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Historical profile
Polynesians, and later Melanesian migrants, settled in the Fijian islands. Polynesian influence is strong in the eastern regions.
At the beginning of the nineteenth century, European traders were attracted to the islands for the sandalwood but by 1814, all the trees had been cut down.
1873 British consul, J B Thurston, sought British annexation of Fiji.
1874 Fiji was pronounced a British colony.
1970 Fiji became independent and introduced a British-style political system. The constitution provided separate electoral rolls for each ethnic group.
1987 Fiji had recognised the British sovereign as head of state, but after a series of coups, Lieutenant Colonel Sitiveni Rabuka overthrew the elected mixed Fijian and Indian government of Timoci Bavadra of the Labour Party, and declared the country to be a republic. Fiji was expelled from the British Commonwealth.
1990 President Ratu Sir Penaia Ganilau proclaimed and decreed a new constitution. This constitution created a bicameral legislature.
1994 The Soqosoqo Duavata ni Lewenivanua (SDL) (Fijian People's Party), led by Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka, won the election.
1997 Fiji was re-admitted to the Commonwealth, after a new, less ethnically biased constitution came into force.
1999 President Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara was sworn in for a five-year term. Prime Minister Mahendra Chaudhry (Fiji Labour Party) was elected and was Fiji's first prime minister of Indian descent.
2000 Prime Minister Chaudhry and his cabinet were held captive by an armed group seeking more power for ethnic Fijians. The Commonwealth suspended Fiji's membership. The hostages were freed and Ratu Josefa Iloilo became president. Laisenia Qarase was appointed prime minister of an interim government. The rebel leader, George Speight, rejected the interim government although it consisted almost entirely of indigenous Fijians. Australia imposed sanctions on Fiji and announced a substantial reduction in aid. The High Court ruled that the deposed government of Mahendra Chaudhry should be reinstated.
2001 The interim government was ruled illegal by the Court of Appeal, which stated that the 1997 multi-racial constitution should remain in place. Fiji was re-admitted to the Commonwealth. President Iloilo was re-appointed by the Great Council of Chiefs. He re-appointed Laisenia Qarase as prime minister to head a caretaker government. The general election, observed by the Commonwealth team, was won by Laisenia Qarase's SDL; since it failed to secure an outright majority, the SDL joined with the Matanitu Vanua (MV) (Conservative Alliance Party) in a coalition government. Qarase was sworn in as prime minister; his cabinet barred all ethnic Indians.
2002 Samisoni Speight Tikonasau, the brother of George Speight who was responsible for the coup in 2000, was elected to parliament, reflecting the extent of George Speight's support network among the voting public.
2003 In January, a cyclone destroyed homes and flooded parts of Fiji. The government declared wide areas of the north and east of the country a disaster zone. In November, the Great Council of Chiefs heard, for the first time, a presentation from the Girmit Council, which represents descendants of Indian indentured labourers brought to work in Fiji in the nineteenth century; it was hoped that the meeting would help to achieve some reconciliation between indigenous Fijians and Indo-Fijians. The High Court ruled that the FLP should be allowed its seats in the cabinet.
2004 Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara, who led Fiji to independence from Britain in 1970, died in April.
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