Since 1981 the region has also run the Pacific Mini Games (previously the South Pacific Mini Games) to enable smaller nations to compete against each other.
Also a multi-sport event it is a scaled-down version of the main Pacific Games and is similarly rotated on a four-year basis in the intervening years between the main games.
The following cities and nations have hosted (or will host) the Pacific Mini Games:
| Year | Games | Host City | Country | Dates | Athletes | Nations | Sports | Top Medalling Nation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 | I | Honiara, Guadalcanal | Solomon Islands | 7 - 19 July | 15 | New Caledonia | ||
| 1985 | II | Rarotonga | Cook Islands | 31 July - 9 August | 16 | 6 | Papua New Guinea | |
| 1989 | III | Nukuʻalofa, Tongatapu | Tonga | 22 August - 1 September | 832 | 16 | 6 | Western Samoa |
| 1993 | IV | Port Vila, Efate | Vanuatu | 9 - 16 December | 15 | Fiji | ||
| 1997 | V | Pago Pago, Tutuila | American Samoa | 11 - 22 August | 14 | 11 | Nauru | |
| 2001 | VI | Kingston | Norfolk Island | 3 - 14 December | 18 | 10 | Fiji | |
| 2005 | VII | Koror | Palau | 25 July - 4 August | 20 | 12 | New Caledonia | |
| 2009 | VIII | Rarotonga | Cook Islands | 21 September - 2 October | 21 | 15 | Fiji | |
| 2013 | IX | Mata-Utu | / Wallis and Futuna | |||||
| 2017 | X | Port Vila, Efate | Vanuatu |
As with the main games, the cost of providing the necessary facilities and infrastructure is a concern to the region's smaller nations. In preparation for the 2009 Games in Rarotonga, despite having hosted the games previously, the local government considered diverting funds from a highway project, and secured a loan for US$10 million from the Chinese government to finance the building of a stadium.
Read more about this topic: Pacific Games
Famous quotes containing the words pacific and/or games:
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—William James (1842–1910)
“At the age of twelve I was finding the world too small: it appeared to me like a dull, trim back garden, in which only trivial games could be played.”
—Elizabeth Bowen (1899–1973)