| NAME: |
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| LOCATION: |
Oceania |
| GOVERNMENT: |
Republic |
| OFFICIAL LANGUAGE: |
English (official), Fijian (official), Hindustani. |
| MAJOR RELIGION(S): |
Christian 52% (Methodist 37%, Roman Catholic 9%), Hindu 38%, Muslim 8%, other 2%. |
| MAJOR ETHNIC GROUPS: |
Fijian 51% (predominantly Melanesian with a Polynesian admixture), Indian 44%, European, other Pacific Islanders, overseas Chinese, and other 5%.
Fiji has a population of about 800,000. Within that are two major races; indigenous Fijian and Indo-Fijian. Indigenous Fijians include Melanesians and Polynesians. Indo-Fijians are mostly the descendents of the ?girmitya? ? Indians who were brought here by the British in the mid-1800s to work in the cane fields. Other races of some number include Chinese, Samoans, Tongans, Australians, and New Zealanders ? and many others as well. |
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