page_title: Suva
section_title: Landmarks
hierarchical_section_title: Suva / Landmarks
caption_attribution_description: English: Parliament Building (Suva)
context_page_description: Suva is the capital and largest metropolitan city in Fiji. It is located on the southeast coast of the island of Viti Levu, in the Rewa Province, Central Division.
  In 1877, it was decided to make Suva the capital of Fiji, as the geography of former main European settlement at Levuka on the island of Ovalau, Lomaiviti province proved too restrictive. The administration of the colony was moved from Levuka to Suva in 1882.
  At the 2017 census, the city of Suva had a population of 93,970. Including independent suburbs, the population of the Greater Suva urban area was 185,913 at the 2017 census. Suva, along with the bordering towns of Lami, Nasinu, and Nausori, have a total urban population of around 330,000, over a third of the nation's population. This urban complex is known also as the Suva-Nausori corridor.
  Suva is the political, economic, and cultural centre of Fiji. It is also the economic and cultural capital of the South Pacific, hosting the majority of regional headquarters of major corporations, as well as international agencies and diplomatic missions in the region.
context_section_description: A well-known landmark is the Suva City Carnegie Library, built in 1909 as well as many other colonial buildings.
  The government buildings complex sits on what was once the flowing waters of a creek. It was drained in 1935 and over five kilometres of reinforced concrete pilings were driven into the creek bed to support the massive buildings to be erected. After the foundation stone was laid in 1937, the building was completed in 1939; a new wing was completed in 1967. Parliament, however, was moved to a new complex on Ratu Sukuna Road in 1992.
  Government House was formerly the residence of Fiji's colonial Governors and, following independence in 1970, Governors-General. It is now the official residence of Fiji's President. Originally erected in 1882, it had to be rebuilt in 1928, following its destruction by lightning in 1921.
  The Suva campus of the University of the South Pacific (USP) occupies what was once a New Zealand military base. It is the largest of the many USP campuses dotted throughout the South Pacific and the largest university in the Pacific Islands outside Hawaii. It offers courses which are internationally recognised and endorsed.
  The Fiji Museum, in Thurston Gardens, was founded in 1904 and originally occupied the old town hall, but moved to its present location in 1954. The museum houses the most extensive collection of Fijian artefacts in the world, and is also a research and educational institution, specialising in archaeology, the preservation of Fiji's oral tradition, and the publication of material on Fiji's language and culture.
  Suva has around 78 parks, these include the new Takashi Suzuki Garden, Apted Park at Suva Point which is a popular spot for viewing sunrise and sunset, Thurston Gardens which was opened in 1913 and has flora from throughout the South Pacific.
  Suva has many shopping and retail areas, notably Cumming street, which has since colonial times been a vibrant and colourful shopping area. Features of these streets include the original colonial buildings and narrow roads. More modern shopping malls, such as the Suva Central Shopping Mall, Mid-City Mall as well as MHCC are all part of the developments to give the city a modern and sophisticated look.
  In December 2009, there was an addition to Suva's skyline with the opening of TappooCity valued at US$25.7 million (FJD50 million) a joint venture six-storey low-rise building project by FNPF & Tappoo Group of Companies as Fiji's (and South Pacific's) largest department mall at present outside Australia & New Zealand.
  Construction work began in January 2011 for a FJD30 million mini-mall complex at Grantham Road behind the Sports-City Complex and close proximity to University of the South Pacific, which will house restaurants, retail outlets and cinemas. Although construction was scheduled for end 2011, this complex will now be ready mid-2012.
caption: Parliament House, Domain, Suva
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