Rabi Island

Rabi (pronounced ˈrambi) is a volcanic island in northern Fiji. It is an outlier to Taveuni (5 kilometers west), in the Vanua Levu Group. It covers an area of 66.3 square kilometers, reaching a maximum altitude of 463 meters and has a shoreline of 46.2 kilometers. With a population of around 5,000, Rabi is home to the Banabans who are the indigenous landowners of Ocean Island; the indigenous Fijian community that formerly lived on Rabi was moved to Taveuni after the island was purchased by the British government. The original inhabitants still maintain their links to the island, and still use the Rabi name in national competitions. Rabi has four main settlements – all named after, and populated by the descendants of, four villages on Banaba that were destroyed by the invading Japanese forces in the Second World War. Tabwewa Village, formerly known as Nuku or Kai Nuku in Fijian, is the administrative centre of Rabi. Located in the far north of the island, Tabwewa boasts administrative buildings, a wharf, a post office, court house, a hospital, and a guest house – the only one on the island. 14 kilometers to the south of Tabwewa is Tabiang (formerly Siosio), the home of Rabi's only school and an airstrip. Other major settlements include Uma (formerly Wiinuku), between Tabwewa and Tabiang, and Buakonikai (formerly Aoteqea), some 22 kilometers from Tabwewa. Rabi is the eighth largest island of Fiji and the antimeridian passes through this island. In 1855, Tongan military conquered Fijian rebels that were on Rambi (Rabi) following a request of the Tui Cakau in Taveuni. On their departure, a few years later, this chief sold the island to Europeans to cover outstanding debts. In 1941, the British government purchased Rambi back from the Australian firm Lever Brothers for £25,000 to serve as a new home for the Banabans of Ocean Island in the Gilbert Islands, whose home island was being ravaged by phosphate mining. The war began before they could be resettled, and it was not unit December 1945 that the move was made (Stanley 1993: 179).