Minister for Information and Climate Change has sparked public discussion on national identity after raising the question of whether Fiji should revert to its pre-colonial name, Viti.
In a social media post, the Minister noted that before colonisation, the islands were generally known as Viti, with the name “Fiji” introduced later.
She explains countries around the world that have changed their names to reflect identity and heritage, including Türkiye, Eswatini, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Tuvalu, Kiribati and Vanuatu.
The Minister also pointed out that New Zealand increasingly uses Aotearoa in public communications.
“This was a way of strengthening identity and telling their own story,” the Minister said.
Locally, the Minister highlighted that terms such as Kaiviti, Kaidia, Kailoma, Kai Rotuma, Kaivalagi, Kai Solomone and Kai Jaina are already widely used and accepted across communities.
The Minister stressed that the idea was not about division, but about starting a national conversation.
“So it raises a simple question: What if Fiji were called Viti again?” the Minister said.
