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'Fijian'' (fee-gi-in) ''people' are the major indigenous people of the Fiji Islands. They are indigenous to all parts of Fiji except the island of Rotuma. As of 2005, they constituted slightly more than half of the Fijian population. Indigenous Fijians are predominantly of Melanesian extraction, with some Polynesian admixture. Other ethnic groups in Fiji include Fiji Indians, the Rotuman people, and minority communities, which include Caucasians, Chinese, and others.
The Fijian language belongs to the Melanesian branch of the Austronesian family.
About 83 percent of Fijian land is owned by Fijian people. In 1876, Sir Arthur Hamilton-Gordon, the British colonial Governor, prohibited the sale of Fijian land to non-ethnic Fijians. This policy has been continued, hardly modified, to this day. The Governor also banned the exploitation of Fijians as laborers, and in 1878 imported indentured laborers from India to work in the sugarcane fields. The effects of this immigration created an ethnic polarization which has proved culturally and politically challenging to modern Fiji.
Indigenous Fijians are overwhelmingly Christian, with the Methodist Church of Fiji and Rotuma claiming the loyalty of 66.6% (1996 census). Other significant denominations include the Roman Catholic Church (13.3%), the Assemblies of God (6.2%) and the Seventh-day Adventists (5.1%). About 8% belong to other churches from a large number of denominations. About 0.8% follow non-Christian religions or no religion.
Seventy percent of Fijians are farmers, some of which are sustenance farmers. They commonly farm sugar cane, cassava, rice, sweet potatoes, and bananas.
Fijians have been known as expert canoe-builders, using them to trade with Tonga. They were usually double canoes, similar except one was shorter and served as a type of outrigger. They are united by beams, with a platform on it that extended beyond the sides.

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References

External links

References

# De Ricci, James Herman. ''Fiji: Our New Province in the south Seas''. E.Stanford, 1875. 332 pp.
# Williams, Thomas and Calvert, James. ''Fiji and the Fijians''. A.Heylin, 1858. 266 pp.

External links

★ Fijian National Government (in English)

★ The World Factbook: Fiji by CIA

★ FijiTuwawa: The fiji online community