George Wilkins, age 15, of Vancouver, Wash., for his question:
WHERE IS FIJI?
Fiji is an independent state within the British Commonwealth of Nations that is located in the South Pacific Ocean. It is to the west of the international date line and about 1,000 miles north of New Zealand.
Fiji is made up of more than 300 scattered islands with a total land area of only 7,055 square miles. This makes the entire country a bit smaller than the state of New Jersey. The island of Viti Levu (Big Fiji) covers about half this area and the island of Vanua Levu (Big Land) occupies about a third. Less than 100 of the islands are inhabited.
Population of Fiji is about 700,000 of whom 40 percent are native Fijians of chiefly Melanesian descent. About 50 percent of the people are descendants of laborers imported from India. The remaining 10 percent have Chinese, European, Micronesian or Polynesian ancestry.
Fiji became an independent nation in 1970 after being a British crown colony since 1874. It has a parliamentary form of government. A governor general represents the British sovereign, but actual executive power is exercised by a council of ministers headed by a prime minister. The legislature consists of a Senate of 22 appointed members and a House of Representatives of 52 popularly elected members.
Most of the Fiji Islands were formed by volcanoes. Coral reefs surround nearly all the islands. The larger islands have high volcanic peaks, rolling hills, rivers and grasslands. Tropical rain forests cover more than half the total area of Fiji.
Cool winds make Fiji's tropical climate Y» quite comfortable. Temperatures range from about 60 degrees F. to about 90 degrees F. Heavy rains and tropical storms occur frequently between November and April.
Sugar cane and coconuts account for about three fourths of Fiji's exports. Other experts include bananas, gold and timber.
The men of Fiji wear skirts called sulus and the women wear bright cotton dresses or occasionally grass skirts. Most native Fijians are Christians.
English is the official language of Fiji. But the country also has two other main languages: Fijian and Hindustani. The law does not require children to go to school, but over 85 percent of those from six to 13 years old do so.
The Indians are descendants of about 60,000 laborers brought from India between 1879 and 1916 to work on Fiji's sugar plantations. Many Indians still work in the cane fields, but others have become prosperous shopkeepers or businessmen. Indians control much of Fiji's industry and business. The Indian women wear the sari, the traditional dress of India. Most of the Indians are Muslims or Hindus.
Melanesians migrated to Fiji thousands of years ago, probably from Indonesia. A small group of Polynesians settled there during the A.D. 100s. Early Fijians were cannibals and various tribes fought one another until 1871 when a chief named Cakobau extended his influence over much of Fiji and brought the islands peace.