Ra Province
Ra Province | |
|---|---|
Coastal communities of the Ra Province. | |
Interactive map of Ra Province | |
| Country | Fiji |
| Division | Western Division |
| Area | |
• Total | 1,341 km2 (518 sq mi) |
| Population (2017)[2] | |
• Total | 30,416 |
| • Density | 22.68/km2 (58.75/sq mi) |
Ra is one of the fourteen provinces of Fiji. Occupying the northeastern area of Viti Levu, the largest island, it is one of eight Viti Levu-based Provinces. It has a land area of 1,341 square kilometers.
Demographics
Its population at the last census in 2017 was 30,416.[3] The main urban centre is at Vaileka (or Rakiraki), with a population of 3,361 in 1996. Ra Province has 4 tikina makawa and 86 villages.
The province used to have 19 districts:[4]
- Bureivanua
- Bureiwai
- Kavula
- Lawaki
- Mataso
- Nababa
- Nailuva
- Nakorotubu
- Nakuilava
- Nalaba
- Nalawa
- Naroko
- Nasau
- Navitilevu
- Navolau
- Rakiraki
- Raviravi
- Saivou
- Tokaimalo
The districts of Saivou, Nakorotubu, Rakiraki, and Nalawa have their own chiefs: the Gone Turaga na Vunivalu na Tui Nalawa, Turaga na Ratu ni Natauiya, Turaga na Gonesau, and Gone Turaga Tu Navitilevu.
2017 Census
| Tikina (District) |
Ethnicity | Total[5] | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| iTaukei | % | Indo-Fijian | % | Other | % | ||
| Nakorotubu | 4,170 | 94.9 | 202 | 4.6 | 20 | 0.5 | 4,392 |
| Nalawa | 4,722 | 95.7 | 171 | 3.5 | 39 | 0.8 | 4,932 |
| Rakiraki | 7,933 | 57.0 | 5,825 | 41.9 | 150 | 1.1 | 13,908 |
| Saivou | 6,023 | 83.8 | 1,126 | 15.7 | 35 | 0.5 | 7,184 |
| Province | 22,848 | 75.1 | 7,324 | 24.1 | 244 | 0.8 | 30,415 |
Ra as a whole is governed by a Provincial Council.
The Ra dialect of Fijian is distinctive in that the consonant /t/, pronounced elsewhere in Fiji, is pronounced as a glottal stop.
Environment
Conservation work in Ra has included mangrove-focused blue carbon activities at Navitilevu Bay and forest-carbon restoration initiatives in the Nakauvadra area, both linked to Conservation International Fiji.[6][7]
Christian State
There was an attempt in 2015 to create a "Christian state" in Ra. This was described by the then Chief of Police, Ben Groenewald, as a harmless cult, but the prime minister Frank Bainimarama took a sterner view and ordered a clamp-down by the army. It was due to claims by the “cult” that the constitution of Fiji violated the UN's 2007 Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (DOTROIP). But to ask for the UN's help, they deemed that they had to be a nation, hence The Ra Christian State was envisioned to contest the constitution. Many of the conspirators were imprisoned for sedition and treason.[8]
References
- ^ "2007 Census Analytical Report". statsfiji.gov.fj. Archived from the original on 20 October 2020. Retrieved 7 Nov 2021.
- ^ "2017 Population and Housing Census - Release 1". statsfiji.gov.fj. Archived from the original on 24 November 2021. Retrieved 7 Nov 2021.
- ^ Fiji Bureau of Statistics (5 January 2018). "2017 Population and Housing Census - Release 1". Census 2017. Archived from the original on 20 March 2018. Retrieved 8 April 2018.
- ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2019-09-03. Retrieved 2019-09-03.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ "Experience". experience.arcgis.com. Retrieved 2026-02-14.
- ^ "Fiji Mangrove Surveys First Step To Sustain Natural Climate Solutions". Fiji Sun. 19 December 2022.
- ^ Waqainabete-Tuisese, S. (2016). Ecological restoration and erosion control in Ra Province: diagnosis and action plan (PDF) (Report). Pacific Community (SPC).
- ^ The Economist, 23 January 2016, p. 53.
17°30′S 178°10′E / 17.500°S 178.167°E