The discovery of Fiji is usually credited to Abel Jansen Tasman, a Dutch navigator, who visited the island group in 1643. Captain James Cook of England sailed through the islands in 1774. Major credit for the discovery and charting of the islands goes to another Englishman, William Bligh, who navigated the islands after being set adrift in a small boat by the mutinous crew of his ship, the ill-fated Bounty . After 1830 Christian missionaries gained influence over natives who had practiced cannibalism. King Cakobau accepted the faith in 1854. Twenty years later the islands were ceded to the British.

The islands were colonized by Great Britain in the late 19th century, and almost half of the islanders are descended from laborers brought from India to work on sugar plantations. Polynesian, Chinese and European communities are also sizable; the original Melanesians now make up approximately half the population.

In 1970 Fiji became independent from Britain. Fiji remained a member of the Commonwealth with the British sovereign as head of state. Following independence, there was some tension among the various ethnic groups. Those tensions escalated in 1987 after elections seated a coalition government dominated by ethnic Indians. A coup led by Army Col. Sitiveni Rabuka, an ethnic Melanesian, overthrew the civilian government. A new constitution was written giving preferential treatment to ethnic Fijians. Pressure from the international community led to changes in the constitution, which have eased tensions considerably.

Click here to see a map of the island and to learn more about this beautiful South Pacific nation.