The Fiji Islands is an independent nation, officially known as The Sovereign Democratic Republic of the Fiji Islands consists of an archipelago surrounding the Koro Sea in the South Pacific Ocean, between longitudes 175? East and 178? West and latitudes 15? and 22? South. It is about 2,100 kilometers north of Auckland, N.Z & forms part of the Melanesian cultural area. The archipelago consists of some 332 islands scattered over about 3,000,000 square kilometers is at the cross roads of the South Pacific. In the days of sailing ships it was known as The Cannibal Isles and carefully avoided by mariners because of its fierce warriors and treacherous waters.However, in the age of jumbo jets and global travel. Fiji has become the central hub of the exotic South Pacific. More than 85 flights land at Nadi on the main island of Viti levu every week. From there it is only a quick seven minute hop to one of the offshore island resorts, or less than an hour of flying time to Vanua Levu or Taveuni, the second and third largest islands, where then outside world is quickly left behind. Of the 330 islands, about 100 are inhabited. The total land area is 18,333 square kilometers. The capital, Suva, is on the southeast coast of the largest island, Viti Levu ("Big Fiji"). Fiji includes within its borders Rotuma, an island of 18 square miles located about 650 kilometers north-northwest of Suva; Rotuma has a Polynesian population and was administered from the Fiji Islands in colonial times. The 1996 population census recorded 775,077 persons.

The Fiji Islands enjoys a tropical South Sea maritime climate without great extremes of temperature. At the capital Suva, the average summer high temperature is 29 C and the average winter low is 20 C; temperatures typically are lower in elevated inland areas. All districts receive the greatest amount of rainfall in the season from November through March, during which time hurricanes are also experienced perhaps once every two years. While rainfall is highly variable, the average rainfall increases steadily inland from coastal areas. It is reduced in the east of the larger islands from April to October, giving an annual average of 120 inches (3,050 millimetres) per year, it virtually ceases in the west, to give an annual rainfall of 70 inches. This makes a sharp contrast in both climatic conditions and agriculture between east and west. Tropical cyclones affect the group every few years.