Identification

• The original inhabitants of the Fiji Islands knew their homeland as "Viti." European explorers gathered much of their information on the islands from another group of Pacific Islanders, the Tongans. The Tongan name for the islands was "Fisi," and Captain James Cook spread the Anglicized version of that name for the islands.
  
  

Early History

• Fijian legends state that the Chief Lutunasobasoba led the ancestors of the Fijians to the islands about 3,500 years ago. Abrupt changes in Fijian culture throughout the following centuries, including a major change in pottery style in the 12th century, are attributed to later immigrations to Fiji. Several independent and accidental European discoveries of the islands occurred. Abel Tasman came across the islands in 1643, James Cook explored Fiji in 1774 and William Bligh extensively described the islands following a 1789 visit. The early 19th century was marked in Fiji by an influx of European trade goods, coinciding with continued independence.
  
  

Colonial History

• Christian missionaries began to arrive in Fiji in the mid-19th century. The conversion of chief Ratu Seru Cakobau to Christianity in 1854 led to the mass conversion of the Fijian population in the following years. Colonial entrepreneurs began to establish large plantations in the 1860s, which brought about conflict between Fijian leaders and European planters. Great Britain took control of Fiji in 1874. The colonial government was relatively positive for Fijian natives, although epidemic diseases took a major toll on the population.
  
  

Modern History

• Fiji gained independence from Great Britain in 1970. The economy of the islands today depends mainly on sugar production and tourism, and Fiji is a communications and transportation center for the islands of the Pacific. Until 1987, the Alliance Party dominated the Fijian government. That year, the party lost power in national elections. The winning parties were dominated by Indian ministers, a fact that led to a coup and five years of a military government. An elected government returned in 1992, but another coup occurred in 2000, led by a Fijian businessman. The coup ended that year, and Fijian politics have remained stable since then.
  
  

Population

• Native Fijians make up a little over 50 percent of the modern Fijian population. Another 43.6 percent of the population is composed of Indians, mostly descended from indentured servants brought during the colonial period for labor. The remainder of the population originated in China, Europe and other parts of the Pacific. Racial tensions between the two largest groups, the Fijians and the Indians, have remained tense throughout the period of independence.