Understand
It is located on the southeast coast of the island of Viti Levu. Suva became the capital of Fiji in 1877. Fiji's tallest building, the Reserve Bank of Fiji Building, is located in Suva.
The Fiji School of Medicine and one of the three campuses of the University of the South Pacific are in Suva.
Eat
For something upscale, try a restaurant inside one of the fancier Suva hotels, such as the Tanoa Plaza, the Southern Cross, or the Holiday Inn. For a quick economical meal in pleasant surroundings, go to the food court upstairs at the Harbour Centre and choose from a great variety of local and Chinese dishes (and you get to look before you buy) and sit and enjoy the view, or get a sack of fish and chips and sit by the waterfront or at the botanical garden.
Suva is the capital city of Fiji. It is located on the southeast coast of the island of Viti Levu, in the Central Division, of which it is the administrative center. In 1877, it was decided to make Suva the capital of Fiji when the geography of former main European settlement at Levuka on the island of Ovalau proved too restrictive. The administration of the colony was moved from Levuka to Suva in 1882. At the 1996 census, the last to date, the city of Suva had a population of 77,366 . Including independent suburbs, the population of the Greater Suva urban area was 167,975 at the same census .
Physical characteristics
Suva is the commercial and political centre of Fiji, and the largest urban area in the South Pacific outside of Australia and New Zealand. It is Fiji's main port city and was the host of the 2003 South Pacific Games.
Although Suva is on a peninsula, and almost surrounded by sea, the nearest beach is 40 kilometres (25 mi) away at Pacific Harbour, and the nearby coast is lined by mangroves. A significant part of the city centre, including the old Parliament Buildings, is built on reclaimed mangrove swamp.
Suva is noted for its considerable rainfall. Although it is not as wet as Pohnpei, the capital of the Federated States of Micronesia, it has a markedly higher rainfall than Nadi and the western side of Viti Levu, which is known to Suva citizens as "the burning west".
Landmarks
Fiji's tallest building, Suva Central, has been recently completed and stands 24.6 meters (81 ft) taller than the Reserve Bank of Fiji Building. Suva Central is currently the tallest building in the Pacific Islands region and is located near the old Morris Hedstrom store. Another well-known landmark is the Suva City Library, built in 1909 and financed by the Scottish-American steel tycoon Andrew Carnegie.
The Government buildings complex occupies what was once the bed of a swampy creek. This was drained in 1935 and over five kilometres of reinforced concrete pilings were driven into the creek bed to support the...
