Fiji

Airports

25 total, 22 usable; 2 with permanent-surface runways; none with runways over 3,659 m; 1 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 2 with runways 1,220-2,439 m

Civil air

1 DC-3 and 1 light aircraft

Highways

3,300 km total (1984) - 1,590 km paved; 1,290 km gravel, crushed stone, or stabilized soil surface; 420 unimproved earth

Inland waterways

203 km; 122 km navigable by motorized craft and 200-metric-ton barges

Merchant marine

7 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 40,072 GRT/47,187 DWT; includes 2 roll-on/roll-off, 2 container, 1 petroleum tanker, 1 chemical tanker, 1 cargo

Ports

Lambasa, Lautoka, Savusavu, Suva

Railroads

644 km 0.610-meter narrow gauge, belonging to the government-owned Fiji Sugar Corporation

Telecommunications

modern local, interisland, and international (wire/radio integrated) public and special-purpose telephone, telegraph, and teleprinter facilities; regional radio center; important COMPAC cable link between US-Canada and New Zealand-Australia; 53,228 telephones; broadcast stations - 7 AM, 1 FM, no TV; 1 Pacific Ocean INTELSAT earth station

Branches

Fiji Military Force (FMF; including a naval division, Police)

Defense expenditures

exchange rate conversion - $22.4 million, 1.7% of GDP (FY 91)

Manpower availability

males 15-49, 192,056; 105,898 fit for military service; 7,564 reach military age (18) annually

Agriculture

accounts for 23% of GDP; principal cash crop is sugarcane; coconuts, cassava, rice, sweet potatoes, and bananas; small livestock sector includes cattle, pigs, horses, and goats

Budget

revenues $413 million; expenditures $464 million, including capital expenditures of NA (1992 est.)

Currency

Fijian dollar (plural - dollars); 1 Fijian dollar (F$) = 100 cents

Economic aid

Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1980-89), $815 million

Electricity

215,000 kW capacity; 330 million kWh produced, 430 kWh per capita (1990)

Exchange rates

Fijian dollars (F$) per US$1 - 1.4855 (January 1992), 1.4756 (1991), 1.4809 (1990), 1.4833 (1989), 1.4303 (1988), 1.2439 (1987)

Exports

$646 million (f.o.b., 1991 est.) commodities: sugar 40%, gold, clothing, copra, processed fish, lumber partners: EC 31%, Australia 21%, Japan 8%, US 6%

External debt

$428 million (December 1990 est.)

Fiscal year

calendar year

GDP

exchange rate conversion - $1.3 billion, per capita $1,700; real growth rate 3.5% (1991 est.)

Imports

$840 million (c.i.f., 1991 est.) commodities: machinery and transport equipment 32%, food 15%, petroleum products, consumer goods, chemicals partners: Australia 30%, NZ 17%, Japan 13%, EC 6%, US 6%

Industrial production

growth rate 8.4% (1991 est.); accounts for 13% of GDP

Industries

sugar, tourism, copra, gold, silver, fishing, clothing, lumber, small cottage industries

Inflation rate (consumer prices)

7.0% (1991)

Overview

Fiji's economy is primarily agricultural, with a large subsistence sector. Sugar exports are a major source of foreign exchange, and sugar processing accounts for one-third of industrial output. Industry, including sugar milling, contributes 13% to GDP. Fiji traditionally had earned considerable sums of hard currency from the 250,000 tourists who visited each year. In 1987, however, after two military coups, the economy went into decline. GDP dropped by 7.8% in 1987 and by another 2.5% in 1988; political uncertainty created a drop in tourism, and the worst drought of the century caused sugar production to fall sharply. In contrast, sugar and tourism turned in strong performances in 1989, and the economy rebounded vigorously. In 1990 the economy received a setback from cyclone Sina, which cut sugar output by an estimated 21%.

Unemployment rate

5.9% (1991 est.)

Climate

tropical marine; only slight seasonal temperature variation

Coastline

1,129 km

Comparative area

slightly smaller than New Jersey

Disputes

none

Environment

subject to hurricanes from November to January; includes 332 islands of which approximately 110 are inhabited

Land area

18,270 km2

Land boundaries

none

Land use

arable land 8%; permanent crops 5%; meadows and pastures 3%; forest and woodland 65%; other 19%; includes irrigated NEGL%

Maritime claims

(measured from claimed archipelagic baselines) Continental shelf: 200 m (depth) or to depth of exploitation; rectilinear shelf claim added Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm Territorial sea: 12 nm

Natural resources

timber, fish, gold, copper; offshore oil potential

Note

located 2,500 km north of New Zealand in the South Pacific Ocean

Terrain

mostly mountains of volcanic origin

Total area

18,270 km2

Administrative divisions

4 divisions and 1 dependency*; Central, Eastern, Northern, Rotuma*, Western

Capital

Suva

Constitution

10 October 1970 (suspended 1 October 1987); a new Constitution was proposed on 23 September 1988 and promulgated on 25 July 1990

Diplomatic representation

Ambassador Pita Kewa NACUVA; Chancery at Suite 240, 2233 Wisconsin Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20007; telephone (202) 337-8320; there is a Fijian Consulate in New York US: Ambassador Evelyn I. H. TEEGEN; Embassy at 31 Loftus Street, Suva (mailing address is P. O. Box 218, Suva); telephone [679] 314-466; FAX [679] 300-081

Elections

House of Representatives: last held 14 May 1987 (next to be held 23-29 May 1992); results - percent of vote by party NA; seats - (70 total, with ethnic Fijians allocated 37 seats, ethnic Indians 27 seats, and independents and other 6 seats) number of seats by party NA

Executive branch

president, prime minister, Cabinet Great Councils of Chiefs (highest ranking members of the traditional chiefly system)

Flag

light blue with the flag of the UK in the upper hoist-side quadrant and the Fijian shield centered on the outer half of the flag; the shield depicts a yellow lion above a white field quartered by the cross of Saint George featuring stalks of sugarcane, a palm tree, bananas, and a white dove

Independence

10 October 1970 (from UK)

Judicial branch

Supreme Court

Leaders

Chief of State: President Ratu Sir Penaia Kanatabatu GANILAU (since 5 December 1987) Head of Government: Prime Minister Ratu Sir Kamisese MARA (since 5 December 1987); Deputy Prime Minister Josefata KAMIKAMICA (since October 1991); note - Ratu Sir Kamisese MARA served as prime minister from 10 October 1970 until the 5-11 April 1987 election; after a second coup led by Maj. Gen. Sitiveni RABUKA on 25 September 1987, Ratu Sir Kamisese MARA was reappointed as prime minister

Legal system

based on British system

Legislative branch

the bicameral Parliament, consisting of an upper house or Senate and a lower house or House of Representatives, was dissolved following the coup of 14 May 1987; the Constitution of 23 September 1988 provides for a bicameral Parliament

Long-form name

Republic of Fiji

Member of

ACP, AsDB, CP, ESCAP, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, IDA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, ITU, LORCS, PCA, SPC, SPF, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNIFIL, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO

National holiday

Independence Day, 10 October (1970)

Political parties and leaders

Fijian Political Party (primarily Fijian), leader Maj. Gen. Sitivini RABUKA; National Federation Party (NFP; primarily Indian), Siddiq KOYA; Christian Fijian Nationalist Party (CFNP), Sakeasi BUTADROKA; Fiji Labor Party (FLP), Jokapeci KOROI; All National Congress (ANC), Apisai TORA; General Voters Party (GVP), Max OLSSON; Fiji Conservative Party (FCP), Isireli VUIBAU; Conservative Party of Fiji (CPF), Jolale ULUDOLE and Viliame SAVU; Fiji Indian Liberal Party, Swami MAHARAJ; Fiji Indian Congress Party, Ishwari BAJPAI; Fiji Independent Labor (Muslim), leader NA; Four Corners Party, David TULVANUAVOU

Suffrage

none

Type

military coup leader Maj. Gen. Sitiveni RABUKA formally declared Fiji a republic on 6 October 1987

Birth rate

25 births/1,000 population (1992)

Death rate

7 deaths/1,000 population (1992)

Ethnic divisions

Indian 49%, Fijian 46%, European, other Pacific Islanders, overseas Chinese, and other 5%

Infant mortality rate

19 deaths/1,000 live births (1992)

Labor force

235,000; subsistence agriculture 67%, wage earners 18%, salary earners 15% (1987)

Languages

English (official); Fijian; Hindustani

Life expectancy at birth

62 years male, 67 years female (1992)

Literacy

86% (male 90%, female 81%) age 15 and over can read and write (1985 est.)

Nationality

noun - Fijian(s); adjective - Fijian

Net migration rate

-10 migrants/1,000 population (1992)

Organized labor

about 45,000 employees belong to some 46 trade unions, which are organized along lines of work and ethnic origin (1983)

Population

749,946 (July 1992), growth rate 0.9% (1992)

Religions

Christian 52% (Methodist 37%, Roman Catholic 9%), Hindu 38%, Muslim 8%, other 2%; note - Fijians are mainly Christian, Indians are Hindu, and there is a Muslim minority (1986)

Total fertility rate

3.0 children born/woman (1992)