Page 63 - New Zealand: Natural Wonders North & South

• Time Zone: Fiji, like New Zealand, is 17 hours ahead of New York’s time; 16 ahead during
Daylight Savings Time.

National Holidays: Fiji

In addition to the holidays listed below, Fiji 06/26 National Sports Day
celebrates a number of national holidays
09/07 Constitution Day
that follow a lunar calendar, such as Easter
LYO _SP <`PPYɪ^ -T]_SOLd ?Z ʭYO Z`_ TQ 10/10 Fiji Day
you will be traveling during these holidays,
please visit www.timeanddate.com/ 12/25 Christmas
holidays.
12/26 Boxing Day
01/01 New Year’s Day

Historical Overview of Fiji

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waters kept seamen away until, 131 years later, Captain James Cook stopped there in 1774. But
probably the most famous visitor—albeit inadvertently—was Captain William Bligh, who had
been ousted from his ship, HMS Bounty, and set adrift in a small boat. His passage between
the islands of Vanua Levu and Viti Levu is still called “Bligh Water.”

Fiji’s history is a long and sometimes violent one. Inhabited for over 2,500 years, the original
Melanesian settlers were invaded by Polynesians from Tonga and Samoa. Intertribal wars
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infamous as “The Cannibal Isles.” Further Tongan invasions in the 1800s added to the volatile
atmosphere, while American, Australian, French, and British interests vied for supremacy.
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annexed by the British, indentured labor was imported from India. By the time this system
was abolished in 1919, more than 60,000 Indians lived in Fiji, creating tension between Fijians
and Indians and leading to racial segregation.

In 1970, Fiji gained its independence, although the political parties were organized by race.
Violence against Indians destabilized the new government until 1987, when Col. Stiveni
Rabuka seized power in a bloodless coup. He was formally elected in 1991. In 1999, Fiji elected
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overturned by a coup in 2000. Fiji is now a Democratic Republic governed by President Ratu
Epeli Nailatikau, elected by the Great Council of Chiefs.

Australia

Facts & Figures

• Area: 2,988,902 square miles

• Capital: Canberra

• Language: 0YRWT^S T^ _SP ZʯNTLW WLYR`LRP

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