Fiji consists of 332 islands in the southwest Pacific Ocean about 3,152 km (1,960 mi ) from Sydney, Australia. About 110 of these islands are inhabited. The two largest are Viti Levu (10,642 sq km; 4,109 sq mi ) and Vanua Levu (5,807 sq km; 2,242 sq mi).

Fiji, which had been inhabited since the second millennium B.C., was explored by the Dutch and the British in the 17th and 18th centuries. In 1874, an offer of cession by the Fijian chiefs was accepted, and Fiji was proclaimed a possession and dependency of the British Crown. In the 1880's large-scale cultivation of sugarcane began. Over the next 40 years, more than 60,000 indentured laborers from India were brought to the island to work the plantations. By 1920, all indentured servitude had ended. Racial conflict between Indians and the indigenous Fijians has been central to the small island's history.

Fiji became independent on Oct. 10, 1970.