Violence Against Children in Fiji – A Scoping Study Report
Fiji consists of 322 islands, of which 110 are inhabited. Fiji lies within the Pacific Ocean and is classified as
an upper-middle income developing country. Fiji’s population was 884, 887 (2017 Census), see Table 1. Current population is estimated as 902, 000 (Bureau of Statistics, Fiji; 2019).
As a multi-ethnic country the population consists of i’Taukei (Indigenous Fijians) (57%) and of Indian descent (38%). Other minority groups of Pacific Islanders, mixed race, Chinese and Europeans make up the rest. As of population census, 2017 44.1% lived in rural areas (Table 1). Rapid urbanization has been taking place since the mid-1980s and has resulted in an increasing population in towns and cities. Of these the Suva and the peri-urban areas such as Lami and the Suva-Nausori corridor have grown with many densely populated squatter settlements. Sixty eight percent of the population is aged less than 40 years.
There are estimated to be 227,300 adolescents aged 10-24 years in Fiji (Census, 2017); making up 25.7% of the total Fijian population. Teenage pregnancy is high with approximately 6% of births to adolescents aged less than 18 years.