Fijian people

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Ethnic Fijians
Total population	c. 500,000
Regions with significant populations	Fiji
Language	Fijian, English
Religion	Methodist 66.6%; Roman Catholic 13.3%; Assemblies of God 6.2%; Seventh-day Adventist 5.1%; other 8.8%.
Related ethnic groups	Native Hawaiians, Māori, Samoans, other Melanesian peoples, Polynesian peoples, other Austronesian peoples

Indigenous Fijians are the major indigenous people of the Fiji Islands. They are indigenous to all parts of Fiji except the island of Rotuma. As of 2005, they constitute slightly more than half of the Fijian population. However, disproportionately to ethnic demographics, about 83 percent of Fijian land is still natively owned. In 1876, Governor Sir Arthur Gordon established a law prohibiting the sale of Fijian land to non-ethnic fijians. This policy has been continued, hardly modified, to this day. The Governor also banned the exploitation of Fijians as laborers, and in 1878 decided to import indentured laborers from India to work on sugarcane fields. Between 1879 and 1916, some 61,000 Indian laborers came to Fiji. The plan was for the indentured laborers to work a 5-year contract and return to India, but a great majority chose to stay. The effects of which created a troublesome unbalance in modern Fijian ethnical and cultural demographics.

Indigenous Fijians are overwhelmingly Christian, with the Methodist Church of Fiji and Rotuma claiming the loyalty of 66.6% at the 1996 census (the latest available). Other significant denominations include the Roman Catholic Church (13.3%), the Assemblies of God (6.2%) and the Seventh-day Adventists (5.1%). About 8% belong to other churches from a large number of denominations. About 0.8% follow non-Christian religions or no religion.

Indigenous Fijians are predominantly of Melanesian extraction, with some Polynesian admixture; the Fijian language belongs to the Melanesian branch of the Austronesian family.

Other ethnic groups represented in Fiji include Indo-Fijians (or Fiji Indians), Rotumans, and minority communities, which include Caucasians, Chinese, and others.