Lautoka is the second largest city

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...

 of 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 second largest in the South Pacific. It is in the west of the island of Viti Levu

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 :...

, 24 kilometres north of Nadi

Nadi

Nadi is the third-largest conurbation in Fiji. It is located on the western side of the main island of Viti Levu, and had a population of 42,284 at the most recent census, in 2007. Nadi is multiracial with many of its inhabitants Indian or Fijian, along with a large transient population of foreign...

, and is the second port of entry in Fiji, after Suva. Lying in the heart of Fiji's sugar cane growing region, it is known as the Sugar City. Covering an area of 16 square kilometres, it had a population of 52,220 at the 2007 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...

, the most recent to date.

Economic activities

Lautoka is known as the Sugar City because of its sugar cane belt areas. The main Lautoka Sugar Mill is the city's biggest employer by far. Built for the Colonial Sugar Refining Company (Fiji)

Colonial Sugar Refining Company (Fiji)

The Colonial Sugar Refining Company began operations in Fiji in 1880 and until it ceased operations in 1973, had a considerable influence on the political and economic life of Fiji. Prior to its expansion to Fiji, the CSR was operating Sugar Refineries in Melbourne and Auckland...

 (CSR) by workers from India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

 and the Solomon Islands

Solomon Islands

Solomon Islands is a sovereign state in Oceania, east of Papua New Guinea, consisting of nearly one thousand islands. It covers a land mass of . The capital, Honiara, is located on the island of Guadalcanal...

 between 1899 and 1903, it hires some 1,300 employees today. Other industries include timber milling, garment manufacturing, distillery, brewery, jewellery, blending, steelworks, fishing, hatchery, domestic items, paints, and construction.

History

The name of the city is derived from two Fijian

Fijian language

Fijian is an Austronesian language of the Malayo-Polynesian family spoken in Fiji. It has 450,000 first-language speakers, which is less than half the population of Fiji, but another 200,000 speak it as a second language...

 words meaning "spear hit." According to an oral tradition, the name arose following a duel between two chiefs

Ratu

Ratu is a title used by Fijians of chiefly rank. An equivalent title, Adi is used by females of chiefly rank.-Etymology:Ra is a prefix in many titles and Tu is simply "chief"...

. As one speared the other, he was reported to have cried "Lau-toka!" The first known European sighting of the Lautoka area took place on 7 May 1789. Captain

Captain (nautical)

A sea captain is a licensed mariner in ultimate command of the vessel. The captain is responsible for its safe and efficient operation, including cargo operations, navigation, crew management and ensuring that the vessel complies with local and international laws, as well as company and flag...

 William Bligh

William 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...

 spotted and roughly charted the coasts of Lautoka while making his epic voyage to Timor

Timor

Timor is an island at the southern end of Maritime Southeast Asia, north of the Timor Sea. It is divided between the independent state of East Timor, and West Timor, belonging to the Indonesian province of East Nusa Tenggara. The island's surface is 30,777 square kilometres...

, in the wake of the Mutiny on the Bounty

Mutiny on the Bounty

The mutiny on the Bounty was a mutiny that occurred aboard the British Royal Navy ship HMS Bounty on 28 April 1789, and has been commemorated by several books, films, and popular songs, many of which take considerable liberties with the facts. The mutiny was led by Fletcher Christian against the...

 in which he and a few sailors loyal to him were thrown overboard and cast adrift on a life boat.

Politics

Incorporated as a town

Town

A town is a human settlement larger than a village but smaller than a city. The size a settlement must be in order to be called a "town" varies considerably in different parts of the world, so that, for example, many American "small towns" seem to British people to be no more than villages, while...

 in 1929, Lautoka was proclaimed a city

City

A city is a relatively large and permanent settlement. Although there is no agreement on how a city is distinguished from a town within general English language meanings, many cities have a particular administrative, legal, or historical status based on local law.For example, in the U.S...

 on 25 February 1977. It is governed by a 16-member city council, who elect from among themselves a Mayor

Mayor

In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....

. lautoka currently does not have a mayor but has a government appointed mayor like all urban centres in Fiji since the military coup of 2006 the current administrator is praveen Bala who is a former mayor of ba 4. Lautoka is the only city in Fiji's Western Division

Western Division, Fiji

The Western Division of Fiji is one of Fiji's four divisions. It consists of the three provinces Ba, Nadroga-Navosa and Ra.The capital of the division is Lautoka. The division includes the western part of the largest island in Fiji, Viti Levu, with a few outlying islands, including the Yasawa...

,and is the industrial hub of Fiji which contains more than 50 percent of the nation's population. It is also the headquarters of the Fiji Electricity Authority, the Fiji Pine Ltd, and the National Marketing Authority.

Mass Media

The headquarters and studios of Mix FM Fiji

Mix FM Fiji

Mix FM Fiji is a radio station that serves Fiji, broadcasting on the FM band at the frequencies of 93.8MHz in Lautoka, Nadi and Suva and 93.6MHz in Ba, Tavua, Rakiraki and Sigatoka. This station is licensed to broadcast all over Fiji. As of February 6th 2011, Mix FM has introduced Radio Data...

 are located in Lautoka. With National coverage, MixFM is the only English station in Fiji to be based outside of Suva.

Demography

Since 1970, the population of Lautoka has grown rapidly, and in the last twenty years it has also changed dramatically in structure. In the early 1970s the population was estimated to be about 12,000, the vast majority of inhabitants being Indian, as would be expected considering the early growth of the city was entirely associated with the sugar industry. almost all of the present Indian inhabitants are descendants of the early girmityas

Girmityas

Girmityas are descendents of indentured Indian labourers brought to Fiji to work on sugarcane plantations for the prosperity of the European settlers and save the Fijians from having to work on these plantations and thus to preserve their culture...

. In 1986 the population was 39,000 and in 1996 almost 43,000, but it is not clear exactly how the boundaries of the urban area were defined at either of these censuses. In 2005 the population including the suburban zones was probably about 50,000, occupying a total area of about 16 km². The population of Lautoka including the rural districts is around 80,000. But much of the recent growth of the city itself has been due to indigenous Fijians moving into the urban area.

The city is the birthplace of PGA Tour

PGA Tour

The PGA Tour is the organizer of the main men's professional golf tours in the United States and North America...

 Hall of Famer

World Golf Hall of Fame

The World Golf Hall of Fame is located at World Golf Village near St. Augustine, Florida, in the United States, and it is unusual among sports halls of fame in that a single site serves both men and women. It is supported by a consortium of 26 golf organizations from all over the world.The Hall of...

 Vijay Singh

Vijay Singh

Vijay Singh, CF , nicknamed "The Big Fijian", is a Fijian professional golfer who was Number 1 in the Official World Golf Rankings for 32 weeks in 2004 and 2005. He has won three major championships and was the leading PGA Tour money winner in 2003, 2004 and 2008...

.

External links