Ba is a
province of
Fiji
Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...
, occupying the north-western sector of
Viti Levu, Fiji's largest island. It is one of fourteen provinces in the nation of Fiji, and one of eight based in Viti Levu. It is Fiji's most populous province, with a population of 247,708 - more than a quarter of the nation's total - at the 2017
census.
It covers a land area of , the second largest of any province.
Ba Province includes the towns and districts of
Ba,
Magodro,
Nadi
Nadi (pronounced ) is the third-largest conurbation in Fiji. It is located on the western side of the main island of Viti Levu, and had a population of 42,284 at the most recent census, in 2007. A 2012 estimate showed that the population had ...
,
Nawaka,
Tavua,
Vuda and
Vitogo. The city of
Lautoka
Lautoka () is the second largest Local government in Fiji, city in Fiji. It is on the west coast of the island of Viti Levu, in the Ba Province of the Western Division, Fiji, Western Division. Lying in the heart of Fiji's sugar cane-growing r ...
and the
Yasawa Archipelago, off the western coast of Viti Levu, are also in Ba Province.
Notable residents of Ba Province include Fiji's former
president,
Ratu Josefa Iloilo and the former
Chairman
The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...
of the
Great Council of Chiefs,
Ratu Ovini Bokini. Former
prime ministers Timoci Bavadra and
Mahendra Chaudhry
Mahendra Pal Chaudhry ( hif, महेन्द्र पाल चौधरी; born 9 February 1942) is a Fijian politician and the leader of the Fiji Labour Party. Following a historic election in which he defeated the long-time former lead ...
, both of whom were deposed in
coups and Ratu Tevita Momoedonu, were also from Ba Province.
Vuda Point
Vuda Point is a headland on the west coast of Viti Levu island, in Ba Province of Fiji. It is located between the towns of Nadi and Lautoka.
Vuda Point features the village of Viseisei, with the Vuda Marina yacht harbor and several small resort c ...
, in Ba Province, is the traditional landing of the canoes that brought the
Melanesian ancestors of the
Fijian people to the islands. The nearby village of
Viseisei Viseisei () is a village at Vuda Point on the west coast of Viti Levu island, in Ba Province of Fiji.
History
According to tradition, it is the oldest settlement in Fiji, established by Lutunasobasoba when the first Melanesian canoes beached at V ...
(President Iloilo's hometown) is traditionally considered to be the oldest in Fiji.
The province is governed by a
Provincial Council, which is chaired by
Ratu Tevita Momoedonu
Ratu Tevita Momoedonu (13 January 1946 – 26 November 2020) was a Fijian politician who served as the fifth Prime Minister of Fiji twice – each time extremely briefly. Both appointments were to get around constitutional technicalities; hi ...
.
References
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Provinces of Fiji
Ba