Fiji, a Republic island nation, is located in the South Pacific Region between 15 and 22 degrees south latitude, (between the Equator and Tropic of Capricorn), and 175 east to 178 west longitude. Fiji is located northwest of Australia and north of New Zealand.

Fiji’s landmass of 18,333 square km is scattered over 332 islands and covers 1,290,000 square km of sea. Only one third of the islands are inhabited. The two largest islands, Viti Levu and Vanua Levu cover 10,429 square km and 5,556 square km respectively, comprising more than 85 percent of the total land area. The four largest islands are Viti Levu, Vanua Levu, Taveuni and Kadavu. As with most islands, they are of volcanic origins, with mountains located in the central regions and covering a large part of the land area while surrounded by coral reefs.

The population of Fiji is currently slightly over 800,000 and is concentrated on the two main islands, Viti Levu and Vanua Levu.

Fiji is the most advanced and diverse economy of the South Pacific Islands. Its prosperity is based on a range of industries, more particularly the agricultural sector with its Sugar industry and is well supported by tourism. The sugar and tourism industries provide employment to over 50% of the labour force.  Exports of textiles, gold, fish, timber, and from the broadly based service sector, supports the foreign income. The economic growth has emanated from substantial economic reforms and confidence in private sector investment.

Fiji's tourism industry has grown over the last decade to become and important source of jobs and the major source of foreign exchange since 1990, surpassing sugar as an export industry at that time. Several new hotels and resorts being built in the Nadi and Sigatoka area will have a major impact on the number and frequency of people arriving in Fiji, as well as creating a large number of jobs.