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Dutch explorer Abel Tasman was the first known European visitor to Fiji, sighting the northern island of Vanua Levu and the North Taveuni archipelago in 1643 while looking for Terra Australis incognita, or the Great Southern Continent. [15] He called this island group Prince William's islands and Heemskerck Shoals (today called the Lau group).
The first Europeans to settle among the Fijians were shipwrecked sailors and runaway convicts from Australian penal colonies. In 1804, the discovery of sandalwood on the southwestern coast of Vanua Levu led to an increase in the number and frequency of Western trading ships visiting Fiji.
European settlement begins at Levuka, Fiji's first modern town. 1830: The first Christian missionaries from Tahiti, Hatai, Arue and Tahaara, arrive at Lakeba, brought via Tonga by the London Missionary Society. 1835: Methodist missionaries, William Cross and David Cargill, arrive in Lakeba. They are accompanied by emissaries from Taufa'ahau the ...
Humans have lived in Fiji since the second millennium BC—first Austronesians and later Melanesians, with some Polynesian influences. Europeans first visited Fiji in the 17th century. [14] In 1874, after a brief period in which Fiji was an independent kingdom, the British established the Colony of Fiji.
Abel Tasman was the first known European explorer to reach the islands of Van Diemen's Land (now Tasmania) and New Zealand, and to sight the Fiji islands. His navigator François Visscher, and his merchant Isaack Gilsemans, mapped substantial portions of Australia, New Zealand, Tonga and the Fijian islands.
The first European to land on Easter Island was the Dutch admiral Jacob Roggeveen, who discovered it on Easter Day, 1722. [119] ... New Caledonia, Fiji, ...
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This is an accepted version of this page This is the latest accepted revision, reviewed on 23 January 2025. Leif Erikson (c. 970 – c. 1020) was a famous Norse explorer who is credited for being the first European to set foot on American soil. Explorers are listed below with their common names, countries of origin (modern and former), centuries of activity and main areas of exploration. Marco ...