Fiji

Airports

total: 25 usable: 22 with permanent-surface runways: 3 with runways over 3,659 m: 0 with runways 2,440-3,659 m: 1 with runways 1,220-2,439 m: 2

Highways

total: 3,300 km paved: 1,590 km unpaved: gravel, crushed stone, stabilized earth 1,290 km; unimproved earth 420 km (1984)

Inland waterways

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

Merchant marine

8 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 44,911 GRT/54,490 DWT, cargo 1, chemical tanker 2, container 2, oil tanker 1, roll-on/roll-off cargo 2

Ports

Labasa, 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 NZ-Australia; 53,228 telephones (71 telephones per 1,000 persons); broadcast stations - 7 AM, 1 FM, no TV; 1 Pacific Ocean INTELSAT earth station

Branches

Republic of Fiji Military Forces (RFMF; including a naval division, police)

Defense expenditures

exchange rate conversion - $22.4 million, about 2% of GDP (FY91/92)

Manpower availability

males age 15-49 197,767; fit for military service 109,026; reach military age (18) annually 8,154 (1994 est.)

Agriculture

accounts for 23% of GDP; principal cash crop is sugarcane; coconuts, cassava, rice, sweet potatoes, bananas; small livestock sector includes cattle, pigs, horses, and goats; fish catch nearly 33,000 tons (1989)

Budget

revenues: $455 million expenditures: $546 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (1993 est.)

Currency

1 Fijian dollar (F$) = 100 cents

Economic aid

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

Electricity

capacity: 215,000 kW production: 420 million kWh consumption per capita: 560 kWh (1992)

Exchange rates

Fijian dollars (F$) per US$1 - 1.5239 (January 1994), 1.5418 (1993), 1.5030 (1992), 1.4756 (1991), 1.4809 (1990), 1.4833 (1989)

Exports

$417 million (f.o.b., 1992) commodities: sugar 40%, clothing, processed fish, gold, lumber partners: EC 26%, Australia 15%, Pacific Islands 11%, Japan 6%

External debt

$670 million (1994 est.)

Fiscal year

calendar year

Imports

$517 million (c.i.f., 1992 est) commodities: machinery and transport equipment, petroleum products, food, consumer goods, chemicals partners: Australia 30%, NZ 17%, Japan 13%, EC 6%, US 6%

Industrial production

growth rate 7.5% (1992 est.); accounts for 13% of GDP

Industries

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

Inflation rate (consumer prices)

5.6% (1993 est.)

National product

GDP - purchasing power equivalent - $3 billion (1993 est.)

National product per capita

$4,000 (1993 est.)

National product real growth rate

1% (1993 est.)

Overview

Fiji's economy is primarily agricultural, with a large subsistence sector. Sugar exports and tourism are the major sources of foreign exchange. Industry contributes 13% to GDP, with sugar processing accounting for one-third of industrial activity. Roughly 250,000 tourists visit each year. Political uncertainty and drought, however, contribute to substantial fluctuations in earnings from tourism and sugar. In 1992, growth was approximately 3%, based on growth in tourism and a lessening of labor-management disputes in the sugar and gold-mining sectors. In 1993, the government's budgeted growth rate of 3% was not achieved because of a decline in non-sugar agricultural output and damage from Cyclone Kina.

Unemployment rate

5.9% (1991 est.)

Area

total area: 18,270 sq km land area: 18,270 sq km comparative area: slightly smaller than New Jersey

Climate

tropical marine; only slight seasonal temperature variation

Coastline

1,129 km

Environment

current issues: deforestation; soil erosion natural hazards: cyclonic storms can occur from November to January international agreements: party to - Biodiversity, Climate Change, Law of the Sea, Marine Life Conservation, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection

International disputes

none

Irrigated land

10 sq km (1989 est.)

Land boundaries

0 km

Land use

arable land: 8% permanent crops: 5% meadows and pastures: 3% forest and woodland: 65% other: 19%

Location

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

Map references

Oceania, Standard Time Zones of the World

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

includes 332 islands of which approximately 110 are inhabited

Terrain

mostly mountains of volcanic origin

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; the 1990 Constitution is under review; the review will be complete by 1997

Digraph

FJ

Diplomatic representation in US

chief of mission: Ambassador Pita Kewa NACUVA chancery: Suite 240, 2233 Wisconsin Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20007 telephone: (202) 337-8320

Executive branch

chief of state: President Ratu Sir Kamisese MARA (since 12 January 1994); First Vice President Ratu Sir Josaia TAIVAIQIA (since 12 January 1994); Second Vice President Ratu Inoke TAKIVEIKATA (since 12 January 1994); note - President GANILAU died on 15 December 1993 and Vice President MARA became acting president; MARA was elected president by the Great Council of Chiefs on 12 January 1994 head of government: Prime Minister Sitiveni RABUKA (since 2 June 1992)

FAX

(202) 337-1996 consulate(s): New York

FAX

[679] 300-081

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

Great Council of Chiefs

(highest ranking members of the traditional chiefly system) cabinet: Cabinet; appointed by prime minister from members of Parliament and responsible to Parliament

House of Representatives

elections last held 18-25 February 1994 (next to be held NA 1997); 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 SVT 31, NFP 20, FLP 7, FA 5, GVP 4, independents 2, ANC 1

Independence

10 October 1970 (from UK)

Judicial branch

Supreme Court

Legal system

based on British system

Legislative branch

the bicameral Parliament was dissolved following the coup of 14 May 1987

Member of

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

Names

conventional long form: Republic of Fiji conventional short form: Fiji

National holiday

Independence Day, 10 October (1970)

Political parties and leaders

Fijian Political Party (SVT - primarily Fijian), leader Maj. Gen. Sitivini RABUKA; National Federation Party (NFP; primarily Indian), Jai Ram REDDY; Christian Fijian Nationalist Party (CFNP), Sakeasi BUTADROKA; Fiji Labor Party (FLP), Mahendra CHAUDHRY; 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; Fijian Association (FA), Josevata KAMIKAMICA

Presidential Council

appointed by the governor general

Senate

nonelective body containing 34 seats, 24 reserved for Melanesians, 9 for Indians and others, 1 for the island of Rotuma

Suffrage

none

Type

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

US diplomatic representation

chief of mission: (vacant); Charge d'Affaires William ROPE embassy: 31 Loftus Street, Suva mailing address: P. O. Box 218, Suva telephone: [679] 314-466

Birth rate

24.18 births/1,000 population (1994 est.)

Death rate

6.5 deaths/1,000 population (1994 est.)

Ethnic divisions

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

Infant mortality rate

18.1 deaths/1,000 live births (1994 est.)

Labor force

235,000 by occupation: subsistence agriculture 67%, wage earners 18%, salary earners 15% (1987)

Languages

English (official), Fijian, Hindustani

Life expectancy at birth

total population: 65.14 years male: 62.88 years female: 67.51 years (1994 est.)

Literacy

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

Nationality

noun: Fijian(s) adjective: Fijian

Net migration rate

-7.15 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1994 est.)

Population

764,382 (July 1994 est.)

Population growth rate

1.05% (1994 est.)

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

2.92 children born/woman (1994 est.)