A British colony for nearly a century, Fiji became independent in 1970. Only about 105 of Fiji's islands are inhabited. Vegetation varies according to rainfall, with dense forests in the mountains, tropical savanna grasslands in the west, and dense vegetation in the east.
Mangrove trees dominate coastal areas.
Native Fijians, who were a minority in their own country at independence, are mainly of Melanesian stock. On the other hand, the proliferation of automobiles and road travel beginning in the 1920s signaled the steady decline of passenger-train service and the bankruptcy of many of the country's remaining railroads by the 1960s. The luxury liner as a means of transport would also succumb, in its turn, to the relentless march of technology. Both world wars contributed to the American taste for foreign travel by exposing millions of service personnel to the excitement of faraway places. International tourism as a giant industry did not get under way until the 1950s, however.