| FIJI Population Information |
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Fiji's population as at July 2005 (est.) was 893,354. Fijians comprised of 51%, Indians 44%, with the balance made up of Rotumans, Chinese, part-Europeans, Europeans, and other Pacific Islanders.
The annual average population growth between 1986-1996 was 0.8%, which is considered to be within the acceptable range. The urban population as at August 1996 was 46%. Bureau of Statistics projections indicate that the population will reach 843,000 by the year 2001 - an annual average growth of 2.1%.
Fiji has a comparatively high level of human resource development. Ethnic Fijians are usually classed as Melanesians but actually combine both Polynesian and Melanesian elements.
Fiji Indians are descendants of the Indian indentured labourers brought in 1879 by the British to work in the sugar can fields. When the indenture system ended in 1916, many Indians chose to remain in Fiji as free settlers and have since become an integral part of the economic fabric of the country.
