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History
of Hindi in Australia
and Asia Pacific
Fiji
In 1990 the estimated population of Fiji was 772, 000, of which 370, 560 people (48%) were of Indian descent.
Virtually all of the population of Indian origin speaks Fiji Hindi, the dialect of Hindi that has taken shape in Fiji, as its household language.
Although in urban areas the majority of adult Indo-Fijians can speak English as well as Fiji Hindi, in rural areas — where the greater part of the population lives — English is in more limited use.
There, Fiji Hindi is the normal means of communication among Indo-Fijians as Fijian, an Austronesian language, is among Fijians.
Standard Hindi is used for formal speech, in radio broadcasts and in the two weekly Hindi newspapers published in the country.
Hindi commercial films are readily available in cinemas and on video tape.
Humorous articles in Fiji Hindi have begun to appear sporadically in the local Hindi press and a Fiji Hindi play has recently been published.
Although English is the official language of Fiji and the medium of instruction in schools, standard Hindi and Urdu along with Fijian are recognised subjects of study in primary and secondary education.
Fiji Hindi is close in grammatical structure and vocabulary to the Avadhi dialect of the Eastern Hindi group.