Rakiraki is a district

District

Districts are a type of administrative division, in some countries managed by a local government. They vary greatly in size, spanning entire regions or counties, several municipalities, or subdivisions of municipalities.-Austria:...

 in Fiji

Fiji

Fiji , officially the Republic of Fiji , is an island nation in Melanesia in the South Pacific Ocean about northeast of New Zealand's North Island...

's Ra Province

Local government of Fiji

Fiji is divided administratively into four divisions, which are further subdivided into fourteen provinces; the self-governing island of Rotuma and its dependencies lie outside any of the four divisions. Each division is headed by a Commissioner, appointed by the Fijian government...

. It is located about halfway between Suva

Suva

Suva features a tropical rainforest climate under the Koppen climate classification. The city sees a copious amount of precipitation during the course of the year. Suva averages 3,000 mm of precipitation annually with its driest month, July averaging 125 mm of rain per year. In fact,...

 and Nadi

Nadi

Nadi is the third-largest conurbation in Fiji. It is located on the western side of the main island of Viti Levu, and had a population of 42,284 at the most recent census, in 2007. Nadi is multiracial with many of its inhabitants Indian or Fijian, along with a large transient population of foreign...

 when travelling along the Kings Road, on the northern coast of Viti Levu

Viti Levu

Viti Levu is the largest island in the Republic of Fiji, the site of the nation's capital, Suva, and home to a large majority of Fiji's population.- Geography and economy :...

, Fiji's largest island.

At the 1996 census, the Rakiraki district had a population of 29,137, with 15,325 in the smaller Rakiraki sub-district. Of these, 3361 lived in Vaileka

Vaileka

Vaileka is an urban centre in Fiji, in the Rakiraki region of Ra Province. It had a population of 3,361 at the 1996 census, the last to date. It is not officially a "town," however: that term is legally reserved for urban centres with organized municipal governments. The status of the area may...

, Rakiraki's principal urban centre. The Fiji Times

Fiji Times

The Fiji Times is a daily English-language newspaper published in Suva, Fiji. Established in Levuka on 4 September 1869, it is Fiji's oldest newspaper still operating....

 reported on 4 October 2006 that Uraia Waqa, Chairman of the Rakiraki Local Government Authority, had called for Vaileka to be officially incorporated as a Town in order to attract government investment. Local Government and Urban Development Minister Chaitanya Lakshman

Chaitanya Lakshman

Chaitanya Lakshman is a Fiji Indian lawyer, social worker and politician who served in the multi-party cabinet of the Qarase Government as Minister for Local Government....

 was reported to be sympathetic to the proposal. The Vaileka Area would be known as Rakiraki Town.

Rakiraki is an area often said to portray Fijian patriotism. Many noted Fijian politicians have originated from this area, such as Sidiq Koya

Sidiq Koya

Siddiq Moidin Koya was a Fijian Indian politician and Opposition leader. He succeeded to the leadership of the mostly Indo-Fijian National Federation Party on the death of the party's founder, A.D. Patel, in October 1969, remaining in this post until 1977...

, who fought for Fijian workers' rights.
Examples of towns and villages in RakiRaki are Vunikavakaloa, Vaymidia and Basese Koro.

Landmarks

Prominent landmarks include Navatu Rock, in Vitawa village, believed one of Fiji's oldest human settlements. Pottery excavated at the base of the rock has been dated to around 1000BC.

About 1.5 kilometers offshore lies the island of Nananu-i-Ra

Nananu-i-Ra

Nananu-i-Ra is an island in Fiji about 1.5 kilometers off the coast of the main island of Viti Levu, in the Rakiraki of Ra Province. It has a maximum elevation of 180 meters....

. Fijian mythology holds that this island is the disembodied spirits' point of departure from this world to the afterlife. A village once crowned the peak of this island.

The tomb of Ratu Udre Udre

Udre Udre

Ratu Udre Udre was a Fijian chief. He holds the Guinness World Record for “most prolific cannibal”. During the 19th century, Udre Udre reportedly ate between 872 and 999 people. He kept a stone for each body he ate; the stones were placed alongside his tomb in Rakiraki, in northern Viti Levu...

, a famous 19th century cannibal chief

Ratu

Ratu is a title used by Fijians of chiefly rank. An equivalent title, Adi is used by females of chiefly rank.-Etymology:Ra is a prefix in many titles and Tu is simply "chief"...

 who reportedly consumed more than 800 of his victims, is close to the township of Vaileka.

Economic activities

Agriculture

Agriculture

Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...

 and tourism

Tourism

Tourism is travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people "traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes".Tourism has become a...

 are the mainstays of the Rakiraki economy. The Fiji Sugar Corporation

Fiji Sugar Corporation

Fiji Sugar Corporation is the Government-owned sugar milling company in Fiji having the monopoly on production of all raw sugar in Fiji. It is also the largest public enterprise in Fiji directly employing nearly 3000 people while another 200,000 or more depend on it for their livelihood in rural...

 operates the Penang Sugar Mill

Penang (Rakiraki) Sugar Mill

The Penang Sugar Mill in Rakiraki, Fiji is one of the four sugar mills operated by the Fiji Sugar Corporation. The FSC is the sole producer of raw sugar in Fiji.- History :...

 on the Penang River

Penang River

-References:*...

, one kilometer north-east of Vaileka. Sugar cane is grown in the valleys, while cattle

Cattle

Cattle are the most common type of large domesticated ungulates. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae, are the most widespread species of the genus Bos, and are most commonly classified collectively as Bos primigenius...

 are raised in the highlands. Root crops, including yaqona (kava)

Kava

Kava or kava-kava is a crop of the western Pacific....

are also cultivated.