Part 284

Environment - international agreements: party to : Biodiversity, Climate Change, Law of the Sea, Marine Life Conservation, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Whaling signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Geography - note: includes 332 islands of which approximately 110 are inhabited

@Fiji:People

Population: 792,441 (July 1997 est.)

Age structure: 0-14 years: 35% (male 140,685; female 135,044) 15-64 years: 62% (male 246,128; female 246,001) 65 years and over : 3% (male 11,620; female 12,963) (July 1997 est.)

Population growth rate: 1.28% (1997 est.)

Birth rate: 23.12 births/1,000 population (1997 est.)

Death rate: 6.3 deaths/1,000 population (1997 est.)

Net migration rate: -4.07 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1997 est.)

Sex ratio: at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years : 1.04 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.9 male(s)/female total population: 1.01 male(s)/female (1997 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 17 deaths/1,000 live births (1997 est.)

Life expectancy at birth: total population: 66 years male: 63.66 years female : 68.46 years (1997 est.)

Total fertility rate: 2.78 children born/woman (1997 est.)

Nationality: noun: Fijian(s) adjective: Fijian

Ethnic groups: Fijian 49%, Indian 46%, European, other Pacific Islanders, overseas Chinese, and other 5%

Religions: Christian 52% (Methodist 37%, Roman Catholic 9%), Hindu 38%, Muslim 8%, other 2% note: Fijians are mainly Christian, Indians are Hindu, and there is a Muslim minority (1986)

Languages: English (official), Fijian, Hindustani

Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population : 91.6% male: 93.8% female: 89.3% (1995 est.)

@Fiji:Government

Country name: conventional long form: Republic of Fiji conventional short form : Fiji

Data code: FJ

Government type: republic note: military coup leader Maj. Gen. Sitiveni RABUKA formally declared Fiji a republic on 6 October 1987

National capital: Suva

Administrative divisions: 4 divisions and 1 dependency*; Central, Eastern, Northern, Rotuma*, Western

Independence: 10 October 1970 (from UK)

National holiday: Independence Day, 10 October (1970)

Constitution: 10 October 1970 (suspended 1 October 1987); a new constitution was proposed on 23 September 1988 and promulgated on 25 July 1990; the 1990 constitution is under review; the review is scheduled to be completed by 1997

Legal system: based on British system