. The women of the Republic of Fiji are the "driving force" in health service as nurses and medical doctors. They are also key players and managers in the tourism and entertainment industries, as well as teachers in the field of education.
Fijian food has traditionally been very healthy. Fijians prefer a more tuber and coconut based diet. High caloric foods are good for hard-working villagers who need extra calories while working on their farms but this causes a range of chronic illness such as obesity. Fiji is a multicultural country and is home to people of various races. In most Fijians' homes, food of other cultures is prepared on a regular basis such as Indian curries and Chinese dishes. Fiji is also famous for its seafood.
