| Fiji:
the crossroads of the Pacific |
|
The
Republic of the Fiji Islands is an independent nation, the
majority of which is located just over the western side of
the International Date Line, near the equator. Most indigenous
Fijians are actually Melanesians, but for several thousand
years Fijians have been sailing to, interacting and intermarrying
with Polynesians, especially the people of Samoa and Tonga
and other smaller island groups near there. Like the Polynesian
people of Samoa and Tonga, modern Fijians have held on to many
aspects of their traditional culture: For example, most still
speak Fijian, as well as English, and many Fijians still live
in the types of houses seen at the Polynesian Cultural Center.
They also prefer to wear the traditional wrap-around sulu or
sarong, especially on formal occasions.
Just
under half of the population of Fiji are the descendants of contract
laborers imported from India by the British government over 100
years ago. Fiji today still maintains some aspects of its historical
British association, including a parliamentary style of government — which
is advised by the Great Council of Chiefs, driving on the left-hand
side of the road, and a deep love of rugby and soccer [football].
Fiji
is located west-southwest of Hawaii about two-thirds of the
way to New Zealand. It straddles the 180° meridian line,
from which the new day is calculated.
For convenience, and to allow all of Fiji to be in one time
zone,
the International
Date Line detours to the East around Fiji.
Fiji consists of approximately 300 islands ranging
from coral atolls to high-rise sub-continental land masses,
about 100 of which are populated. Viti Levu, with the capital
located on the eastern end at Suva, is the main island and
also the site of the international airport on the western
end at Nadi [sometimes written
Nandi].
Vanua
Levu is the second largest island, but beyond the urban centers
on Viti Levu, it and most other islands in the country
are relatively undeveloped.
Fiji
has a land mass of 18,270 sq. km. It is slightly smaller than
New Jersey. Its two main islands are categorized as sub-continental,
and have vast tropical forests and even a gold mine, contrasting
with other Polynesian islands which typically have few natural
resources beyond tropical forests and the sea.
Fiji
has a population of approximately 870,000, 51% of them indigenous
Fijians with their Polynesian admixture and 44% of Indian descent.
The remaining percentage is a comprised of Europeans, other
Pacific islanders, Chinese and others.
| European
discovery and history: |
|
Archeologists
know the predecessors of the Fijians first came to these
islands over 3,000 years ago, and their ancestors eventually
moved
on to Tonga and Samoa. Dutch explorer Abel Tasman accidentally
discovered Fiji in 1643. British Captain James Cook also
sailed through the islands in 1774, but credit for the
first significant
European exploration usually goes to Captain William Bligh:
He sailed past "the Feejees" following the
famous mutiny on the Bounty in 1789 and returned several
years later
in his quest to punish the mutineers. Shipwrecked sailors,
sandalwood traders and Christian missionaries followed. When
paramount chief, Ratu Seru Cakobau, converted to Christianity
in 1854, intertribal warfare and cannibalism soon ceased.
As
hereditary Fijian tribal chiefs watched the encroachment of European
colonialism among the Pacific islands in the the 18th and 19th
centuries, they collectively elected to associate with Great
Britain in 1874. The first British Governor-General of Fiji,
Sir Arthur Gordon, formalized the Great Council of Chiefs and
ensured these traditional leaders would maintain control over
almost all the land in Fiji, a situation which still basically
exists today (contrasted with some other traditional Polynesian
lands which eventually could be bought and sold by anyone). From
1879 to 1916, the British government imported indentured Indian
laborers to work on sugar cane plantations and in other industries.
After the indenture system was abolished there, about 60% of
the Indians chose to remain in Fiji, where their descendants
live
today as
small farmers and business owners.
In
1970, the citizens of Fiji elected to become an independent nation.
Fijian
is an ancient Austronesian language that is related to its
more modern "cousins" such as Tongan and Samoan.
Historical linguists often trace a language's roots against
such cousins by noting which sounds and features
have been kept or dropped, determining that newer languages
and dialects tend to have fewer sounds and features. In this
simplistic explanation, therefore, linguists have shown that
Fijian is much more ancient than Tongan or Samoan, which are
likewise even older than Tahitian and Hawaiian.
Today,
Fijian (in various dialects) and English are widely spoken, along
with various Indian and other Pacific island languages.
The
sounds represented by several written Fijian letters are different
than their English counterparts. More specifically, the consonant
'b' is pronounced as an 'mb' sound, even at the beginning
of
a word; and the consonant 'd' is pronounced as an 'nd' sound,
also even if it comes at the beginning of
a word. Hence, the written word Nadi (where the international
airport is located) is pronounced as if it were written 'Nandi'
(non-dee).
There
are three other differences: 1) The sound represented by the
Fijian letter 'g' is an unreleased g-sound, as in the English
word
"singer," even if it comes at the beginning of a
word; 2) the letter 'q' is pronounced in Fijian with a released-g
sound,
as in the English word "finger," again even if it
comes at the first of a word; 3) and the letter 'c' is actually
pronounced
as an English 'th' as in the word 'that.' Consequently the
name Cakobau,
one of Fiji's great traditional chiefs, is sometimes written
and is more correctly pronounced
"Thakombau."
Many
