Built for the Colonial Sugar Refining Company (Fiji) (CSR) by workers from India and the Solomon Islands between 1899 and 1903, it hires some 1,300 employees today.

Other industries include timber milling,[2] garment manufacturing, distillery, brewery, jewellery, blending, steelworks, fishing, hatchery, domestic items, paints, and construction.

Captain William Bligh spotted and roughly charted the coasts of Lautoka while making his epic voyage to Timor, in the wake of the mutiny on the Bounty.

In some respects, the city maintains a unique cultural identity in Fiji to this day, with a proud musical tradition linked to the early development of jazz.

Lautoka currently does not have a mayor but has a government-appointed administrator like all urban centres in Fiji since the military coup of 2006.

Since 1970, the population of Lautoka has grown rapidly, and in the last twenty years it has also changed dramatically in structure.

But much of the recent growth of the city itself has been due to indigenous Fijians moving into the urban area.

The city is the birthplace of PGA Tour Hall of Famer Vijay Singh and Ghazal and Tabla star Cassius Khan.

[8] Ferry Service by Patterson Brothers Shipping Company connects Lautoka to Labasa, Savusavu and Nabouwalu (Vanua Levu).