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Fiji
An archipelago of more than 300 islands in the South Pacific, Fiji is famous for its beaches, coral reefs, and tropical climate. Its economy is driven by tourism, agriculture, and sugar exports, with a culture blending Melanesian, Polynesian, and Indian influences.
930,000
Population
18,272
Area (km²)
Suva
Capital
38
Historical Events
Historical Timeline
2025 - Government prioritizes local-government reforms and municipal elections, cyclone-resilient housing and schools, and blue-economy investments. Coalition partners refine platforms on land-lease certainty, youth jobs, policing transparency, and climate-resilient relocations.
2024 - Courts pursue high-profile cases involving former officials; policy centers on cost-of-living relief, utilities reliability, and town-by-town climate adaptation. Tourism surpasses pre-pandemic levels; focus shifts to aviation capacity and shipping.
2023 - Coalition restores the Great Council of Chiefs (GCC), reviews restrictive decrees, reopens dialogue with unions and civil society; fiscal repair proceeds as tourism rebounds.
2022 - General election produces a hung parliament. A PA–NFP–SODELPA coalition forms; Sitiveni Rabuka becomes prime minister (Dec 24), ending 16 years of Bainimarama-led rule.
2021 - A Delta-wave outbreak brings severe strain; vaccination accelerates; Cyclone Yasa recovery overlaps with health response.
2020 - COVID-19 collapses tourism; wage subsidies and containment keep early cases low. Former PM Laisenia Qarase dies (Apr 21).
2019 - Ratu Sukuna Day public holiday removed (later restored under a new government); climate diplomacy escalates with relocation framework for at-risk villages.
2018 - FijiFirst wins re-election with a reduced margin; SODELPA leads the opposition under Sitiveni Rabuka.
2016 - Category 5 Cyclone Winston devastates parts of Viti Levu, Lau, and outer islands; extended reconstruction of housing, schools, and power follows.
2014 - First elections since 2006 coup: FijiFirst wins; Bainimarama becomes prime minister; ties normalize internationally.
2013 - A new constitution establishes common roll voting and strong executive powers; race-based seats abolished.
2009 - Court of Appeal rules post-coup government unlawful; constitution abrogated; emergency regulations and media controls imposed.
2006 - Commodore Frank Bainimarama seizes power (Dec 5), citing corruption and racially divisive policies; rule by decree ensues.
2001 - Elections return Laisenia Qarase as prime minister; SVT collapses; politics center on land leases and reconciliation bills.
2000 - George Speight and gunmen seize parliament (May), detaining the PM and MPs; martial law follows; Speight is later arrested.
1999 - Mahendra Chaudhry becomes Fiji’s first Indo-Fijian prime minister after elections.
1997 - A 1997 constitution reduces ethnic weighting and is praised for power sharing.
1992 - First elections under the 1990 constitution bring Mara as president and Rabuka as prime minister.
1987 - Two coups d’état (Apr and Sept) led by Lt. Col. Sitiveni Rabuka topple a multiethnic government; Fiji declares a republic and leaves the Commonwealth.
1977 - A hung parliament and brief crisis after the NFP’s unexpected win leads the Governor-General to reappoint Ratu Mara; fresh elections restore an Alliance majority.
1972 - First post-independence elections return the Alliance Party with a strong majority.
1970 - Fiji becomes independent (Oct 10) with a Westminster constitution balancing communal and national seats; Ratu Mara becomes prime minister.
1963 - Universal adult franchise (with communal rolls) ends most property restrictions on Indigenous and Indo-Fijian voters.
1959 - Riots over wages in Suva expose urban pressures and racialized tensions late in the colonial era.
1942 - World War II brings military works and airstrips; postwar years see cooperative marketing and gradual political opening.
1920 - Strikes among cane farmers and workers usher modern labor politics; communal representation hardens in the Legislative Council.
1916 - Indentured labor is abolished; many Indians remain as smallholders and traders, negotiating cane contracts via associations.
1904 - The GCC is created as a formal advisory body to colonial authorities on Indigenous affairs.
1879 - First indentured laborers from India arrive to work sugar plantations; later cohorts continue until 1916, reshaping demography and economy.
1875 - A measles epidemic devastates Fiji months after cession, killing tens of thousands.
1874 - Chiefs cede Fiji to Britain (Oct 10); Cakobau remains influential under colonial rule.
1871 - Settler planters and Cakobau proclaim the Kingdom of Fiji with cabinet and parliament in Levuka; debts and land disputes overwhelm the experiment.
1865 - A short-lived Confederacy of Chiefs attempts regional coordination under Ratu Cakobau.
1835 - Wesleyan missionaries arrive; conversions, literacy, and new alliances alter chiefly politics, especially around Bau.
1805 - Early 1800s trade draws Australian and American vessels to Bau, Rewa, and Vanua Levu; firearms and markets reshape politics.
1643 - Abel Tasman sights Fiji (1643); William Bligh and whalers later chart reefs and channels, avoiding settlement due to hazards.
1200 - Inter-island chiefdoms consolidate around vanua ties; drua canoes, barkcloth, and exchange networks link Viti Levu, Vanua Levu, Lau, and Kadavu.
800 - Lapita voyagers bring pottery, outrigger-canoe technology, and horticulture, anchoring Fiji in Melanesian–Polynesian migrations.