Fiji sits about 3,000 kilometers (1,800 miles) east of Australia at the edge of the Melanesian island chain. Its central location in the South Pacific on the trade route between the Americas and Oceania and its abundance in timber, mineral and fishing resources make Fiji an economic and communications hub for the smaller Pacific nations. Fiji is also an important player in the regional political dynamic. Together with other Melanesian nations, including Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands, Fiji in 1983 formed the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG), which has increasingly demonstrated its ability to act as a counterweight to the Australia- and New Zealand-dominated Pacific Islands Forum. Australia's relations with most of the MSG countries have been strained since the 2000s especially after a 2006 coup in Fiji brought a military junta to power.