Fijians

A Fijian in traditional clothing around 1890

The Fijians are the indigenous people of Fiji . According to the official language regulation (2013 constitution), they are referred to as iTaukei , while the English-language name Fijians expressly applies to all citizens of Fiji. This is done to counter the racial discrimination of the Indian population. The iTaukei speak Fiji .

The 2007 census counted 837,271 inhabitants in Fiji, of which 475,739 iTaukei , 313,798 Fiji Indians and 47,734 others. In the 2017 census there were 884,887 inhabitants.

The people of Fiji immigrated from western Melanesia around 3,500 years ago . They later moved to the other surrounding islands of Rotuma , Tonga, and Samoa . They settled in the Tonga Archipelago in the centuries before the turn of the time. In the past, the Tongans maintained a powerful war fleet, which consisted of large double- hulled boats with a crew of up to several hundred and served for defense and conquest purposes. With this, around 600 AD, Samoa, a thousand kilometers away, was conquered and held tribute for around four hundred years. Other islands were also subjugated. Because of their pottery skills, the Fijians were also called the Lapita people.

literature

• James Herman De Ricci: Fiji: Our New Province in the South Seas . Edward Standford, London 1875, OCLC 4803267 (English, 332 pages).
• Asesela Ravuvu: Vaka i Taukei: The Fijian Way of Life . University of the South Pacific , Suva 1983 (English, 130 pages).
• Thomas Williams, James Calvert, George Stringer Rowe: The Islands and Their Inhabitants . In: Fiji and the Fijians . tape 1 . Alexander Heylin, London 1858, OCLC 19529801 (English).

Web links

Commons : Fijians  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Wiktionary: Fijians  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Individual evidence

1. ^ Constitution of the Republic of Fiji . Republic of Fiji , Suva, Fiji 2013, p. 1 (English, gov.fj [PDF; 832 kB ; Retrieved March 23, 2018] Fiji: Yavunivakavulewa Ni Matanitu Tugalala O Viti . Suva 2013.).
2. ^ Census of Population and Housing. In: statsfiji.gov.fj. Fiji Bureau of Statistics, 2007, accessed March 23, 2018 . 
3. ↑ Census 2017. (No longer available online.) In: statsfiji.gov.fj. Fiji Bureau of Statistics, March 5, 2018, archived from the original on March 20, 2018 ; accessed on March 23, 2018 (English). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.