Fiji History

The indigenous people of Fiji arrived long before contact with European explorers in the seventeenth century. Pottery excavated from Fijian towns show that Fiji was settled around 1000 BC. Traditional Fijian society was hierarchical. Leaders were chosen according to rank, which was based on descent as well as personal achievement. Fijians participated in a flexible network of alliances that sometimes brought communities together and at other times caused them to oppose one another.

The first European to sight the Fiji islands was Dutch explorer Abel Janzsoon Tasman. Capt. William Bligh traveled through the group in his open longboat in 1789 and returned in 1792.

It was not until the nineteenth century, however, that Europeans settled the islands permanently. In the 1860s, Fiji attracted settlers wanting to establish cotton plantations. Disputes ensued over land and political power within and between European and Fijian communities. The islands came under British control as a colony in 1874, and the British brought over Indian contract laborers.

During World War II, Fiji was occupied by Allied forces. Fiji Indians refused to serve because of unequal treatment, because they were offered less wages and conditions than were Europeans. After the war, the colonial authorities restructured the Fijian administration, reinforcing chiefly leadership and thus consolidating the conservatism of Fijian society.

Fiji was granted independence in 1970. The second 1987 coup saw the British monarchy and the Governor General replaced by a non-executive President, and the country changed its name to the Republic of Fiji. The coups and accompanying civil unrest contributed to heavy Indian emigration; the population loss
resulted in economic difficulties but ensured that Melanesians became the majority.

In 1990, the new Constitution institutionalized the ethnic Fijian domination of politics. Sitiveni Rabuka became Prime Minister in 1992. Three years later, Rabuka established the Constitutional Review Commission, which in 1997 led to a new Constitution that was supported by leaders of the Fijian and Indian
communities.

After a coup in 2000, a Fijian-dominated administration was appointed by the military commander to lead the country back to democracy. Fiji’s High Court declared the military-installed government illegitimate, decreeing that the parliament ousted in May remained the country’s governing authority. Legal appeals of the ruling lasted into 2001, a general election was called for in August and September.

Tensions between the military and the elected government continued. PM Qarase’s party narrowly won the May 2006 elections, and he began his second term. However, in December, military leader Voreque Bainimarama led another coup and established himself as the country’s leader.

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