rate:

total: 11.88 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 13.07 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 10.63 deaths/1,000 live births (2008 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:

total population: 70.44 years
male: 67.9 years
female: 73.1 years (2008 est.)

Total fertility rate:

2.68 children born/woman (2008 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:

0.1% (2003 est.)

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:

600 (2003 est.)

HIV/AIDS - deaths:

fewer than 200 (2003 est.)

Nationality:

noun: Fijian(s)
adjective: Fijian

Ethnic groups:

Fijian 57.3% (predominantly Melanesian with a Polynesian admixture),
Indian 37.6%, Rotuman 1.2%, other 3.9% (European, other Pacific
Islanders, Chinese) (2007 census)

Religions:

Christian 53% (Methodist 34.5%, Roman Catholic 7.2%, Assembly of God
3.8%, Seventh Day Adventist 2.6%, other 4.9%), Hindu 34% (Sanatan
25%, Arya Samaj 1.2%, other 7.8%), Muslim 7% (Sunni 4.2%. other
2.8%), other or unspecified 5.6%, none 0.3% (1996 census)

Languages:

English (official), Fijian (official), Hindustani

Literacy:

definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 93.7%
male: 95.5%
female: 91.9% (2003 est.)

School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education):

total: 13 years
male: 13 years
female: 13 years (2005)

Education expenditures:

6.5% of GDP (2004)

Government
Fiji

Country name:

conventional long form: Republic of the Fiji Islands
conventional short form: Fiji
local long form: Republic of the Fiji Islands/Matanitu ko Viti
local short form: Fiji/Viti

Government type:

republic

Capital:

name: Suva (on Viti Levu)
geographic coordinates: 18 08 S, 178 25 E
time difference: UTC+12 (17 hours ahead of Washington, DC during
Standard Time)

Administrative divisions:

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

Independence:

10 October 1970 (from UK)

National holiday:

Independence Day, second Monday of October (1970)

Constitution:

enacted on 25 July 1997 to encourage multiculturalism and make
multiparty government mandatory; effective 28 July 1998

Legal system:

based on British system; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

Suffrage:

21 years of age; universal

Executive branch:

chief of state: President Ratu Josefa ILOILOVATU Uluivuda (since 18
July 2000); note - ILOILOVATU was reaffirmed as president by the
Great