Fiji (sometimes called the Fiji Islands), is a Melanesian country in the
South Pacific Ocean. It lies about two-thirds of the way from Hawaii to
New Zealand and consists of an archipelago that includes 332 islands, a
handful of which make up most of the land area, and approximately 110
of which are inhabited. Fiji straddles the 180 degree longitude line
(which crosses land on a remote tip of Vanua Levu and again near the
centre of Taveuni), so the international date line jogs east, placing
Fiji all in one time zone and "ahead" of most of the rest of the world.
Fiji
is the product of volcanic mountains and warm tropical waters. Its
majestic and ever-varied coral reefs today draw tourists from around the
world, but were the nightmare of European mariners until well into the
19th century. As a result, Fijians have retained their land and often
much of the noncommercial, sharing attitude of people who live in vast
extended families with direct access to natural resources. When it came,
European involvement and cession to Britain was marked by the
conversion to Christianity, the cessation of brutal tribal warfare and
cannibalism, and the immigration of a large number of indentured Indian
laborers, who now represent nearly half of the population, as well as
smaller numbers of Europeans and Asians. Today, Fiji is a land of
tropical rainforests, coconut plantations, fine beaches, fire-cleared
hills. For the casual tourist it is blessedly free of evils such as
malaria, landmines, or terrorism that attend many similarly lovely
places in the world. Internal political events in the recent past
resulted in a reduction in tourism. The Fiji tourism industry has
responded by lowering prices and increasing promotion of the main resort
areas that are far removed from the politics in and around the capital,
Suva
