YASAWA GROUP

chain of about 20 volcanic islands in the western division of Fiji, in the South Pacific. The islands lie northwest of Viti Levu, the principal Fijian island. They were sighted in 1789 by Captain William Bligh of the British navy and cover a total land area of 52 square miles (135 square km). The principal islands are Naviti and Yasawa. By the 1970s the group, only a short cruising distance from the international airport at Nadi on Viti Levu, was beginning to develop a tourist business. The population is almost entirely Melanesian. Pop. (1986) 5,333.