Fijians

iTaukei
Indigenous Fijians
kaiViti
Fijian dance
Total population
c. 615,000
Regions with significant populations
 Fiji475,739[1]
 Australia96,960[2]
 United States<40,000[3]
 Canada25,180[4]
 New Zealand19,722[5]
 United Kingdom20000[6]
 Norfolk Island47[7]
Languages
Majority: Fijian and English
Minority: Pidgin Hindustani
Religion
Christian (Methodist 66.6%; Roman Catholic 13.3%; Assemblies of God 6.2%; Seventh-day Adventist 5.1%, other 8.8%).
Related ethnic groups
Papuans, Ni-Vanuatu, other Melanesian peoples, other Austronesian peoples, Indo-Fijians

Fijians (Fijian: iTaukei, lit. 'Owners [of the land]') are a nation and ethnic group native to Fiji, who speak Fijian and English and share a common history and culture.

Fijians, or iTaukei,[8] are the major indigenous people of the Fiji Islands of Melanesia. Indigenous Fijians are believed to have arrived in Fiji from western Melanesia approximately 3,500 years ago and are the descendants of the Lapita people. Later they would move onward to other surrounding islands, including Rotuma, as well as settling in other nearby islands such as Tonga and Samoa. They are indigenous to all parts of Fiji except the island of Rotuma. The original settlers are now called "Lapita people" after a distinctive pottery produced locally. Lapita pottery was found in the area from 800 BCE onward.

As of 2005, indigenous Fijians constituted slightly more than half of the total population of Fiji. Indigenous Fijians are predominantly of Melanesian extraction, with some Polynesian admixture.

Australia has the largest Fijian expatriate population, according to the Ministry of Pacific Island Affairs. According to the Australian census, the largest ethnic backgrounds that Fijians identified with were Indian/Indo-Fijian and Indigenous Fijian origins.[2] Fijians were also the fifth largest Pacific ethnic group living in New Zealand; a decrease of 8 percent between 1996 and 2001. In 2001, the estimated Pacific Islander population size is 231,800 Fijians comprising about 7,000 of that (Online numbers and side table disagree).[9][10] Outside Oceania, a notable Fijian diaspora is found in other Anglophone countries, namely Canada, United States and the United Kingdom.

The Bose Levu Vakaturaga (Great Council of Chiefs) once passed laws and regulations governing the indigenous Fijian people. Until its disbanding by the Military of Fiji following the 2006 coup, the Great Council of Chiefs met yearly to discuss native Fijian concerns. The council, which was formerly responsible for appointing Fiji's president, was composed of 55 Fijian chiefs selected from the 14 provinces. Included in the council were three appointees from the island of Rotuma and six appointed by the Minister of Fijian Affairs. The Minister of Fijian Affairs consulted with the President as part of the selection process. Former Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka was given a lifetime appointment on the council.

  1. ^ Fiji Islands Bureau of Statistics Archived 9 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ a b "Department of Immigration & Citizenship: Media – Publications: Statistics – Community Information Summaries". Archived from the original on 13 February 2014. Retrieved 8 July 2015.
  3. ^ "We the People: Pacific Islanders in the United States" (PDF). US Census Bureau. August 2005. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 August 2005.
  4. ^ "Immigrant status and period of immigration by place of birth and citizenship: Canada, provinces and territories and census metropolitan areas with parts". Statistics Canada. Statistics Canada Statistique Canada. 7 May 2021. Retrieved 3 January 2023.
  5. ^ "Fijian ethnic group". StatsNZ. Retrieved 2 January 2023.
  6. ^ "London Lives: The Fijian soldier". Time Out London. Archived from the original on 11 October 2012. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
  7. ^ "2016 Census QuickStats: Norfolk Island". Archived from the original on 7 May 2019. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
  8. ^ Since 2010, the word "Fijian" legally also denotes nationality and not ethnicity.
  9. ^ Online numbers and side table differ.
  10. ^ "Fijian People in New Zealand". New Zealand Ministry of Pacific Island Affairs. Archived from the original on 12 July 2007. Retrieved 19 March 2008.