Australian
Natural Adventures
nature travel, wildlife tours, adventure travel and
general travel to Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific
Map
of Fiji
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Prior
to European influence, the earlier inhabitants referred to their
islands as “Viti”. The term “Fiji” is actually
derived from the Tongan name for the islands. The Polynesian, Melanesian
and some Micronesian influences have predominantly
shaped Kai Viti or Fijian culture. The first recorded dwellers were
the Lapita people (about 3500 years ago) who were coastal dwellers
and potters. Remnants of their settlements can be found at the Sigatoka
Sand Dunes National Park, where pottery shards and bones were discovered
and is now an important archeological site. A number of these pieces
are on display at the Fiji Museum in Suva. After about 1000 years,
settlements moved inland as more population arrived and an agrarian
culture began forming. During the next 1000 years, Fiji was subjected
to Samoan and Tongan influences. Fijian society developed around,
and is still based on, extended family groups known as mataqali
(pronounced: matangali) headed by hereditary chiefs or turaga ni
koro (pronounced: toorunga nee koro). This arrangement led to rivalries
among heirs and armed conflicts between factions. Examples of cultural
development and implements of war can also be seen at the Fiji Museum.
Fiji's history
continues on the History page, but
the map should be showing by now.
MAP
OF THE FIJI ISLANDS