Following the annexation of the Fiji Islands by the United Kingdom in 1874, the colonial authorities decided to move the capital to Suva from Levuka, Ovalau, Lomaiviti in 1877, as Levuka's location, between a steep mountain and the sea, made any expansion of the town impractical.
The city hosted the 2003 South Pacific Games, being the third time in the event's 40-year history that they had been held in Suva.