Every Day Is Special: Fiji

Showing posts with label Fiji. Show all posts

September 7 - Constitution Day in Fiji

Posted on September 7, 2020

The South Pacific island nation of Fiji was ruled by Great Britain for about a century, but it became an independent nation in 1970. Unfortunately, the newly independent government was not a paragon of democracy: there were a series of coups, a military government, and finally - on this date in 2013 - adopted a new constitution and, about a year later - held a democratic election.

I noticed that this year's Constitution Day focuses on a right enshrined in Fiji's constitution: the right to health. Because of COVID-19, the Fijian government started a contest for students about how Fijians can best ensure the health of themselves and their countrymen. I thought it was an essay contest, but it turns out that students can answer with an essay OR a poem OR a story OR even a Tik-Tok video!

Did you know...?

Because the International Date Line runs through the Fijian island of Tavenui, you can stand with one foot in one day, and the other foot in the day before! Weird!

Notice that the sign reads "Today" and "Yesterday."

Although Fiji is made up of 333 islands (with 110 being inhabited), the land surface is smaller than the small U.S. state of New Jersey.

The water surface, of course, is a LOT larger! And beautiful!

Fiji can boast some very nice coral reefs and more than 1,500 species of sea life.

Also on this date:

Raggedy Ann's birthday

Grandma Moses Day

Lusaka Agreement Day in Mozambique

Geologist Ferdinand Hayden's birthday

Brazil's Independence Day

Salami Day

Birthday of Queen Elizabeth I

Neither Snow Nor Rain Day

Birthdays of Canadian Supreme Court trailblazers

Labor Day in the U.S.

(first Monday in September)

Great Bathtub Race in Nome, Alaska

(first Monday in September)

Plan ahead:

Check out my Pinterest boards for:

September holidays
September birthdays
Historical anniversaries in September

And here are my Pinterest boards for:

October 10 – Fiji Day

Posted on October 10, 2014

Today Fiji celebrates its independence from the United Kingdom in 1970.

Doesn't it seem like EVERY day we celebrate another country that gained its independence from the United Kingdom??? Just how big WAS the British Empire?

In the 1800s and the early 1900s, the British Empire was the largest empire that the world had ever – still has ever – seen! It was called the Empire on Which the Sun Never Set, because it included territories all around the world and in every (or almost every?) time zone. Adding up all the land area in these far-flung territories, it was about 13 million square miles (which is almost one-quarter of the Earth's land area.

Okay, so the British Empire was really large – now, can we get to Fiji?

Well, looking at these photos, I would certainly LIKE to get to Fiji!

For some reason, I have always thought of Fiji as just one island, but it's actually (as so many island nations are) an archipelago of volcanic islands and teeny islets: more than 332 islands and 500 islets! I was surprised to read that people live on 110 of the islands. So, really, really more than one island!

Fiji is lucky enough to have a lot of natural resources, including resources in its forests, minerals in the ground, and fish in its waters. But the main ways that Fijians make money is by providing services to tourists and by growing and selling sugar.

To learn more about Fiji, check out Easy Science for Kids.