The Republic of Rotuma was an unrealized attempt at creating an independent Rotuma starting in September 1987 after the second Fijian coup. A part-Rotuman man named Henry Gibson announced to the

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

newspapers that he had declared the independence of Rotuma from

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 ...

. Gibson proclaimed himself the King of Rotuma and gained a popular following on the

island An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island ...

. Aims to create the republic were aborted in 1988, when advocates were tried with sedition.

References

Former unrecognized countries 1987 in Fiji 1988 in Fiji Former republics in Oceania {{Fiji-stub