Kioa is an island in Fiji, an outlier to Vanua Levu, one of Fiji's two main islands. Situated opposite Buca Bay, Kioa is leased by settlers from Tuvalu, who came between 1947 and 1983. Kioa is one of two islands in Fiji populated by South Sea Islanders, the other being Rabi, also in the Vanua Levu Group and home to a displaced Banaban community. Vanua Levu is the second largest island of Fiji, and was formerly known as Sandalwood Island. ... Buca Bay is the site of a tourist resort on the Fijian island of Vanua Levu. ... 1947 (MCMXLVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1947 calendar). ... 1983 (MCMLXXXIII) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Carving from the ridgepole of a Māori house, ca 1840 Look up Polynesia in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... The Vanua Levu Group is an archipelago in northern Fiji. ... Banaba can have the following meanings: Banaba (Lagerstroemia speciosa) is a type of tree that grows in Thailand. ...

Early in 2005, the Fijian government decided to grant full citizenship to the Kioa and Rabi Islanders. As a culmination of a decade-long quest for naturalization, a formal ceremony was held on 15 December 2005 to award 566 citizenship certificates to residents of the islands and their descendants (some of whom now live elsewhere in Fiji), which entitles them to provincial and national assistance for rural development. The ceremony was led by Cabinet Ministers Josefa Vosanibola and Ratu Naiqama Lalabalavu, who is also the Tui Cakau, or Paramount Chief of Tovata, which includes the two islands. 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... December 15 is the 349th day of the year (350th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Fiji has the Westminster system - executive authority is vested nominally in a President, but exercised in practice by a Cabinet of Ministers, presided over by the Prime Minister. ... Josefa Vosanibola Josefa Bole Vosanibola is a Fijian politician, who has served as Minister for Home Affairs since 16 December 2004, when he was appointed by Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase to succeed Joketani Cokanasiga. ... Ratu Naiqama Lalabalavu Ratu Naiqama Lalabalavu is a Fijian high chief and politician, who was the Minister for Lands and Mineral Resources in the Cabinet of Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase, prior to his resignation on 7 April 2005. ... The Tui Cakau is the Paramount Chief of Cakaudrove Province in Fiji. ... Tovata is one of three confederacies comprising the Fijian House of Chiefs, to which all of Fijis chiefs supposedly belong. ...

Lalabalavu called on the Kioa islanders to be proud of their identity and to nurture and protect their culture.

Although part of Cakaudrove Province, the island has a degree of autonomy with its own administrative body, the Kioa Island Council, although the Fijian Cabinet decided on 15 January 2006 to merge it with the Rabi Island Council. Cakaudrove is one of fourteen Provinces of Fiji, and one of three based principally on the northern island of Vanua Levu, occupying the south-eastern third of the island and including the nearby islands of Taveuni, Rabi, Kioa, and numerous other islands in the Vanua Levu Group. ... Fiji is divided administratively into four divisions, which are further subdivided into fourteen provinces. ... Fiji has the Westminster system - executive authority is vested nominally in a President, but exercised in practice by a Cabinet of Ministers, presided over by the Prime Minister. ... January 15 is the 15th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Rabi Council of Leaders and Elders is the municipal body administering Rabi Island, in Fiji. ...

Population transfer proposal

In February 2006, at a climate refugee forum in Melbourne, Don Kennedy, a retired Tuvalu-born Australian scientist, suggested the entire population of Tuvalu should move to the island, to preserve Tuvaluan culture as their homeland becomes uninhabitable due to rising sea levels. "A mass relocation would ensure the Tuvaluan language and culture is preserved instead of being scattered to the four corners of the earth," the Fiji Live news service quoted him as saying. Tuvalu's three islands stand an average height of just 3 meters above sea level. Melbourne is the state capital and largest city in the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-largest city in Australia, with a population of approximately 3. ... Measurement of recent sea level rise from 23 long tide gauge records in geologically stable environments Changes in sea level since the end of the last glacial episode Sea level rise is an increase in sea level. ... Fiji Live is an online newspaper and business and cultural directory in Fiji. ...

He is negotiating with Tuvalu's Prime Minister Maatia Toafa to move the population before Tuvalu becomes submerged, which he predicts will happen within the next 50 years. Maatia Toafa is the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Tuvalu. ...

Fiji's political parties were cautious in their response to Kennedy's proposal. United Peoples Party President Mick Beddoes said that moving the 9000 Tuvaluans would put a great strain on Kioa's resources and economy. He said that Pacific Island nations should share the cost of such a move, with most of the finance coming from "the major polluting nations." National Alliance Party President Ratu Epeli Ganilau (who hails from the neighbouring island of Taveuni) said that the proper procedures would have to be followed, while National Federation Party President Raman Pratap Singh said that the proposal was a good one in principle, but that proper arrangements would have to be made, and compensation would have to be paid to the landowners. The United Peoples Party is a political party in Fiji, whose support base lies chiefly among General Electors - Fiji Islanders who belong to ethnic minorities, such as Europeans, Chinese, Banaban Islanders, as well as multiracial people. ... Mick Beddoes Millis Malcome Beddoes, widely known as Mick Beddoes, is a Fijian politician, who has led the United Peoples Party (formerly the United General Party) since 2001. ... The National Alliance Party of Fiji (NAP) is a Fijian political party. ... Ratu is a title used by Fijians of chiefly rank. ... Ratu Epeli Ganilau (born 10 October 1951) is a Fijian soldier and statesman, who served as Chairman of the Bose Levu Vakaturaga (Great Council of Chiefs) from 2001 to 2004. ... Taveuni is the third-largest island in Fiji, after Vanua Levu and Viti Levu, and has a population of around 12,000. ... Politics of Fiji Categories: Stub | Fijian political parties | Fiji-related stubs ... Raman Pratap Singh is a Fijian lawyer and politician of Indian descent. ...

Tuvalu's Prime Minister Toafa said on 21 February that relocation to Kioa was under consideration, but was not a priority. Buying land in Australia or New Zealand was also an option, he said. If they were to move to Kioa, they would need finance to develop the island, Fiji Live quoted him as saying. February 21 is the 52nd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ...

Sources

• Pacific Islands magazine - Don Kennedy's proposed population movement