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Article: Fiji Islands.
- Article from:
- New Internationalist
- Article date:
- November 1, 1998
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1998 New Internationalist Magazine. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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THE FIJI ISLANDS, as Fiji was renamed under a new multiracial constitution which came into effect in July, are made up of around 300 islands in the South Pacific, two-thirds of them uninhabited. In the heart of the capital, Suva, on the main island of Viti Levu, the busy streets are a colourful clash of Fijian floral prints and Indian gold-edged saris.
People of Indian origin, descended from indentured labourers sent by British colonists to work in the sugar-cane fields, now make up around half the population but political power has traditionally rested with ethnic Fijians (of mainly Melanesian origin). In 1987 a democratically elected Indian-dominated government ...