The Pacific Islands are islands in the Pacific Ocean, which is the largest ocean in the world. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south and is bounded by Asia and Australia in the west and the Americas in the east.

The creative industries sector in the Pacific is now a vibrant and flourishing environment with a wide range of extremely talented and skilful artists – musicians, dancers, poets, film-makers, web designers, craft makers – producing contemporary and traditional art as well as a fusion of the two.

Fiji

Fiji is in the South Pacific Ocean about 1,100 nautical miles northeast of New Zealand’s North Island. It is an archipelago of more than 330 islands including Rotuma. The two major islands, Viti Levu and Vanua Levu, account for 87% of the population of almost 860,000. The capital, Suva on Viti Levu, serves as Fiji’s principal cruise port. Fiji was a British colony until 1970, when it gained independence.

Fiji’s main industries are currently its tourist industry and sugar exports, however, the creative industries is a growing sector. If you are interested in learning more about the history of Fiji, you should visit the Fiji Museum’s Virtual Museum which can be found here.

Solomon Islands

The Solomon Islands is a sovereign country consisting of six major islands and over 900 smaller islands in the Pacific Ocean. It is east of Papua New Guinea and northwest of Vanuatu and the country’s capital is Honiara. The Solomon Islands obtained independence from Britain in 1977.

Kingdom of Tonga

The Kingdom of Tonga is a sovereign state and consists of 169 islands of which only 36 are inhabited. Tonga stretches across approximately 800 kilometres (500 mi) in a north-south line. It is surrounded by Fiji and Wallis and Futuna to the northwest, Samoa to the northeast, Niue to the east, Kermadec (part of New Zealand) to the southwest, and New Caledonia and Vanuatu to the farther west.