About 885,000 people live in Fiji. Two communities make up the overwhelming majority: iTaukei, the indigenous Fijians, and Fijians of Indian descent, whose ancestors mostly arrived under indenture between 1879 and 1916. Around five per cent of the country is Rotuman, Banaban, Chinese, European or from elsewhere in the Pacific. All of them are Fijians.
How many people actually live in Fiji?
The 2017 Population and Housing Census, taken on census night of 17 September 2017, counted 884,887 people, up from 837,271 in 2007 — an average annual growth rate of 0.6%. The median age was 27.5 years.
The bigger structural change in that decade was urban.
| Measure | 2007 | 2017 |
|---|---|---|
| Total population | 837,271 | 884,887 |
| Urban | 50.7% | 494,252 (55.9%) |
| Rural | 49.3% | 390,635 (44.1%) |
| Median age | not published here | 27.5 |
Source: Fiji Bureau of Statistics 2017 census release. In ten years Fiji went from an even urban-rural split to a clearly urban majority, which is visible in Suva's traffic and in the housing pressure around Nadi and Lautoka.
Who are the iTaukei?
The indigenous people of Fiji, and the largest community in the country.
iTaukei society is organised around the mataqali — the landowning clan — and roughly 87% of Fiji's land is held under customary iTaukei title rather than freehold. That single fact explains more about doing business in Fiji than any other: a resort, a conference venue or a wedding lawn is very often sitting on leased customary land, and the landowning unit is a stakeholder in what happens there.
It also explains the sevusevu, the presentation of kava that opens a formal visit. It is not a performance for visitors. It is the protocol by which you ask permission of the people whose place you are in. Fijian protocol and etiquette and visiting a village respectfully set out how to do it properly.
Who are Fijians of Indian descent?
The second-largest community, and the result of a specific and difficult history.
Under British colonial rule, 60,537 indentured labourers were recruited from India between 1879 and 1916 to work the sugar plantations. The system is remembered in Fiji as Girmit, from the labourers' pronunciation of "agreement". Labourers were also recruited from Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands under indenture from 1904.
Most Indo-Fijians today are descended from those labourers, with a later layer of free migrants, particularly Gujarati and Punjabi traders. The community is concentrated in the western cane belt around Lautoka, Ba and Sigatoka, and in the urban centres. Fiji Hindi — a distinct language, not a dialect of Hindi — is one of the country's three official languages.
This history is not decoration. It is why Diwali is a public holiday, why the food in Suva and Nadi is what it is, and why an event menu that offers only lovo is only telling half the story. Fijian food explained covers both traditions.
Where do the published percentages disagree?
This is worth stating plainly, because the numbers in circulation do not match.
| Source | iTaukei | Indian descent | Other | Attributed to |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fiji Ministry of Multi-Ethnic Affairs | 56.8% | 37.5% | 5.7% | 2017 census |
| Compiled census tables (Wikipedia) | 62.8% (555,499) | 32.7% (289,237) | 4.5% (40,151) | 2017 census |
| Same compilation, infobox | 56.8% | 37.5% | 1.2% Rotuman | 2007 estimates |
The 56.8/37.5 pair appears in both places, attributed to different years. The most likely explanation is that the earlier figures have been carried forward and relabelled, but the Fiji Bureau of Statistics released the 2017 ethnicity tables progressively rather than in the headline release, and that gap left room for exactly this kind of drift.
What to do with it: cite the year and the source alongside any figure, rather than the percentage on its own. The direction of travel is not in dispute — the iTaukei share has grown and the Indo-Fijian share has fallen since the 1990s, largely through emigration — but the precise split should not be quoted as settled.
Who else lives in Fiji?
The remaining four to six per cent is not a rounding error. It includes:
- Rotumans, from the island of Rotuma some 460km north of Viti Levu, with a distinct language and culture. Only 1,594 were counted living on Rotuma itself in 2017; the great majority live on Viti Levu.
- Banabans on Rabi Island, resettled from Banaba (Ocean Island) in what is now Kiribati after phosphate mining made it uninhabitable.
- Fijians of Chinese descent, present since the nineteenth century, with a later wave of more recent migration.
- European and part-European Fijians, including long-established families in Levuka and Suva.
- Other Pacific Islanders, particularly from Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Tuvalu and Kiribati.
What does any of this mean for an event or a wedding?
Four practical consequences.
Public holidays and observances cut across all three major faiths. Diwali, Easter, Prophet Mohammed's Birthday and Fiji Day all affect staffing, supplier availability and transport. Check the calendar before locking a date — Fiji's festivals, holidays and events lists them.
Catering should reflect the country, not a postcard of it. Halal and vegetarian requirements are ordinary in Fiji rather than special requests, and most established caterers handle them routinely. Dietary, halal, kosher and allergy handling goes into it.
Cultural performance is work, and should be paid as work. Meke groups, choirs and lali drummers are professionals and community members, not resort ambience. Booking performers respectfully sets out the terms.
Language matters. "Fijian" is a nationality covering every citizen — a usage formalised in 2010. "iTaukei" is the indigenous community. Getting that distinction right in a welcome speech is noticed.
Where does everyone live?
Overwhelmingly on Viti Levu, and within it in two corridors: Greater Suva in the south-east, and the Nadi-Lautoka belt in the west. Vanua Levu, centred on Labasa and Savusavu, is the second island; the remaining 300-plus islands hold a small fraction of the population.
For a visitor that geography is the reason Suva feels like a working capital city — with the Grand Pacific Hotel and Holiday Inn Suva serving a government and business market — while the west feels like a resort economy. Both are Fiji. Only one of them is on the brochures.
Next step
If you are bringing a group, read the protocol material before you read the activity menu. Start with Fijian culture and custom, then a short history of Fiji for how the country got here. If you are choosing where to base a programme, Fiji's islands and regions maps the geography above onto actual destinations.
