Rotuma Rotuma | |
|---|---|
 Location of Rotuma in Polynesia | |
 The island of Rotuma, located to the far north, in relation to mainland Fiji | |
| Administrative center | Ahau 12°29.9′S 177°2.82′E / 12.4983°S 177.04700°E |
| Official languages | |
| Ethnic groups | Rotuman ∟Fagutan |
| Demonym(s) | Rotuman ∟Fagutan |
| Government | Dependency of Fiji |
• Gagaj Pure (District Officer) | Niumaia Masere |
• Gagaj Jeaman (Council Chairman) | Tarterani Rigamoto |
| Establishment | |
• Faguta's special status agreed to by Rotuma's chiefs in the Treaty of Hamelin | 11 September 1871 |
• Rotuma ceded to the United Kingdom | 13 May 1881 |
• Independence from the United Kingdom granted as part of Fiji | 10 October 1970 |
| Area | |
• Total | 47 km2 (18 sq mi) |
| Population | |
• 2017 census | 1,594 |
| Currency | Fiji dollar (FJD) |
| Time zone | UTC+12 |
| Calling code | +679 |
 | |
Rotuma (/roʊˈtuːmə/) is a self-governing heptarchy, generally designated a dependency of Fiji. Rotuma commonly referred to Rotuma Island, the only permanently inhabited and by far the largest of all the islands in the Rotuma Group. Officially, the Rotuma Act declares that Rotuma consists of Rotuma Island as well as its neighbouring islands, rocks, and reefs across the entire Rotuma Group. The dependency is situated around 500 km west of the French islands of Wallis and Futuna and a similar distance north of the Fijian mainland. Its capital is Ahau, a hamlet consisting of a number of colonial-era buildings. Rotuma exists as a dependency of Fiji but itself contains its own socioreligious pene-enclave[a] known traditionally as Faguta where the chiefs (of Juju and Pepjei) and their villages adhere to the practices of worship, festival dates, and French-based writing system of the Marists, based at Sumi.
The island group is home to a large and unique Polynesian indigenous ethnic group which constitutes a recognisable minority within the population of Fiji, known as "Rotumans". Its population at the 2017 census was 1,594,[1] although many more Rotumans live on mainland Fijian islands, totaling 10,000.
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- ^ "2017 Population and Housing Census - Release 1" (PDF). Fiji Bureau of Statistics. 2018-01-05. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2019-08-26. Retrieved 2019-08-26.