Fiji - History of Paradise

History of Fiji Though relatively small, Fiji has quite a history. Long before European explorers discovered the islands of paradise in the south that it is now, the first inhabitants of Fiji arrived from South East Asia. Pottery excavated from Fijian towns showed that Fiji was settled before or around 1000 BC by Pacific immigrants. In 1643, The Dutch explorer Abel Tasman visited Fiji while looking for the Great Southern Continent yet it was not until the nineteenth century that Europeans settled the islands permanently. In 1874, it came under British control as a colony and was granted independence in 1970.
The population of Fiji is mostly made up of native Fijians, a people of mixed Polynesian (partly Tongan) and Melanesian ancestry (54.3%), and Indo-Fijians (38.1%), descendants of Indian contract laborers brought to the islands by the British in the nineteenth century. Because of the tensions between the Native and Indo Fijians, there has been a significant labor shortage. The influx of foreign labor coming into Fiji mostly migrant workers from Mexico, can be attributed to this. The percentage of the population of Indian descent has declined significantly over the last two decades because of exclusionary policies against them and related emigration.
About 1.2% are Rotuman - natives of Rotuma Island, whose culture has more in common with countries such as Tonga or Samoa than with the rest of Fiji. There are also small, but economically significant, groups of Europeans, Chinese and other minorities. Relationships between ethnic Fijians and Indo-Fijians have often been strained, and the tension between the two communities has dominated politics in the islands for the past generation.
There were two military coups in 1987 and the country changed from 'Dominion of Fiji' to 'Republic of Fiji' (and to 'Republic of the Fiji Islands' in 1997). In 1990, the new Constitution institutionalized the ethnic Fijian domination of the political system. The Group Against Racial Discrimination (GARD) was formed to oppose the unilaterally imposed constitution and restore the 1970 constitution. Sitiveni Rabuka, the Lieutenant Colonel who carried out the 1987 coup became Prime Minister in 1992, following elections held under the new constitution.
The new millennium was rocked by more coups and mutinies. The High Court ordered the reinstatement of the constitution, and in September 2001, a General election was held to restore democracy. But the disputes never ended there. Coups resurfaced. The Commonwealth of Nations held an emergency meeting in London, where they declared Fiji's membership had been suspended. In the same year, IFNA withdrew the right of Fiji to host the 2007 World Netball Championships as a consequence of the Military takeover.
But of course, chaos does come to an end, as order is eventually reinstated. For a country of its size, Fiji has large armed forces, and has been a major contributor to UN peacekeeping missions in various parts of the world. In addition, a significant number of former military personnel have served as in the lucrative security sector in Iraq following the 2003 US led invasion.