Languages of Fiji
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Fiji has three official languages under the 1997 constitution (and not revoked by the 2013 Constitution): English, Fijian and Fiji Hindi. The Fijian language is spoken as the first language by most indigenous Fijians who make up around 54% of the population.
| Languages of Fiji | |
|---|---|
| Official | English, Fijian, Fiji Hindi |
| Indigenous | Fijian, Rotuman |
| Immigrant | Chinese, Hindi |
| Foreign | Chinese,[1] French,[2] Russian[3] |
Indo-Fijians make up a further 37%, mainly speaking a local variant of Hindi, known as Fiji Hindi. English was the sole official language until 1997 and is widely used in government, business, and education as a lingua franca.[4] Considerable business is also done in Fijian, especially away from larger town centers.
A small number of other Indigenous West Fijian and East Fijian regional languages are spoken on the islands, standard Fijian belonging to the East Fijian group. Arabic and Urdu are spoken by Muslims. Chinese and Rotuman are also spoken by immigrant populations.