The Fijians
LANGUAGE:
English (official)
The Bau dialect is the most widely spoken Fijian language.
Hindustani, a locally developed form of Hindi, spoken by
Indo-Fijians.
POPULATION:
Total: 739,000 (1992)
Annual growth: 1.6% (1980-91)
Doubling time: 35 yrs.
Urban: 39% (1990) (est. for year 2000: 43%)
Rural: 61%
AGE GROUPS: (1981)
14% under 5 yrs.
38% under 15
48% under 20
32% from 20 to 39
15% from 40 to 59
5% 60 yrs. and over
ETHNIC GROUPS
Indian:49%
Fijian: 46%
Other: 5%
FAMILY
Persons per household: 5.8 (1986)
Marital status, for females 15 yrs.+ (1986)
Single: 57%
Married: 39%
Widowed: 3%
Divorced: 1%
Female head of household: 14% (1986)
Fertility rate: 3.0 (1991)
Teenage births: 11% (1987)
Teenage fertility rate: 60.5/1,000 (1987)
Births out of wedlock: no data
Contraception: 38% (1978)
HOUSING
Access to safe water: 79% (1988-90)
Source of water: (1986)
Piped: 78%
Well: 13%
Other: 9%
Toilet facilities: (1986)
Flush: 32%
Pit latrine: 42%
Other: 25%
None: 1%
Construction materials: (1986)
Concrete, brick, or cement: 30%
Wood: 26%
Durable, tin or corrugated iron: 30%
Other: 14%
Television: 14/1,000 pop. (1990)
Radio: 576/1,000 pop. (1990)
Electricity: 51% without (1986)
SOCIAL INDICATORS
Life expectancy: 65 yrs. (male: 63; female: 67) (1990)
Infant mortality: 25/1,000 live births (1991)
Crude birth rate: 25/1,000 pop. (1990)
Crude death rate: 5/1,000n pop. (1990)
Health
Access to health services: 99% (1987-90)
Births attended by trained health personnel: 98% (1988-90)
Maternal mortality: 150/100,000 live births (1988)
Population per physician: 2,792
Children (under 1 year) immunised against DPT: 98% (1990-91)
EDUCATION
Literacy: 86% (male: 90%; female: 81 %) (1986)
Gross enrollment ratio (1988)
First level: 123%
Second: 51%
Third: 4.2%
Educational attainment for pop 25+ (1986)
None: 11%
First level: entered: 36%; completed: 24%
Second: 48%
Third: 5%
ECONOMIC ACTIVITY
Economically active population: 35% (1992)
Agriculture: 40% act. pop.; 25% of GDP
Mines: 2% act. pop.; 3% of GDP
Industry: 15% act. pop.; 20% of GDP
Services: 43% act. pop.; 52% of GDP
Per capita GNP: US$1,770 (1990)
Population in absolute poverty: rural: 15% (1985)
Military expenditure as a percentage of GDP: 2.5% (1990)
National currency: Fijian dollar
Principal resources: Sugar, copra, coconut oil, ginger, cassava, gold, silver
