: tropical marine; only slight seasonal temperature variation

Terrain: mostly mountains of volcanic origin

Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m
highest point: Tomanivi 1,324 m

Natural resources: timber, fish, gold, copper, offshore oil potential,
hydropower

Land use:
arable land: 10%
permanent crops: 4%
permanent pastures: 10%
forests and woodland: 65%
other: 11% (1993 est.)

Irrigated land: 10 sq km (1993 est.)

Natural hazards: cyclonic storms can occur from November to January

Environment - current issues: deforestation; soil erosion

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

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

@Fiji:People

Population: 832,494 (July 2000 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 33% (male 141,779; female 136,212)
15-64 years: 63% (male 263,127; female 262,686)
65 years and over: 4% (male 13,405; female 15,285) (2000 est.)

Population growth rate: 1.41% (2000 est.)

Birth rate: 23.48 births/1,000 population (2000 est.)

Death rate: 5.78 deaths/1,000 population (2000 est.)

Net migration rate: -3.6 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2000 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: 0.88 male(s)/female
total population: 1.01 male(s)/female (2000 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 14.45 deaths/1,000 live births (2000 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 67.94 years
male: 65.54 years
female: 70.45 years (2000 est.)

Total fertility rate: 2.89 children born/woman (2000 est.)

Nationality:
noun: Fijian(s)
adjective: Fijian

Ethnic groups: Fijian 51% (predominantly Melanesian with a Polynesian
admixture), Indian 44%, European, other Pacific Islanders, overseas
Chinese, and other 5% (1998 est.)

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%