Access to THE WORLD FACTBOOK 1994 provided courtesy of
the libraries of the University of Missouri-St. Louis.
======================================================
National Trade Data Bank
ITEM ID     : CI WOFACT WO0080
DATE        : Oct 28, 1994
 
AGENCY      : CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
PROGRAM     : WORLD FACTBOOK
TITLE       : World Factbook: Fiji
 
Source key      : CI 
Program key     : CI WOFACT 
Update sched.   : Annually         
Data type       : TEXT 
End year        : 1994
Date of record  : 19941020
Keywords 3      :  
Keywords 3      : | Fiji 
 
 
                                   Fiji
 
 
                                 Geography
 
Location:
     Oceania, Melanesia, 2,500 km north of New Zealand in the South Pacific
     Ocean
Map references:
     Oceania, Standard Time Zones of the World
Area:
total area:
     18,270 sq km
land area:
     18,270 sq km
comparative area:
     slightly smaller than New Jersey
Land boundaries:
     0 km
Coastline:
     1,129 km
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
International disputes:
     none
Climate:
     tropical marine; only slight seasonal temperature variation
Terrain:
     mostly mountains of volcanic origin
Natural resources:
     timber, fish, gold, copper, offshore oil potential
Land use:
arable land:
     8%
permanent crops:
     5%
meadows and pastures:
     3%
forest and woodland:
     65%
other:
     19%
Irrigated land:
     10 sq km (1989 est.)
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
Note:
     includes 332 islands of which approximately 110 are inhabited
 
                                  People
 
Population:
     764,382 (July 1994 est.)
Population growth rate:
     1.05% (1994 est.)
Birth rate:
     24.18 births/1,000 population (1994 est.)
Death rate:
     6.5 deaths/1,000 population (1994 est.)
Net migration rate:
     -7.15 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1994 est.)
Infant mortality rate:
     18.1 deaths/1,000 live births (1994 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population:
     65.14 years
male:
     62.88 years
female:
     67.51 years (1994 est.)
Total fertility rate:
     2.92 children born/woman (1994 est.)
Nationality:
noun:
     Fijian(s)
adjective:
     Fijian
Ethnic divisions:
     Fijian 49%, Indian 46%, European, other Pacific Islanders, overseas
     Chinese, and other 5%
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)
Languages:
     English (official), Fijian, Hindustani
Literacy:
     age 15 and over can read and write (1985 est.)
total population:
     86%
male:
     90%
female:
     81%
Labor force:
     235,000
 
 
by occupation:
     subsistence agriculture 67%, wage earners 18%, salary earners 15%
     (1987)
 
                                Government
 
Names:
conventional long form:
     Republic of Fiji
conventional short form:
Digraph:
     FJ
Type:
     republic
note:
     military coup leader Maj. Gen. Sitiveni RABUKA formally declared Fiji
     a republic on 6 October 1987
Capital:
     Suva
Administrative divisions:
     4 divisions and 1 dependency*; Central, Eastern, Northern, Rotuma*,
     Western
Independence:
     10 October 1970 (from UK)
National holiday:
     Independence Day, 10 October (1970)
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
Legal system:
     based on British system
Suffrage:
     none
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)
Presidential Council:
     appointed by the governor general
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
Legislative branch:
     the bicameral Parliament was dissolved following the coup of 14 May
     1987
 
 
Senate:
     nonelective body containing 34 seats, 24 reserved for Melanesians, 9
     for Indians and others, 1 for the island of Rotuma
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
Judicial branch:
     Supreme Court
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
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
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
FAX:
     (202) 337-1996
consulate(s):
     New York
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
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
 
 
 
                                  Economy
 
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.
National product:
     GDP - purchasing power equivalent - $3 billion (1993 est.)
National product real growth rate:
     1% (1993 est.)
National product per capita:
     $4,000 (1993 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
     5.6% (1993 est.)
Unemployment rate:
     5.9% (1991 est.)
Budget:
revenues:
     $455 million
expenditures:
     $546 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (1993 est.)
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%
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%
External debt:
     $670 million (1994 est.)
Industrial production:
     growth rate 7.5% (1992 est.); accounts for 13% of GDP
Electricity:
capacity:
     215,000 kW
production:
     420 million kWh
consumption per capita:
     560 kWh (1992)
 
 
Industries:
     sugar, tourism, copra, gold, silver, clothing, lumber, small cottage
     industries
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)
Economic aid:
recipient:
     Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments
     (1980-89), $815 million
Currency:
     1 Fijian dollar (F$) = 100 cents
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)
Fiscal year:
     calendar year
 
                              Communications
 
Railroads:
     644 km 0.610-meter narrow gauge, belonging to the government-owned
     Fiji Sugar Corporation
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
Ports:
     Labasa, Lautoka, Savusavu, Suva
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
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
 
 
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
 
                              Defense Forces
 
Branches:
     Republic of Fiji Military Forces (RFMF; including a naval division,
     police)
Manpower availability:
     males age 15-49 197,767; fit for military service 109,026; reach
     military age (18) annually 8,154 (1994 est.)
Defense expenditures:
     exchange rate conversion - $22.4 million, about 2% of GDP (FY91/92)
 
 
 
===========================================================================
This section of THE WORLD FACTBOOK 1994 produced by the United States
Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) was derived from the US Dept. of Commerce
Economics and Statistics Division's NATIONAL TRADE DATA BANK (NTDB) CD-ROM,
November, 1994, SuDoc No. C 1.88:994/11/v.1-2 / Presented by Raleigh Muns,
(srcmuns@umslvma.umsl.edu) University of Missouri-St. Louis Libraries.