Vanua Levu
Vanua Levu ((
IPA: []), formerly known as Sandalwood Island, is the second largest
island of
Fiji. Located 64 kilometres to the north of the larger
Viti Levu, the island has an area of 5,587.1 km² and a population of some 130,000.
Geologists believe that Vanua Levu is an amalgamation of several islands that melded through successive stages of uplift. The main part of the island is roughly shaped like a tall, thin triangle 30 to 50 kilometers in width and 180 kilometres in length, rotated so that the point is to the northeast. This point, the northernmost in the Fiji chain, is
Udu Cape. From the southeastern side of this triangle, a long
peninsula stretches out into the
Koro Sea. The island is surrounded by coral reefs, and is rough and hilly.
The island is divided horizontally by a rugged mountain range, which forms much of the boundary between the
Provinces of
Cakaudrove and
Macuata. The highest peaks are Mount Batini, also known as
Nasorolevu, with an altitude of 1111 meters, and, 16 kilometers further north-east,
Dikeva, also known as Mount Thurston, with an altitude of 1030 meters. Vanua Levu's main mountain ranges lie near the windward, southern coasts, making them much wetter. Northern Vanua Levu, by contrast, is dry eight months of the year, enabling
sugar cane, the island's major
crop, to thrive there.
Vanua Levu has a number of rivers, including the
Labasa, the
Wailevu, and the
Qawa. These three form a
delta on which the town of
Labasa stands. None of the island's rivers are navigable by large vessels.
The island's main population centres are the towns of
Labasa, in the north, and
Savusavu, located at the foot of the peninsula. Labasa, with a population of almost 25,000 at the
1996 census, has a large Indian community, and is a major centre of Fiji's sugar industry. Savusavu is smaller, with a population of just under 5000, but is a popular centre for
tourists owing to its
diving and
yachting facilities.
The main industry on the island is sugar cane production, especially in the north. Copra is also an important crop. Tourism is now becoming a major industry on Vanua Levu also.
For
administrative purposes, Vanua Levu is divided into three Provinces:
Bua (in the west),
Macuata (in the north-east), and
Cakaudrove (in the south-east). These three provinces also comprise the
Northern Division of Fiji. Together with the remote
Lau Islands, Vanua Levu and its outliers form the
Tovata Confederacy, one of three traditional alliances of Fiji's chiefs. The Paramount Chief, who is based on the nearby island of
Taveuni, holds the title of
Tui Cakau.Only two population centres -
Labasa and
Savusavu - have been incorporated as
Towns. Each is governed by a
Mayor and a
Town Council, whose members are elected for a three-year term and choose the Mayor from among themselves.
The
Dutch navigator
Abel Tasman was the first known
European to sight Vanua Levu, in
1643. He was followed by
Captain William Bligh in
1789, en route to
Timor while escaping from the
Mutiny on the Bounty, in which his crew had forced him and those loyal to him off deck and cast them adrift in a lifeboat.
Duff skipper Captain
James Wilson subsequently explored the area in
1797.
Traders began exploiting
sandalwood thickets in the
Bua Bay area around
1805. By
1815, however, the supply had been depleted and apart from the occasional visit from
whalers and
bêche-de-mer traders, the island received little further attention until
1840, when a young sailor known as Jackson deserted his crew at
Somosomo on the nearby island of
Taveuni, was adopted by a local
Chief, and explored much of eastern and northern Vanua Levu.
Settlers from
Australia and
New Zealand established
coconut plantations in the
Savusavu area in the
1860s. Intermarriage with
Fijian people produced a mixed-race elite, which also prospered from the sale of
copra, of which Savusavu was a major centre, until the
Great Depression of the
1930s led to a collapse in the price of copra. In the same period,
Indians founded the town of
Labasa, now a major
sugar-producing centre.
