Rotuma

Rotuma Rotuma
Flag
Location of Rotuma in Polynesia
The island of Rotuma, located to the far north, in relation to mainland Fiji
Administrative center	Ahau 12°29.9′S 177°2.82′E / 12.4983°S 177.04700°E / -12.4983; 177.04700
Official languages	Rotuman English Fijian Fiji Hindi
Ethnic groups	Rotuman  ∟Fagutan
Demonym(s)	Rotuman  ∟Fagutan
Government	Dependency of Fiji
• Gagaj Pure (District Officer)	Niumaia Masere
• Gagaj Jeaman (Council Chairman)	Tarterani Rigamoto
Establishment
• Faguta's special status agreed to by Rotuma's chiefs in the Treaty of Hamelin	11 September 1871
• Rotuma ceded to the United Kingdom	13 May 1881
• Independence from the United Kingdom granted as part of Fiji	10 October 1970
Area
• Total	47 km2 (18 sq mi)
Population
• 2017 census	1,594
Currency	Fiji dollar (FJD)
Time zone	UTC+12
Calling code	+679

Rotuma (/roʊˈtuːmə/) is a self-governing heptarchy, generally designated a dependency of Fiji. Rotuma commonly refers to the Rotuma Island, the only permanently inhabited and by far the largest of all the islands in the Rotuma Group. Officially, the Rotuma Act declares that Rotuma consists of Rotuma Island as well as its neighbouring islands, rocks, and reefs across the entire Rotuma Group. The dependency is situated around 500 km west of the French islands of Wallis and Futuna and a similar distance north of the Fijian mainland. Its capital is Ahau, a hamlet consisting of a number of colonial-era buildings. Rotuma exists as a dependency of Fiji but itself contains its own socioreligious pene-enclave^[a] known traditionally as Faguta where the chiefs (of Juju and Pepjei) and their villages adhere to the practices of worship, festival dates, and French-based writing system of the Marists, based at Sumi.

The island group is home to a large and unique Polynesian indigenous ethnic group which constitutes a recognisable minority within the population of Fiji, known as "Rotumans". Its population at the 2017 census was 1,594,^[1] although many more Rotumans live on mainland Fijian islands, totaling 10,000.

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