Kadavu
Encyclopedia
Kadavu with an area of 411 square kilometres (158.7 sq mi), is the fourth largest island in Fiji
, and the largest island in the Kadavu Group
, a volcanic
archipelago
consisting of Kadavu, Ono, Galoa
and a number of smaller islands in the Great Astrolabe Reef
. Its main administrative centre is Vunisea, which has an airport, a high school, a hospital, and a government station, on the Namalata Isthmus where the island is almost cut in two. Suva
, Fiji's capital, lies 88 kilometers to the north of Kadavu. The population of the island province was 10,167 at the most recent census
in 2007.
Kadavu Island belongs to Kadavu Province
.
The island is 60 kilometers long, with a width varying from 365 meters to 13 kilometers. The island is almost sliced in two at the narrow Namalata Isthmus, which separates Namalata Bay on the northern coast from Galoa Harbour on the southern coast. Within Galoa Harbour lie Galoa Island
and the tiny islet of Tawadromu. Kadavu is characterized by its rugged and mountainous terrain. The tallest mountain is Nabukelevu, also known as Mount Washington, which stands at 822 meters high, on the western end of the island.
Kadavu still has 75% of its original rainforest
cover and a rich bird
diversity
, including four species endemic
to the island, the Velvet Dove, the Crimson Shining-parrot
, the Kadavu Honeyeater
and the Kadavu Fantail
, in addition to several endemic subspecies
(such as a subspecies of the Island Thrush
). Offshore, stringing around the south, east and then away to the north, is the Great Astrolabe Reef
, a large barrier reef
that is one of Fiji's premier scuba diving
resorts.
Kadavu is one of the least developed areas of Fiji. There are few roads, and the local economy is largely dependent on subsistence farming, supplemented by exports to Viti Levu
. There are no banks on Kadavu. Tourism
is becoming popular, however, with snorkeling
and diving
among the major attractions. The chiefly system in Kadavu gives much greater authority to local chiefs than most other areas in Fiji, where local chiefs are more often subservient to a few "paramount chiefs."
On 17 December 2005, Ratu Josateki Nawalowalo
, Chairman of the Kadavu Provincial Council, announced major development plans to build roads throughout the island and to upgrade jetties, improving Kadavu's links with the mainland. He revealed that much of the finance would be provided by the government of Taiwan
.
was the first known European to sight Kadavu, which he discovered in 1792 on his second voyage to Fiji on the . He was followed in 1799 by the United States
vessel Ann & Hope, skippered by C. Bently en route from Australia
. In 1827, French
commander Dumont d'Urville nearly shipwrecked the Astrolabe
on the reef that now bears the vessel's name. The island later became home to beche-de-mer
traders, as well as whaler
s from Sydney
, Australia, and New England
in the United States. Galoa Harbour became a regular port of call for vessels carrying mail between Sydney
, San Francisco, and Auckland
.
Kaliopate Tavola
, Forests and Fisheries Minister
Konisi Yabaki
, James Ah-Koy, Senator
, former Minister for Finance and businessman, Akuila Yabaki
, a Methodist
minister and political activist, and Ratu Josateki Nawalowalo
, Chairman of the Kadavu Provincial Council
and of the Fiji Kava Council. Yet another noted Kadavuan is Jesoni Vitusagavulu
, Fiji's current
Ambassador
to the United States
. Also Colonel Matereti Sarasau of Dagai village, Dr. Sitiveni Ratuva of Yale village, and Rev. Inoke Nabulivou of Dravuwalu village, past President of the Methodist Church in Fiji.
Fiji
Fiji , officially the Republic of Fiji , is an island nation in Melanesia in the South Pacific Ocean about northeast of New Zealand's North Island...
, and the largest island in the Kadavu Group
Kadavu Group
The Kadavu Group is an archipelago south of Viti Levu, one of Fiji's two main islands. Dominated by Kadavu Island, the fourth largest island in Fiji, the group also includes Galoa, Ono, and a number of islets in the Great Astrolabe Reef....
, a volcanic
Volcano
2. Bedrock3. Conduit 4. Base5. Sill6. Dike7. Layers of ash emitted by the volcano8. Flank| 9. Layers of lava emitted by the volcano10. Throat11. Parasitic cone12. Lava flow13. Vent14. Crater15...
archipelago
Archipelago
An archipelago , sometimes called an island group, is a chain or cluster of islands. The word archipelago is derived from the Greek ἄρχι- – arkhi- and πέλαγος – pélagos through the Italian arcipelago...
consisting of Kadavu, Ono, Galoa
Galoa Island
Galoa is an island of the Kadavu Group of Fiji....
and a number of smaller islands in the Great Astrolabe Reef
Great Astrolabe Reef
The Great Astrolabe Reef is in Fiji and surrounds the fourth largest island, Kadavu Island, which is approximately 65 km in length. Kadavu Island is approximately 100 km south of Viti Levu, the main island of Fiji....
. Its main administrative centre is Vunisea, which has an airport, a high school, a hospital, and a government station, on the Namalata Isthmus where the island is almost cut in two. Suva
Suva
Suva features a tropical rainforest climate under the Koppen climate classification. The city sees a copious amount of precipitation during the course of the year. Suva averages 3,000 mm of precipitation annually with its driest month, July averaging 125 mm of rain per year. In fact,...
, Fiji's capital, lies 88 kilometers to the north of Kadavu. The population of the island province was 10,167 at the most recent census
Census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
in 2007.
Kadavu Island belongs to Kadavu Province
Kadavu Province
Kadavu Province is one of fourteen provinces of Fiji, and forms part of the Eastern Division, which also includes the Provinces of Lau, Lomaiviti and Rotuma. Kadavu also belongs to the Burebasaga Confederacy, a hierarchy of chiefs from southern and western Fiji.It consists of Kadavu Island, Ono...
.
Geography
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The island is 60 kilometers long, with a width varying from 365 meters to 13 kilometers. The island is almost sliced in two at the narrow Namalata Isthmus, which separates Namalata Bay on the northern coast from Galoa Harbour on the southern coast. Within Galoa Harbour lie Galoa Island
Galoa Island
Galoa is an island of the Kadavu Group of Fiji....
and the tiny islet of Tawadromu. Kadavu is characterized by its rugged and mountainous terrain. The tallest mountain is Nabukelevu, also known as Mount Washington, which stands at 822 meters high, on the western end of the island.
Kadavu still has 75% of its original rainforest
Rainforest
Rainforests are forests characterized by high rainfall, with definitions based on a minimum normal annual rainfall of 1750-2000 mm...
cover and a rich bird
Bird
Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...
diversity
Biodiversity
Biodiversity is the degree of variation of life forms within a given ecosystem, biome, or an entire planet. Biodiversity is a measure of the health of ecosystems. Biodiversity is in part a function of climate. In terrestrial habitats, tropical regions are typically rich whereas polar regions...
, including four species endemic
Endemic (ecology)
Endemism is the ecological state of being unique to a defined geographic location, such as an island, nation or other defined zone, or habitat type; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsewhere. For example, all species of lemur are endemic to the...
to the island, the Velvet Dove, the Crimson Shining-parrot
Crimson Shining-parrot
The Crimson Shining Parrot, Prosopeia splendens, is a parrot from Fiji. The species is endemic to the islands of Kadavu and Ono in the Kadavu Group. The species was once considered conspecific with the Red Shining Parrot of Vanua Levu and Taveuni, but is now considered its own species...
, the Kadavu Honeyeater
Kadavu Honeyeater
The Kadavu Honeyeater is a species of bird in the Meliphagidae family.It is endemic to the islands of Kadavu in Fiji.Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and tropical mangrove forests....
and the Kadavu Fantail
Kadavu Fantail
The Kadavu Fantail is a species of bird in the fantail family Rhipiduridae.It is endemic to Kadavu and Ono in the Kadavu Islands, Fiji...
, in addition to several endemic subspecies
Subspecies
Subspecies in biological classification, is either a taxonomic rank subordinate to species, ora taxonomic unit in that rank . A subspecies cannot be recognized in isolation: a species will either be recognized as having no subspecies at all or two or more, never just one...
(such as a subspecies of the Island Thrush
Island Thrush
The Island Thrush is a common forest bird in the thrush family. Almost 50 subspecies have been described, ranging from Taiwan, through South East Asia and Melanesia, to Samoa, exhibiting great differences in plumage...
). Offshore, stringing around the south, east and then away to the north, is the Great Astrolabe Reef
Great Astrolabe Reef
The Great Astrolabe Reef is in Fiji and surrounds the fourth largest island, Kadavu Island, which is approximately 65 km in length. Kadavu Island is approximately 100 km south of Viti Levu, the main island of Fiji....
, a large barrier reef
Coral reef
Coral reefs are underwater structures made from calcium carbonate secreted by corals. Coral reefs are colonies of tiny living animals found in marine waters that contain few nutrients. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, which in turn consist of polyps that cluster in groups. The polyps...
that is one of Fiji's premier scuba diving
Scuba diving
Scuba diving is a form of underwater diving in which a diver uses a scuba set to breathe underwater....
resorts.
Economy and culture
Viti Levu
Viti Levu is the largest island in the Republic of Fiji, the site of the nation's capital, Suva, and home to a large majority of Fiji's population.- Geography and economy :...
. There are no banks on Kadavu. Tourism
Tourism
Tourism is travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people "traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes".Tourism has become a...
is becoming popular, however, with snorkeling
Snorkeling
Snorkeling is the practice of swimming on or through a body of water while equipped with a diving mask, a shaped tube called a snorkel, and usually swimfins. In cooler waters, a wetsuit may also be worn...
and diving
Diving
Diving is the sport of jumping or falling into water from a platform or springboard, sometimes while performing acrobatics. Diving is an internationally-recognized sport that is part of the Olympic Games. In addition, unstructured and non-competitive diving is a recreational pastime.Diving is one...
among the major attractions. The chiefly system in Kadavu gives much greater authority to local chiefs than most other areas in Fiji, where local chiefs are more often subservient to a few "paramount chiefs."
On 17 December 2005, Ratu Josateki Nawalowalo
Josateki Nawalowalo
Ratu Josateki Tuivanuavou Nacagilevu Nawalowalo, commonly known as Ratu Jo Nawalowalo, was a Fijian chief, businessman, and the Chairman of the Kadavu Provincial Council...
, Chairman of the Kadavu Provincial Council, announced major development plans to build roads throughout the island and to upgrade jetties, improving Kadavu's links with the mainland. He revealed that much of the finance would be provided by the government of Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
.
History
William BlighWilliam Bligh
Vice Admiral William Bligh FRS RN was an officer of the British Royal Navy and a colonial administrator. A notorious mutiny occurred during his command of HMAV Bounty in 1789; Bligh and his loyal men made a remarkable voyage to Timor, after being set adrift in the Bounty's launch by the mutineers...
was the first known European to sight Kadavu, which he discovered in 1792 on his second voyage to Fiji on the . He was followed in 1799 by the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
vessel Ann & Hope, skippered by C. Bently en route from Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. In 1827, French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
commander Dumont d'Urville nearly shipwrecked the Astrolabe
Astrolabe
An astrolabe is an elaborate inclinometer, historically used by astronomers, navigators, and astrologers. Its many uses include locating and predicting the positions of the Sun, Moon, planets, and stars, determining local time given local latitude and longitude, surveying, triangulation, and to...
on the reef that now bears the vessel's name. The island later became home to beche-de-mer
Bêche-de-mer
Bêche-de-mer can refer to:* Bislama; Vanuatu Pidgin English* Sea cucumber...
traders, as well as whaler
Whaler
A whaler is a specialized ship, designed for whaling, the catching and/or processing of whales. The former included the whale catcher, a steam or diesel-driven vessel with a harpoon gun mounted at its bows. The latter included such vessels as the sail or steam-driven whaleship of the 16th to early...
s from Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
, Australia, and New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
in the United States. Galoa Harbour became a regular port of call for vessels carrying mail between Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
, San Francisco, and Auckland
Auckland
The Auckland metropolitan area , in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest and most populous urban area in the country with residents, percent of the country's population. Auckland also has the largest Polynesian population of any city in the world...
.
Notable Kadavuans
Well-known Kadavu names include Foreign MinisterMinister for Foreign Affairs (Fiji)
The Minister for Foreign Affairs is Fiji's Cabinet Minister responsible for international relations and diplomacy...
Kaliopate Tavola
Kaliopate Tavola
Kaliopate Tavola is a Fijian economist, diplomat, and politician, who was his country's Minister for Foreign Affairs from 2000 to 2006...
, Forests and Fisheries Minister
Cabinet (Fiji)
Fiji has the Westminster system - executive authority is vested nominally in a President, but exercised in practice by a Cabinet of Ministers, presided over by the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister is formally appointed, but not chosen, by the President: the President must appoint as Prime...
Konisi Yabaki
Konisi Yabaki
Konisi Tabu Yabaki is a Fijian politician from the southern Kadavu Island. He served in the Cabinet from 2000 to 2006, but lost his portfolios as Minister for Fisheries and Forests after the parliamentary election of 6-13 May 2006...
, James Ah-Koy, Senator
Senate (Fiji)
The Senate of Fiji is the upper chamber of Parliament. It is the less powerful of the two chambers; it may not initiate legislation, but may amend or veto it. The Senate's powers over financial bills are more restricted: it may veto them in their entirety, but may not amend them...
, former Minister for Finance and businessman, Akuila Yabaki
Akuila Yabaki
Akuila Yabaki is a Fijian human rights activist and Methodist clergyman. He is currently the Executive Director of the Citizens Constitutional Forum, a pro-democracy organization....
, a Methodist
Methodist Church of Fiji and Rotuma
The Methodist Church of Fiji and Rotuma is the largest Christian denomination in Fiji, with 36.2 percent of the total population at the 1996 census...
minister and political activist, and Ratu Josateki Nawalowalo
Josateki Nawalowalo
Ratu Josateki Tuivanuavou Nacagilevu Nawalowalo, commonly known as Ratu Jo Nawalowalo, was a Fijian chief, businessman, and the Chairman of the Kadavu Provincial Council...
, Chairman of the Kadavu Provincial Council
Local government of Fiji
Fiji is divided administratively into four divisions, which are further subdivided into fourteen provinces; the self-governing island of Rotuma and its dependencies lie outside any of the four divisions. Each division is headed by a Commissioner, appointed by the Fijian government...
and of the Fiji Kava Council. Yet another noted Kadavuan is Jesoni Vitusagavulu
Jesoni Vitusagavulu
Jesoni Vitusagavulu is a Fijian businessman and diplomat, who was appointed as Fiji's fifth Ambassador to the United States on 26 May 2005, succeeding Anare Jale. He is also accredited as Ambassador to Cuba and Mexico, and High Commissioner to Canada. He presented his credentials to President...
, Fiji's current
October 2005
-Portal:Current events:...
Ambassador
Ambassador
An ambassador is the highest ranking diplomat who represents a nation and is usually accredited to a foreign sovereign or government, or to an international organization....
to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Also Colonel Matereti Sarasau of Dagai village, Dr. Sitiveni Ratuva of Yale village, and Rev. Inoke Nabulivou of Dravuwalu village, past President of the Methodist Church in Fiji.
External links
- Information on Kadavu.
- General Information on Kadavu.