Guys, it has been almost 2 years since we last filmed a country in Oceania.
DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW LONG THAT PLAYLIST HAS BEEN ALONE AND FRIGHTENED WITHOUT ANY FRIENDS TO CONSOLE THEM?!
Well, finally, today, we break history, and Australia, say hi to your new friend
FIJI!
(Australian Accent) Oh, uh, can't you, like, give me, maybe, New Zealand or something, like I...
I'M DOING THE VIDEOS ALPHABETICALLY, YOU JUST FREAKING FIGURE OUT A WAY TO GET ALONG UNTIL KIRIBATI COMES UP!
(sad Australia) ;-; [I cri everitiem]
(intro) ♫It's time to learn geography♫
NOW!
Hey everyone, I'm your host, Barby
We are doing our first ever MELANESIAN ISLAND country, you have no idea how excited I am for this, 'cause for the whole Pacific is bountifully
laden with some of the most colorfully enigmatic peoples on the planet.
Let's just jump in.
♫ Political Geography jingle ♫
Chances are, you may have already heard of the country Fiji,
whether it be the water bottles - which really do come from Fiji!
Or the Rugby Sevens team that just won the gold at the Rio Olympics.
However, where is this little precious oceanic gem everyone seems to be talking about?
Well, Fiji is kinda like the crossroads to the Pacific.
It's an archipelago of over 330 islands,
less than half of which are inhabited,
and over 500 small rocks and islets located in the South Pacific Ocean in the geographic sub-region known as Melanesia.
For those who didn't know, *this* is Melanesia,
*this* is Polynesia,
and *this* is the region of Micronesia, not to be confused with the Sovereign Country of Micronesia
even though it lies in the Micronesia region.
Barby be like "wat lol k"
The nearest neighbors are Vanuatu to the west, Tonga to the east
and the barely visible nation of Tuvalu to the north
due to the fact that you can literally traverse the entire width of some parts of the country within a minute by foot.
The two largest and heavily populated of the islands are Viti Levu and Vanua Levu,
the capital of which, lying on Viti Levu, Suva.
The country is divided into four divisions, two of which lie on Viti Levu alone,
which then are divided into fourteen island cluster provinces.
Speaking of which, in the northern division,
the island of Taveuni actually lies right on the International Date Line on the anti-meridian - 180 ° longitude.
To avoid the hassle of having to administer a portion of the country that would be
perpetually located in the past,
Fiji just made the entire country follow the UTC +12 time zone.
Yeah, let's just wait 'till we get to Kiribati, they kinda went overboard with that concept.
In addition to their main islands, the furthest inhabited island, Rotuma, is located 220 nautical miles north of the rest of Fiji,
however, at over 440 km away from the main islands, Conway Reef is the further territorial island that lies within Fiji.
The island is just a shallow sandbar only inhabited by birds
and apparently, has great diving spots, but it's very dangerous to approach outside of high tide,
because it has sharp and jagged coral heads that can easily puncture a ship's hull.
There are about thirty inner island airports and airstrips.
only two of which are international airports:
Nadi (NAN) and Nausori (SUV).
If you fly here, you will most likely arrive in Nadi, the northern west side of the Viti Levu island.
Although the capital and largest city, Suva, is located on the complete opposite side of the island,
which is close to the Nausori airport, just across the Rewa River.
Oh, and there's an island named Kia that sits right in the middle of the shallow sandbars on the north side of Vanau Levu
that looks like an obese kangaroo
Speaking of kangaroos...
there are NONE on this island!
...but there are other animals!
Transition!
♫Physical Geography jingle!♫
One of the reasons why Fiji is so world-renowned is because of how the islands look:
AMAZING!
But it's interesting to see what KIND of amazing it holds.
First of all, if you look at the satellite map, you'll notice that the islands of Fiji are kind of oddly shaped
in a spiral pattern somewhat resembling a spiral galaxy or a Fibonacci sequence.
This is because Fiji is located at the very end of the New Hebrides Trench which, unlike most trenches,
makes a strange upward twisty curve that in return erupts into a molten lava plot that gave birth to Fiji.
To this day, the only islands with volcanic activity are Vanua Levu and Taveuni.
Chances are, you will come across the national drink, Kava, which is made of this powdered root of the
Yaqona plant, which supposedly makes your tongue go numb and then it kind of gives you like a relaxing feeling.
Dishes usually include staples such as one of the seventy different types of taro-
Brandon: 70 types of taro?! :o
That's what I got from my research *chuckles* Yup.
Kumala, or sweet potato, breadfruit, taro leaves, and bele, one of the most nutritious vegetables in Oceania.
However, if you have time, see if you can treat yourself to the traditional Lovo style meal cooked underground with
marinated meats wrapped in taro leaves.
The country is teeming with wildlife, many species of which are endemic like the four different types of bats,
several birds, and fish.
The country doesn't have an official national animal but some will tell you that the Fijian (Banded) Iguana is very
unique and iconic to the country.
The islands near the center of the spiral are mostly mountainous with the highest peak: Mt. Tomanivi
(Formerly called Mt. Victoria) at around 1,300 meters high, located on Viti Levu.
Only five of the islands are big enough to have consistent rivers:
Viti Levu, Vanua Levu, Taveuni, Ovalau, and Gao.
The longest ones being the Rewa and the Sigatoka rivers, both located on Viti Levu.
Otherwise, all other small islands rely on either small reservoirs or rainwater to assist in freshwater needs.
The Mamnuka island chain is literally nicknamed the "Honeymoon islands" with its picturesque beaches
and palm trees. It's also the site where the movie, "Castaway" was filmed.
Vanua Levu is kind of the agriculture island covered in sugar cane and coconut plantations.
Flower laden and highly jungle concentrated Taveuni is a great getaway from the rest of the islands, with black sand beaches.
If you REALLY adventure though, see if you can make it all the way to the rarely visited, E. Division islands, like Lao and Moala.
Otherwise known as Fiji's "Last Frontier".
Or, you know, you could kinda fly to Rotuma and feel like you're in Polynesia,
which, it kinda, technically is in Polyne-...
*stammers*
...uh... Transition!
♫Demographics Jingle!♫
Okay, so we can talk all we want about the beaches and the jungles, but in the end, the people of Fiji are what really make it stick out.
First of all, the country has over 900 thousand people and is the most racially diverse country in Melanesia.
The country is made up of about 57% native Fijian people, known as the Itaukei.
About a third of the population is Indian from India, known as Indo-Fijians.
2% are Rotuman, and the rest are mostly Europeans, other Pacific islanders, and Chinese.
Also, they use the Fijian Dollar, they drive on the left side of the road, and they use the type I plug outlet.
The interesting thing is that unlike most pacific islands, Fiji is made up of a noticeably large community of Indians from India.
They are the descendants of the first indentured servants that were brought over by the British in the late 19th century.
The Indian Fijians, or "Findians" as they like to be called sometimes,
have a very distinguished culture that sets them apart from their cousins on the mainland in India.
They speak "Fiji Hindi", which is like a weird Islander-English-Tamil-Punjabi-Urdu mixture creation that slowly
evolved in the past century, and is now sometimes indecipherable to the Indians in India.
To this day, English, Fijian, and Hindi are the official languages of the country.
The largest group, though, the Fijian natives, are some of the most intriguing peoples on the planet.
Fijian culture in rural areas is still dominated by village-led elders and chiefs that look over their communities.
Visitors are implored to be respectful and dress modestly when in the presence of elders.
And DO NOT touch anyone on the head! Especially a chief, that's how this guy *points to picture* got killed...
and eaten!
Which, okay, I'm gonna address the elephant in the room: Yes, Fiji did have a history of ancestors that practiced ritualistic cannibalism at one point;
Which is why the country was once called the "Cannibal islands"
It was mostly done against enemies defeated in war.
They acknowledge it, it's not something they deny, and yes, it was completely abandoned and done away with a long time ago.
Fijian natives are kind of interesting, though, because they're kind of like Melanesians that act more like Polynesians.
First of all, Melanesian peoples are some of the strangest genetic anomalies
because they are amongst the only few people groups outside of Europe that grow naturally blond hair.
This is attributed to the TYRP1 allele gene that most Melanesians have.
Typically the blond hair is grown in childhood and into adolescence and eventually gains a darker pigmentation in adulthood until it's fully black.
Some cool cultural aspects include tapa cloth weaving, pottery, mulberry mats, carved wood, canoes, weapons,
the Seasea fan dance for women, the Meke Wesi spear dance for men, and the traditional Bure Kalow thatched roof houses.
And if you're lucky, you'll see some traditional fire spinning and hot coal walking on certain days.
QUICK HISTORY LESSON!
After independence, Fiji had a little political strife, there were four coup d'etats,
many of which were spurred on by racial tensions between the native Fijian population and the Indian minorities.
Long story short, it had a lot to do with economic disparities, and in return, tons of Indians left Fiji...
Again... look it up. TIME CRUNCH!
When visiting Fiji, you will hear the word, "Bula" a lot, which the Fijian word for "Hello", and just remember, in the Fijian alphabet...
C makes the "th" sound, D makes the "nd" sound, B makes the "mb" sound, both Q and G make the "Ng" sound.
Therefore the town of Nadi (nah-DEE) is actually pronounced "Nandi" (nan-DEE).
And this word (Beqa) is pronounced "Mbenga" (um-BEN-ga).
And of course, we can't forget little Rotuma.
Rotuma is kind of like the "Hawaii of Fiji"...
...as if Fiji wasn't a tropical getaway enough in itself.
Technically Rotuma lies in Polynesia and the people here are radically different from the rest of Fiji,
as they have their own distinct culture that's closer to Samoa and Tuvalu.
One thing that Fijians can attest to is that rugby is a big deal out here.
They have consistently ranked high in their Men's Sevens team, being a two-time winner in the World Cup, tied with New Zealand.
Oh, Fiji, you and New Zealand have quite a competitive history!
Let's talk more about that international affair!
♫Friend Zone Jingle!♫
When it comes to friends, Fiji has strong roots in both the traditional East, and the modern West.
First of all, Fiji has always been close to their nearby island neighbors: Vanuatu, Tuvalu, Samoa, and Tonga.
In fact, the only way you can even get to Tuvalu is through Fiji as it acts as the only international travel hub for the tiny nation.
They still have relatively close ties to the United Kingdom as the British were former colonizers until they gained independence in 1970.
They still remain in the Commonwealth and receive lots of aid.
Their best friends would probably be New Zealand, and kind of, Australia.
The largest amount of tourists come from these two countries and they contribute largely to the economy.
Australia, though, did not approve of the coup d'etat that happened in 2006 and threatened sanctions against Fiji for a while.
Fiji was kind of upset with this, but after things settled down, they kind of let it go and decided to go back to drinking high tides on the beach.
In conclusion, Fiji is kind of like a Melanesian country slowly transforming into a Polynesian one,
but then got stuck halfway and decided it liked itself that way!
Oh, and a bunch of Indians came in to spice things up.
STAY TUNED, FINLAND IS COMING UP NEXT!