Tavua is a town

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...

 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...

, 91 kilometres from 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 9 kilometres from the gold

Gold

Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...

 mining

Mining

Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body, vein or seam. The term also includes the removal of soil. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock...

 settlement of Vatukoula

Vatukoula

Vatukoula is a gold mining settlement in Fiji, 9 kilometers inland from the Town of Tavua on the island of Viti Levu. It was established in 1934....

. It was formally incorporated as a Town in 1992, with a land area of 100 square kilometres, and had a population of 2,418 at the 1996 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 last to date.

Tavua is governed by a 9-member Town Council, elected for a three-year term, who elect 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....

 from among themselves for a one-year term, renewable indefinitely. At the most recent municipal election

Fiji municipal election, 2005

Municipal elections were held for 11 of Fiji's twelve city and town councils on 22 October 2005. In the capital city, however, elections for the Suva City Council were postponed till 12 November, owing to the death of two candidates; the death of a candidate in Lautoka also resulted in the...

, held on 22 October 2005, all 9 seats were won by the Tavua Ratepayers, Landowners, and Tenants Association. The new council reelected Chandra Singh

Chandra Singh

Chandra Singh was one of the eight nominees of the Leader of the Opposition to the Senate of Fiji after the 2006 elections. - References :...

, Mayor since 2001, for another term.