Located in the central South Pacific Ocean, the Republic of Fiji (Viti in Fijian) was a British colony from 1874 to 1970. There are more than 300 islands in the archipelago, more than 100 of them inhabited. However, most of the population lives on the two largest islands, Viti Levu and Vanua Levu. (The English name Fiji, introduced by the explorer Capt. James Cook, is the Tongan pronunciation of Viti.) The population of the country is approaching one million. There are several historic lighthouses in Fiji but very little information is available about them. Photos and accounts of visits are certainly needed. A major problem is that most Fijian lighthouses are at remote locations not accessible except by boat. For administration Fiji is divided into four divisions and the divisions are subdivided into a total of 14 provinces. The Fijian word for a lighthouse is valencina; yanuyanu is an island, serau is a shoal, toa is a reef, and toba is a harbor. Navigational aids in Fiji are managed by the Maritime Safety Authority of Fiji (MSAF), a "commercial statutory authority" established in 2011. The new authority had to address the problem that many of the lights were reported to be out of action. In January 2013, shipping companies protested the government's failure to "provide proper beacons and lighthouses in the country after spending years operating without the essential maritime aid," according to the Fiji Times. Fortunately a new program of modernizing the system of navigational aids has gotten underway. In late March 2013 a program to construct eight new lighthouses was announced and in January 2014 a second program of nine lighthouses was announced. ARLHS numbers are from the ARLHS World List of Lights. Admiralty numbers are from volume K of the Admiralty List of Lights & Fog Signals. U.S. NGA List numbers are from Publication 111.
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Northern Division (Vanua Levu Area) Lighthouses
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Eastern Division Lighthouses
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![]() Wailagi Lala Light, Lau Islands, March 2015 Facebook photo by the former Wailagilala Tropical Island Resort |
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![]() 1910 Muanivanua Point Light, Koro, undated unattributed photo, apparently from a tourist site, via Pinterest |
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Central Division Lighthouses
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Western Division Lighthouses
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Information available on lost lighthouses:
Notable faux lighthouses:
Adjoining pages: North: Wallis and Futuna | East: Tonga | West: Vanuatu
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Posted January 3, 2006. Checked and revised October 24, 2024. Lighthouses: 38. Site copyright 2024 Russ Rowlett and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.