"text":"<p>Vanuatu was first settled around 2000 B.C. by Austronesian speakers from Solomon Islands. By around 1000, localized chieftain systems began to develop on the islands. In the mid-1400s, the Kuwae Volcano erupted, causing frequent conflict and internal strife amid declining food availability, especially on Efate Island. Around 1600, Chief ROI MATA united Efate under his rule. In 1606, Portuguese explorer Pedro Fernandes de QUEIROS was the first European to see the Banks Islands and Espiritu Santo, setting up a short-lived settlement on the latter. The next European explorers arrived in the 1760s, and in 1774, British navigator James COOK named the islands the New Hebrides. The islands were frequented by whalers in the 1800s and interest in harvesting the islands’ sandalwood trees caused conflict between Europeans and local Ni-Vanuatu. Catholic and Protestant missionaries arrived in the 1840s but faced difficulties converting the locals. In the 1860s, European planters in Australia, Fiji, New Caledonia, and Samoa needed labor and kidnapped almost half the adult males of the islands and forced them to work as indentured servants.<br><br>With growing and overlapping interests in the islands, France and the UK agreed that the New Hebrides would be neutral in 1878 and established a joint naval commission in 1887. In 1906, the two countries created the British-French Condominium to jointly administer the islands and they established separate laws, police forces, currencies, and education and health systems. The condominium arrangement was dysfunctional and the UK used France’s defeat to Germany in World War II to assert greater control over the islands. As Japan pushed into Melanesia, the US stationed up to 50,000 soldiers in Vanuatu to prevent further advances. In 1945, US troops withdrew and sold their equipment, leading to the rise of political and religious cargo cults, such as the John Frum movement.<br><br>The France-UK condominium was reestablished after World War II. The UK was interested in moving the condominium toward independence in the 1960s, but France was hesitant and political parties agitating independence began to form, largely divided along linguistic lines. France eventually relented and elections were held in 1974 with independence granted in 1980 as Vanuatu under English-speaking Prime Minister Walter LINI. At independence, the Nagriamel Movement, with support from French-speaking landowners, declared Espiritu Santo independent, but the short-lived state was dissolved 12 weeks later. Linguistic divisions have lessened over time but highly fractious political parties have led to weak coalition governments that require support from both Anglophone and Francophone parties. Since 2008, prime ministers have been ousted through no-confidence motions or temporary procedural issues 10 times.<br><br><br><br><br></p>"
"text":"tropical; moderated by southeast trade winds from May to October; moderate rainfall from November to April; may be affected by cyclones from December to April"
},
"Terrain":{
"text":"mostly mountainous islands of volcanic origin; narrow coastal plains"
"text":"three-quarters of the population lives in rural areas; the urban populace lives primarily in two cities, Port-Vila and Lugenville; three largest islands - Espiritu Santo, Malakula, and Efate - accomodate over half of the populace"
"text":"<p>tropical cyclones (January to April); volcanic eruption on Aoba (Ambae) island began on 27 November 2005, volcanism also causes minor earthquakes; tsunamis</p><p><strong>volcanism:</strong> significant volcanic activity with multiple eruptions in recent years; Yasur (361 m), one of the world's most active volcanoes, has experienced continuous activity in recent centuries; other historically active volcanoes include Aoba, Ambrym, Epi, Gaua, Kuwae, Lopevi, Suretamatai, and Traitor's Head</p>"
"text":"a Y-shaped chain of four main islands and 80 smaller islands; several of the islands have active volcanoes and there are several underwater volcanoes as well"
"text":"local languages (more than 100) 63.2%, Bislama (official; creole) 33.7%, English (official) 2%, French (official) 0.6%, other 0.5% (2009 est.)"
},
"Religions":{
"text":"Protestant 70% (includes Presbyterian 27.9%, Anglican 15.1%, Seventh Day Adventist 12.5%, Assemblies of God 4.7%, Church of Christ 4.5%, Neil Thomas Ministry 3.1%, and Apostolic 2.2%), Roman Catholic 12.4%, customary beliefs 3.7% (including Jon Frum cargo cult), other 12.6%, none 1.1%, unspecified 0.2% (2009 est.)"
"text":"three-quarters of the population lives in rural areas; the urban populace lives primarily in two cities, Port-Vila and Lugenville; three largest islands - Espiritu Santo, Malakula, and Efate - accomodate over half of the populace"
"text":"population growth; water pollution, most of the population does not have access to a reliable supply of potable water; inadequate sanitation; deforestation"
},
"Environment - international agreements":{
"party to":{
"text":"Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping-London Convention, Marine Dumping-London Protocol, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands"
},
"signed, but not ratified":{
"text":"none of the selected agreements"
}
},
"Climate":{
"text":"tropical; moderated by southeast trade winds from May to October; moderate rainfall from November to April; may be affected by cyclones from December to April"
"text":"derived from the words \"vanua\" (home or land) and \"tu\" (stand) that occur in several of the Austonesian languages spoken on the islands and which provide a meaning of \"the land remains\" but which also convey a sense of \"independence\" or \"our land\""
}
},
"Government type":{
"text":"parliamentary republic"
},
"Capital":{
"name":{
"text":"Port-Vila (on Efate)"
},
"geographic coordinates":{
"text":"17 44 S, 168 19 E"
},
"time difference":{
"text":"UTC+11 (16 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)"
"text":"there are two possibilities for the origin of the name: early European settlers were Portuguese and \"vila\" means \"village or town\" in Portuguese, hence \"Port-Vila\" would mean \"Port Town\"; alternatively, the site of the capital is referred to as \"Efil\" or \"Ifira\" in native languages, \"Vila\" is a likely corruption of these names"
"text":"draft completed August 1979, finalized by constitution conference 19 September 1979, ratified by French and British Governments 23 October 1979, effective 30 July 1980 at independence"
},
"amendments":{
"text":"proposed by the prime minister or by the Parliament membership; passage requires at least two-thirds majority vote by Parliament in special session with at least three fourths of the membership; passage of amendments affecting the national and official languages, or the electoral and parliamentary system also requires approval in a referendum; amended several times, last in 2013"
}
},
"Legal system":{
"text":"mixed legal system of English common law, French law, and customary law"
},
"International law organization participation":{
"text":"has not submitted an ICJ jurisdiction declaration; accepts ICCt jurisdiction"
},
"Citizenship":{
"citizenship by birth":{
"text":"no"
},
"citizenship by descent only":{
"text":"both parents must be citizens of Vanuatu; in the case of only one parent, it must be the father who is a citizen"
"text":"president indirectly elected by an electoral college consisting of Parliament and presidents of the 6 provinces; Vanuatu president serves a 5-year term; election last held on 23 July 2022 (next to be held in 2027); following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or majority coalition usually elected prime minister by Parliament from among its members; election for prime minister last held on 20 April 2020 (next to be held following general elections in 2024)"
"text":"Nikenike VUROBARAVU elected president in the eighth round on 23 July 2022 with 48 votes;<br>Ishmael KALSAKAU (UMP) elected prime minister on 4 November 2022 with 50 votes"
"text":"unicameral Parliament (52 seats; members directly elected in 8 single-seat and 9 multi-seat constituencies by single non-transferable vote to serve 4-year terms (candidates in multi-seat constituencies can be elected with only 4% of the vote)"
"text":"percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - UMP 7, VP 7, LPV 5, RMC 5, GJP 4, NUP 4, RDP 4, IG 3, PPP 2, VNDP 2, NAG 1, VLM 1, other 6, independent 1; composition - men 51, women 1; percent of women 2%; note - political party associations are fluid"
"text":"Court of Appeal (consists of 2 or more judges of the Supreme Court designated by the chief justice); Supreme Court (consists of the chief justice and 6 puisne judges - 3 local and 3 expatriate)"
},
"judge selection and term of office":{
"text":"Supreme Court chief justice appointed by the president after consultation with the prime minister and the leader of the opposition; other judges appointed by the president on the advice of the Judicial Service Commission, a 4-member advisory body; judges serve until the age of retirement"
"text":"Green Confederation or GC [Moana CARCASSES Kalosil]<br>Iauko Group or IG [Tony NARI]<br>Land and Justice Party (Graon mo Jastis Pati) or GJP [Ralph REGENVANU]<br>Melanesian Progressive Party or MPP [Barak SOPE]<br>Nagriamel Movement or NAG [Frankie STEVENS]<br>Natatok Indigenous People's Democratic Party or NATATOK or NIPDP [Alfred Roland CARLOT]<br>National United Party or NUP [Ham LINI]<br>People's Progressive Party or PPP [Sato KILMAN]<br>People's Service Party or PSP [Don KEN]<br>Reunification of Movement for Change or RMC [Charlot SALWAI]<br>Rural Development Party or RDP [Jay NGWELE, spokesman]<br>Union of Moderate Parties or UMP [Alatoi Ishmael KALSAKAU]<br>Vanua'aku Pati (Our Land Party) or VP [Bob LOUGHMAN]<br>Vanuatu Democratic Party [Maxime Carlot KORMAN]<br>Vanuatu First or Vanuatu [Russel NARI]<br>Vanuatu Liberal Democratic Party or VLDP [Tapangararua WILLIE]<br>Vanuatu Liberal Movement or VLM [Gaetan PIKIOUNE]<br>Vanuatu National Development Party or VNDP [Robert Bohn SIKOL]<br>Vanuatu National Party or VNP [Issac HAMARILIU]<br>Vanuatu Republican Party or VRP [Marcellino PIPITE]"
"text":"two equal horizontal bands of red (top) and green with a black isosceles triangle (based on the hoist side) all separated by a black-edged yellow stripe in the shape of a horizontal Y (the two points of the Y face the hoist side and enclose the triangle); centered in the triangle is a boar's tusk encircling two crossed namele fern fronds, all in yellow; red represents the blood of boars and men, as well as unity, green the richness of the islands, and black the ni-Vanuatu people; the yellow Y-shape - which reflects the pattern of the islands in the Pacific Ocean - symbolizes the light of the Gospel spreading through the islands; the boar's tusk is a symbol of prosperity frequently worn as a pendant on the islands; the fern fronds represent peace",
"note":"<strong>note:</strong> one of several flags where a prominent component of the design reflects the shape of the country; other such flags are those of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, and Eritrea"
"text":"Pacific island agriculture- and tourism-based economy; environmentally vulnerable to cyclones; poor property rights administration; corruption-prone; subsidizing loss-prone state enterprises in agriculture, banking, and airports"
"text":"for many years, 2G Global System for Mobile Communications was the primary mobile technology for Vanuatu’s 300,000 people; recent infrastructure projects have improved access technologies, with a transition to 3G and, to a limited degree, to LTE; Vanuatu has also benefited from the ICN1 submarine cable and the launch of the Kacific-1 satellite, both of which have considerably improved access to telecom services in recent years; Vanuatu’s telecom sector is liberalized, with the two prominent mobile operators; while fixed broadband penetration remains low, the incumbent operator is slowly exchanging copper fixed-lines for fiber; a number of ongoing submarine cable developments will also assist in increasing data rates and reduce internet pricing in coming years (2021)"
"text":"country code - 678; landing points for the ICN1 & ICN2 submarine cables providing connectivity to the Solomon Islands and Fiji; cables helped end-users with Internet bandwidth; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Pacific Ocean) (2020)"
"text":"1 state-owned TV station; multi-channel pay TV is available; state-owned Radio Vanuatu operates 2 radio stations; 2 privately owned radio broadcasters; programming from multiple international broadcasters is available"
"note":"<strong>note:</strong> paved runways have a concrete or asphalt surface but not all have facilities for refueling, maintenance, or air traffic control; the length of a runway required for aircraft to safely operate depends on a number of factors including the type of aircraft, the takeoff weight (including passengers, cargo, and fuel), engine types, flap settings, landing speed, elevation of the airport, and average maximum daily air temperature; paved runways can reach a length of 5,000 m (16,000 ft.), but the “typical” length of a commercial airline runway is between 2,500-4,000 m (8,000-13,000 ft.)"
"note":"<strong>note:</strong> unpaved runways have a surface composition such as grass or packed earth and are most suited to the operation of light aircraft; unpaved runways are usually short, often less than 1,000 m (3,280 ft.) in length; airports with unpaved runways often lack facilities for refueling, maintenance, or air traffic control"
"text":"no regular military forces; Ministry of Internal Affairs: Vanuatu Police Force (VPF) (2023)",
"note":"<strong>note:</strong> the VPF includes the Vanuatu Mobile Force (VMF) and Police Maritime Wing (VPMW); the paramilitary VMF also has external security responsibilities"
"text":"the separate British and French police forces were unified in 1980 under Ni-Vanuatu officers as the New Hebrides Constabulary; the force retained some British and French officers as advisors; the Constabulary was subsequently renamed the Vanuatu Police Force later in 1980<br><br>the Vanuatu Mobile Force has received training and other support from Australia, China, France, New Zealand, and the US<br><br>Vanuatu has a \"shiprider\" agreement with the US, which allows local maritime law enforcement officers to embark on US Coast Guard (USCG) and US Navy (USN) vessels, including to board and search vessels suspected of violating laws or regulations within Vanuatu's designated exclusive economic zone (EEZ) or on the high seas; \"shiprider\" agreements also enable USCG personnel and USN vessels with embarked USCG law enforcement personnel to work with host nations to protect critical regional resources (2023)"
"text":"<p><em>Vanuatu-France</em>: Matthew and Hunter Islands, two uninhabited islands east of New Caledonia, claimed by Vanuatu and France; in January 2019, a French naval mission landed officers on the islands to reinforce France’s sovereignty; in November 2021, French vessels fishing near the islands raised tensions</p>"
