Cakaudrove is one of fourteen provinces of Fiji, and one of three based principally on the northern island of Vanua Levu, occupying the south-eastern third of the island and including the nearby islands of Taveuni, Rabi, Kioa, and numerous other islands in the Vanua Levu Group. It has a total land area of 2,816 square kilometers, with a population of 49,344 at the most recent census in 2007, making it the sixth most populous province. The only major town is Savusavu, with a population of 4,962 in 1996.
Cakaudrove has proved to be one of Fiji's most influential provinces. Ratu Sir Penaia Ganilau, Fiji's last Governor-General and first President, held the chiefly title of Tui Cakau, with Cakaudrove as his traditional fiefdom. Former Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka is also from Cakaudrove. The present Tui Cakau, Ratu Naiqama Lalabalavu, is a Cabinet Minister and leader of the Conservative Alliance (CAMV), a nationalist political party with considerable support in Cakaudrove. The CAMV politicians Ratu Rakuita Vakalalabure and Manasa Tugia also hail from Cakaudrove. Ratu Epeli Ganilau, a son of Ratu Sir Penaia Ganilau leads another significant political party, the National Alliance Party. Ratu Jone Yavala Kubuabola is Fiji's Minister for Finance, a position he has held since 2000. He also represents the South West Urban Fijian Communal constituencies in the House of Representatives, to which he was elected as a candidate of the Soqosoqo Duavata ni Lewenivanua (SDL) in 2001. He was also a former Governor of the Reserve Bank of Fiji. Ratu Inoke Kubuabola is a Fijian politician who served as Leader of the Opposition in 1999 and 2000. He became leader of the Fijian Political Party (Soqosoqo ni Vakavulewa ni Taukei, or SVT) following its defeat in the 1999 election and the subsequent resignation of its leader, the defeated Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka, from Parliament.Kubuabola served as Fiji's High Commissioner to Papua New Guinea from 2002 to 2005. In late 2005, he attempted to handle the problem of Fijian security guards, whom some accused of being mercenaries, operating illegally on the island of Bougainville. The incident embarrassed the Fijian government and threatened to strain relations between the two countries.
On 4 May 2006 Kubuabola was posted to Tokyo as Fiji's Ambassador to Japan and Korea, replacing Ratu Tevita Momoedonu. He remained in this position until July 2009; on 24 July, he was named Minister for Foreign Affairs by the Interim Government.The Kubuabola family is a branch of the Ai Sokula clan, to which the present Tui Cakau and Cabinet Minister Ratu Naiqama Lalabalavu also belongs.
Cakaudrove is governed by the Cakaudrove Provincial Council, chaired by the former Prime Minister, Sitiveni Rabuka.
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