Cuba and Fiji are both islands and surrounded by water. They are both in an archipelago however, Cuba is one island in an archipelago and Fiji is an archipelago or a collection of thousands of islands. Only 332 of the Fijian islands are large enough for human habitation with 106 of them being mostly uninhabited. Fiji’s main island and where the name “Fiji” comes from is Viti Levu which houses 75 percent of their population with Vanua Levu coming in second at 18 percent. These two islands make up 87 percent of the Fiji’s total land mass (1). Cuba and Fiji are located in two different hemispheres with Fiji being located in the southern hemisphere in the Pacific Ocean near Hawaii and Australia and Cuba being located in the northern hemisphere…show more content… Cuba also has 124 million barrels worth of oil in their proven oil reserves. Fiji on the other hand has no proven natural gas or oil reserves. Fiji’s energy practices are more environmentally friendly compared to Cuba’s, with 72% of their energy coming from wind, a clean renewable source, and 22% coming from oil. Cuba on the other hand gets 76% of their energy from oil and 20% from natural gas. This trend continues when it comes to CO2 emissions. Fiji’s emissions come in at only 1,236 kilotons with 1.42 metric tons per capita per year. While Cuba’s CO2 emissions come in at a whopping 35,922 kilotons and 3.17 metric tons per capita per year. Cuba uses more than the average CO2 emissions for all countries which is 2.63 metric tons per capita per year and Fiji uses less than the average. Cuba produces about 17 times more energy than Fiji, 17 TWh (terawatt hours) to Fiji’s 1 TWh…show more content… Many of the first Europeans to live in Fiji were shipwrecked sailors and escaped convicts from Australian prison settlements. Traders and missionaries arrived in Fiji in the mid-19th century.
After Fiji was ceded to Great Britain in 1874, epidemics nearly wiped out the population (9). In 1875, 40,000 people died of measles (10).
From 1879 to 1916 Indians arrived as indentured laborers to work in the many sugar plantations. When the indentured system was done away with, many stayed as independent farmers and businessmen. Today, descendants of the original indentured laborers make up 43.6 per cent of the population of Fiji (9).
Both Cuba which consists mostly of people with Spanish and African origins and Fiji which consists mostly of people with Indian, European, Oceanic and Chinese origins are both multi-racial with both countries indigenous ethnic group having a minority in their own country. They both lost a large part of their population to outside diseases after being colonized – Cuba with chickenpox and Fiji with measles. Currently the total population of Cuba is about 11.4 million with approximately 107 people per square
