Religion in Fiji (2017 census)[1]
According to the most recent census in 2017, just under 7 in 10 people in Fiji are Christian (69.21% of the population), with a sizable Hindu (24.0%) and Muslim (5.8%) minority.[2] Religion tends to split along ethnic lines with most Indigenous Fijians being Christian and most Indo-Fijians being mostly Hindu or in some cases, Muslim.[3]
Aboriginal Fijian religion could be classified in modern terms as forms of animism or shamanism, traditions utilizing various systems of divination which strongly affected every aspect of life. Fiji was Christianized in the 19th century. Today there are various Christian denominations in Fiji, the largest being the Methodist church. Hinduism and Islam arrived with the importation of large numbers of people from South Asia, most of them indentured, in the late 1800s and early 1900s.
Fiji has many public holidays as it acknowledges the special days held by the various belief systems, such as Easter and Christmas for the Christians, Diwali for the Hindus and the Eid al-Adha for the Muslims.[4]
- ^ "Population by Major Religious Groups". Fiji Bureau of Statistics. Retrieved 23 August 2024.
- ^ "Population 2017 Census - Population by Major Religious Groups". Fiji Bureau of Statistics.
- ^ US State Dept 2022 report
- ^ "Fiji Government Online Portal - 2017 Fiji Public Holidays". www.fiji.gov.fj. Retrieved 5 August 2017.