Geography

Natural History | The Land | Weather | Real Estate

Fiji consists of 18,376 square km of land and includes about 330 islands (depending on how many reefs and tiny islets you take into consideration), of which about 100 are inhabited. The largest island and population center is Viti Levu, which has an area of 10,388 square km—slightly smaller that the big island of Hawai’i. Vanua Levu, located northeast of Viti Levu, is the second largest island and is a bit more than half the size of Viti Levu. Taveuni, the Garden Island of Fiji and a popular dive destination, lies to the east of Vanua Levu separated from it by the Somosomo Strait. Also a major scuba spot, and tied with Taveuni as the third largest island in the archipelago is Kadavu, which lies to the south of Viti Levu. Fiji’s remaining islands are small and are divided into three main groups—Lomaiviti, Lau and the Yasawas. A smaller cluster of islands, home to many popular resorts, is the Mamanuca Group just offshore from Viti Levu’s west coast.