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Fiji is a volcanic archipelago in the southern Pacific Ocean, comprising two main islands and nearly 900 smaller islands and islets. The Melanesian Fijian population was outnumbered in the post-1945 period by ethnic Indians, descended from workers brought over by the British in 1879–1916. Coups led by Fijian supremacists between 1987 and 2000 led to a mass exodus of Indo-Fijians, reversing the ethnic balance and seriously damaging the economy.