the Fijian Senate, the upper house of the Parliament, normally delegated that task to the fourteen Provincial Councils. All of the chiefs also belong to one of three confederacies: Kubuna, Burebasaga, and Tovata. For the most part, the boundaries of the confederacies correspond to the boundaries of the provinces. An anomaly exists in the west of the country, where the provinces of Ba and Ra are split between the confederacies of Kubuna and Burebasaga. This does not affect administration, however, as the confederacies and the provinces fulfill different roles, the former being based on the relationship of chiefs and clans, and the latter being formal political entities. The highest chiefly title, the Tui Viti (King of Fiji), has been vacant since 1874, when King Seru Epenisa Cakobau and other prominent chiefs ceded the islands to the United Kingdom. But the Tui Viti title was relatively new; it was never a traditional kingly title of Fiji, but came into being after the death of Tanoa Visawaqa and the rise of his son Seru Epenisa Cakobau who proclaimed himself Tui Viti after conquering much of Fiji and persuading his fellow-chiefs to recognize him as their overlord. However the title has been recognised since that time and the British monarch has filled a similar role since; even since Fiji became a republic in 1987, the former Great Council of Chiefs continued to recognise Queen Elizabeth II as its most senior chief, even though she ceased to be Queen of Fiji after Sitiveni Rabuka's two military coups in 1987, which overthrew the Dominion of Fiji and the 1970 Constitution of Fiji. List of Fijian chiefly titles The following table depicts Fiji's districts, sub-districts, and villages, with their chiefs. Each chief, if known, is named in italics under his or her full formal title, which is in bold. The majority of chiefs rule over a group of villages (koro) belonging to a Tikina Vou (sub-district); some Tikina Vou are subdivided into two or more groupings of villages, each with its own chief. In a few cases, two groups of villages, or even two sub-districts, share a single chief. This is more common in Naitasiri Province than elsewhere. In the table, this is indicated by backgrounding in the same colour the areas shared by a chief. The Lau Islands are an anomaly: unlike the other provinces, their districts are not divided into sub-districts. All the 14