Demographic Factors
Indo Fijians are concentrated in the so-called Sugar Belt and in cities and towns on the northern and western coasts of Viti Levu and Vanua Levu; their numbers are much scarcer in the south and inland areas. The majority of Fijian Indians converse in what is known as the Fiji Hindi language that has been koined from the eastern Hindi dialects mixed with native Fijian and English words, with some minorities speaking Gujarati, and Punjabi, among others. Some people still speak Tamil or as their mother tongue with less fluency. Almost all Indians are also fluent in English.
According to the 1996 census (the latest available), 76.7% of Indians are Hindus and a further 15.9% are Muslims. Christians comprise 6.1% of the Indian population, while about 0.9% are members of the Sikh faith. The remaining 0.4% are mostly nonreligious.
Hindus in Fiji belong mostly to the Sanātana Dharma sect (74.3% of all Hindus); a minority (3.7%) follow Arya Samaj. Smaller groups, including The International Society for Krishna Consciousness, and numerous unspecified Hindu sects, comprise 22% of the Hindu population. Muslims are mostly Sunni (59.7%) or unspecified (36.7%); there is an Ahmadiya minority (3.6%). Indian Christians are a diverse body, with Methodists forming the largest group (26.2%), followed by the Assemblies of God (22.3%), Roman Catholics (17%), and Anglicans (5.8%). The remaining 28.7% belong to a medley of denominations. There is an Indian Division of the Methodist Church in Fiji. About 5000 Indians are Methodist. They are part of the Methodist Church in Fiji and support the position of the Methodist Church in Fiji, rather than the rights of Indians.
Read more about this topic: Indians In Fiji
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