Ripablik blong Vanuatu République de Vanuatu Republic of Vanuatu
Flag Coat of arms
Motto: "Long God yumi stanap" (In God we stand)
Anthem: Yumi, Yumi, Yumi
Capital (and largest city)		Port Vila 17°45′S, 168°18′E
Official languages		Bislama, English, French
Demonym		ni-Vanuatu
Government		Parliamentary republic
-	President	Kalkot Mataskelekele
-	Prime Minister	Ham Lini
Independence		from France and the UK
-	Date	30 July 1980
Area
-	Total	12,189 km² (161st) 4,706 sq mi
-	Water (%)	negligible
Population
-	July 2008 estimate	215,446 (173rd)
-	Density	17/km² (188th) 44/sq mi
GDP (PPP)		2005 estimate
-	Total	$726 million (175th)
-	Per capita	$1,576 (121st)
HDI (2004)		▲0. The flag of Vanuatu was adopted on February 13, 1980. When the Vanua'aku Party led the country to Independence as Vanuatu in The Coat of arms of Vanuatu features a Melanesian Warrior superimposed on a Boar 's Tusk, over a scroll that reads "We stand with God" A motto (from the Italian word motto, meaning witticism sentence is a phrase meant to formally describe the general motivation or intention of a social group A national anthem is a generally patriotic musical composition that evokes and eulogizes the history traditions and struggles of its people recognized either by a nation's " Yumi Yumi Yumi " ("We We We" is the National anthem of Vanuatu. The population of Vanuatu is 985% indigenous Melanesian About 30000 live in the capital Port Vila. Port Vila (ˌpɔrt ˈviːlə is the capital city of Vanuatu. It is also Vanuatu's largest city An official language is a Language that is given a special legal status in a particular Country, State, or other territory Bislama is a Creole language, one of the official languages of Vanuatu. English is a West Germanic language originating in England and is the First language for most people in the United Kingdom, the United States French ( français,) is a Romance language spoken around the world by 118 million people as a native language and by about 180 to 260 million people A demonym or gentilic is a word that denotes the members of a People or the inhabitants of a place For the government of parliamentary systems see Executive (government. A parliamentary republic or parliamentary constitutional republic is a form of a Republic which operates under a Parliamentary system of government The President of Vanuatu is the chief of state of Vanuatu. It is an elected position elected for a five-year term by an Electoral college consisting of Parliament Kalkot Mataskelekele Mauliliu (born 1949 has been the President of Vanuatu since 2004 The prime minister of Vanuatu is the effective head of the government of Vanuatu. Ham Lini Vanuaroroa (born December 8, 1951) was the Prime Minister of Vanuatu from December 11, 2004 until 22 September Independence is the Self-government of a Nation, Country, or State by its residents and population or some portion thereof generally exercising This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located Events 1419 - First Defenestration of Prague. 1502 - Christopher Columbus lands at Guanaja in the Bay Islands off Year 1980 ( MCMLXXX) was a Leap year starting on Tuesday (link displays the 1980 Gregorian calendar) Area is a Quantity expressing the two- Dimensional size of a defined part of a Surface, typically a region bounded by a closed Curve. M^2 redirects here For other uses see M². CM2 redirects here This is a list of the countries of the world sorted by total area. The square mile is an imperial and US unit of Area equal the area of a square of one statute mile. Water is a common Chemical substance that is essential for the survival of all known forms of Life. In Mathematics, a percentage is a way of expressing a number as a Fraction of 100 ( per cent meaning "per hundred" In Biology a population is the collection of inter-breeding organisms of a particular Species; in Sociology List of countries by population in 2005|List of countries by population in 1907This is a list of countries ordered according to Population. Population density (in agriculture standing stock and Standing crop) is a measurement of Population per unit area or unit volume List of countries and dependencies by Population density in inhabitants/km² The purchasing power parity ( PPP) theory uses the long-term equilibrium Exchange rate of two currencies to equalize their Purchasing power. There are three lists of Countries of the world sorted by their Gross domestic product (GDP (the value of all final goods and services produced within a nation Per capita is a Latin phrase meaning for each head with Per meaning 'through' or 'by' This article includes three lists of Countries of the world sorted by their Gross domestic product (GDP at Purchasing power parity (PPP Per capita The Human Development Index ( HDI) is an index combining normalized measures of Life expectancy, Literacy, Educational attainment, and GDP 674 (medium) (120th)
Currency		Vanuatu vatu (VUV)
Time zone		(UTC+11)
Internet TLD		.vu
Calling code		+678

Vanuatu (IPA: /ˌvɑːnuːˈɑːtuː/), officially the Republic of Vanuatu (French: République de Vanuatu), is an island nation located in the South Pacific Ocean. This is a list of countries by Human Development Index as included in the United Nations Development Program 's Human Development Report 2007 A currency is a unit of exchange, facilitating the transfer of Goods and/or services It is one form of Money, where money is The vatu ( ISO 4217: VUV, sometimes Vt) is the currency of Vanuatu. ISO 4217 is the International standard describing three-letter codes (also known as the currency code) to define the names of currencies established A country This is a list of country calling codes defined by ITU-T recommendation E French ( français,) is a Romance language spoken around the world by 118 million people as a native language and by about 180 to 260 million people An island country is a Country that is wholly confined to an Island, several islands an Island group or several island groups and has no territory on The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth 's Oceanic divisions The archipelago is some 1,750 km (1,090 mi) east of northern Australia, 500 km (310 mi) north-east of New Caledonia, west of Fiji, and south of the Solomon Islands. An archipelago (ɑrkəˈpɛləgoʊ is a chain or cluster of Islands The word archipelago literally means "chief Sea " from Italian The kilometre ( American spelling: kilometer) symbol km is a unit of Length in the Metric system, equal to one thousand A mile is a unit of Length, usually used to measure Distance, in a number of different systems including Imperial units United States For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Australia topics. For the former North American fur-trading district see New Caledonia (Canada, and for the Scottish colony in Panama see Darien scheme. Fiji (Matanitu ko Viti फ़िजी officially the Republic of the Fiji Islands (Matanitu Tu-Vaka-i-koya ko Viti फ़िजी द्वीप समूह गणराज्य The Solomon Islands is a country in Melanesia, east of Papua New Guinea, consisting of nearly one thousand islands The archipelago is of volcanic origin.

Vanuatu was first inhabited by Melanesian people. Melanesia (from Greek: μέλας black, νῆσος island) means "islands of the black-skinned people" Europeans began to settle in the area in the late 18th century. In the 1880s France and the United Kingdom claimed parts of the country and in 1906 they agreed on a framework for jointly managing the archipelago through a British-French Condominium as the New Hebrides. This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located In International law, a condominium (plural either condominia, as in Latin or condominiums is a political territory (state or border area in or over which two or Hebrides (disambiguation New Hebrides was the colonial name for an Island group in the South Pacific that now forms the nation of Vanuatu. An independence movement was established in the 1970s, and the Republic of Vanuatu was created in 1980.

Contents 1 History 1.1 Europeans 2 Geography 2.1 Administrative divisions 3 Politics 3.1 Foreign relations and military 4 Economy and demographics 4.1 Economy 4.2 Demographics 5 Culture 5.1 Languages 5.2 Religion 5.3 Music 5.4 Sport 6 Education 7 See also 8 References 9 External links

History

Main article: History of Vanuatu

Many of the islands of Vanuatu have been inhabited for thousands of years, with the oldest traces of pottery dating back to 1300 BCE. The history off Vanuatu begins obscurely The commonly held theory of Vanuatu 's Prehistory from archaeological evidence supports that peoples speaking Austronesian Pottery is the Ceramic ware made by potters It also refers to a group of materials that includes Earthenware, Stoneware ^[1] The earliest known settlement dates back to around 4000 BCE^[2]. The 4th millennium BC saw major changes in human culture It marks the beginning of the Bronze Age and of Writing.

Europeans

In 1606 a Spanish expedition led by Portuguese explorers Luis Váez de Torres and Pedro Fernandes de Queirós became the first from Europe to reach the islands which they believed to be part of Terra Australis. Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic (República Portuguesa is a country on the Iberian Peninsula. Luis Váez de Torres (born c 1565; fl 1607) was a 16th-17th century Spanish maritime explorer serving the Spanish Crown Pedro Fernandes de Queirós (1563 - 1615 was a Portuguese-born navigator and explorer, more commonly known by the Castilian spelling Pedro Fernández de Quirós. Terra Australis ( Latin, "land of the south" was a theorized continent appearing on European maps from the 15th to the 18th century Europeans began settling the islands in the late 18th century after the British explorer James Cook visited the islands on his second voyage and gave them the name New Hebrides. Captain James Cook FRS RN ( – 14 February 1779) was an English Explorer, Navigator and Captain James Cook FRS RN ( – 14 February 1779) was an English Explorer, Navigator and

In 1887 the islands came under the administration of a joint French–British naval commission. This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located For a few months in 1889, the settlement of Port Vila was an independent republic known as Franceville. Port Vila (ˌpɔrt ˈviːlə is the capital city of Vanuatu. It is also Vanuatu's largest city The municipality of Franceville (present-day Port Vila) on Efate or Sandwich island was established during the period when the New Hebrides were a Neutral It was the first self-governing nation to practice universal suffrage without distinction of sex or race, although only whites were permitted to hold office. Universal suffrage (also universal adult suffrage, general suffrage or common suffrage) consists of the extension of the right to vote to ^[3] In 1906 the French and British agreed to an Anglo-French Condominium of the New Hebrides. Hebrides (disambiguation New Hebrides was the colonial name for an Island group in the South Pacific that now forms the nation of Vanuatu. Vanuatu suffered from the practice of blackbirding wherein half of the adult male population of some of the islands became indentured workers in Australia. Blackbirding refers to the recruitment of people through trickery and Kidnappings to work on plantations particularly the Sugar cane Plantations of Due to diseases introduced by the new European populations, the native population fell to a mere 45,000 in 1935.

During World War II the islands of Efate and Espiritu Santo were used as allied military bases. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including Located at 1669° S and 16836° E in the Pacific Ocean, Efate is an Island in The Republic of Vanuatu ( Shefa Province) For the island in the Gulf of California see Isla Espíritu Santo. In the 1960s the ni-Vanuatu people started to press for self-governance and, later, independence. Ni-Vanuatu is a Demonym used to refer to all Melanesian ethnicities originating in Vanuatu. Full sovereignty was finally granted by both European nations on July 30, 1980 and Vanuatu became a republic with the Commonwealth of Nations. Events 1419 - First Defenestration of Prague. 1502 - Christopher Columbus lands at Guanaja in the Bay Islands off Year 1980 ( MCMLXXX) was a Leap year starting on Tuesday (link displays the 1980 Gregorian calendar) Subsequently, Vanuatu joined the United Nations in 1981 and the Non-Aligned Movement in 1983. The United Nations ( UN) is an International organization whose stated aims are to facilitate cooperation in International law, International security The Non-Aligned Movement ( NAM) is an International organization of states considering themselves not formally aligned with or against any major power bloc During the 1990s Vanuatu experienced political instability which eventually resulted in a more decentralised government. The Vanuatu Mobile Force, a paramilitary group, attempted a coup in 1996 because of a pay dispute. There were allegations of corruption in the government of Maxime Carlot Korman. Maxime Carlot Korman (born 1942) is a Vanuatuan politician currently serving as the minister of lands New elections have been called for, several times since 1997, most recently in 2004.

Geography

Main article: Geography of Vanuatu

Vanuatu is an archipelago of 83 islands, two of which—Matthew and Hunter—are also claimed by the French overseas department of New Caledonia. This is a list of the islands by province, largely from north to south subdivided by Archipelago when appropriate The Matthew and Hunter Islands are a group of 2 small and uninhabited Volcanic islands in the South Pacific located 300 km east of New Caledonia and south-east For the former North American fur-trading district see New Caledonia (Canada, and for the Scottish colony in Panama see Darien scheme. Of the 83 islands, 14 have surface areas of more than 100 square kilometres (38. Square Kilometre ( US spelling square kilometer) symbol km2, is a decimal multiple of the SI unit of 6 sq mi). The square mile is an imperial and US unit of Area equal the area of a square of one statute mile. From largest to smallest: Espiritu Santo 3,956 km² (1,527 sq mi), Malakula 2,041 km² (788 sq mi), Efate (900 km²/350 sq mi), Erromango (888 km²/343 sq mi), Ambrym (678 km²/262 sq mi), Tanna (555 km²/214 sq mi), Pentecost (491 km²/190 sq mi), Epi (445 km²/172 sq mi), Ambae or Aoba (402 km²/155 sq mi), Vanua Lava (334 km²/129 sq mi), Gaua (328 km²/127 sq mi), Maewo (304 km²/117 sq mi), Malo (180 km²/70 sq mi), and Anatom or Aneityum (159 km²/65 sq mi). For the island in the Gulf of California see Isla Espíritu Santo. Malakula Island (coordinates) is the second-largest island in the nation of Vanuatu, in the Pacific Ocean region of Melanesia. Located at 1669° S and 16836° E in the Pacific Ocean, Efate is an Island in The Republic of Vanuatu ( Shefa Province) Erromango ( is the largest island in Tafea, the southernmost province of Vanuatu. Mountains and volcanoes Ambrym is the site of two active volcanic cones Benbow and Tanna (sometimes spelled Tana) is an Island of Vanuatu. It is 40 km (25 mi long and 19 km (12 mi wide with a total area of 550 km² (212 Pentecost Island is one of the 83 islands that make up the South Pacific nation of Vanuatu. This article relates to the Volcanic Island Epi An épi also has meaning in architecture as a spire shaped termination on a hipped roof Vanua Lava ( is one of the Banks Islands in Torba Province, Vanuatu. Gaua (also known as Santa Maria Island) (coordinates) is the largest of the Banks Islands in Torba Province of northern Vanuatu. Maewo (or Maéwo; also Aurora Island) is an island in Vanuatu in Penama province 105 km to the east of Espiritu Santo. Malo (formerly known as St Bartholomew) is an island in Vanuatu, 5 km off the southern coast of the larger Espiritu Santo in Sanma Province. Anatom (more commonly spelled Aneityum, and sometimes also Kéamu) is the southernmost inhabited island of Vanuatu.

Most of the islands are mountainous, of volcanic origin and have a tropical or sub-tropical climate. Plate tectonics and hotspots Divergent plate boundaries At the The Tropics are centered on the Equator and limited in Latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the northern hemisphere at approximately 23°26' (23 The subtropics are the zones of the Earth immediately north and south of the tropic zone which is bounded by the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of The nation's largest towns are the capital Port Vila, situated on Efate, and Luganville on Espiritu Santo. Port Vila (ˌpɔrt ˈviːlə is the capital city of Vanuatu. It is also Vanuatu's largest city Luganville is the second largest city in the Republic of Vanuatu and is located on the island of Espiritu Santo. ^[4] The highest point in Vanuatu is Mount Tabwemasana, at 1879 m (6158 ft), on the island of Espiritu Santo. Mount Tabwemasana is the highest point in the island country of Vanuatu and is located on the island of Espiritu Santo, the largest island in the country There are several active volcanoes in Vanuatu, including Lopevi, as well as several underwater ones. Lopevi (or Lopévi) is an uninhabited island in Malampa Province, Vanuatu. Volcanic activity is common with an ever-present danger of a major eruption, the last occurred in 1945. Rainfall averages about 2,360 millimetres (93 in) per year but can be as high as 4,000 mm (157 in) in the northern islands. The Millimetre ( American spelling: millimeter, symbol mm) is a unit of Length in the Metric system, equal to Inches redirects here To see the Les Savy Fav album see Inches.

Vanuatu is recognised as a distinct terrestrial ecoregion, known as the Vanuatu rain forests. An ecoregion ( ecological region) sometimes called a bioregion, is an ecologically and geographically defined area smaller than a "realm" or " The Vanuatu rain forests are a Terrestrial ecoregion that includes the islands of Vanuatu, as well as the Santa Cruz Islands group of the neighboring It is part of the Australasia ecozone, which includes New Caledonia, the Solomon Islands, Australia, New Guinea, and New Zealand. The Australasian zone is an ecological region that is coincident but not synonymous (by some definitions with the geographic Region of Australasia For the former North American fur-trading district see New Caledonia (Canada, and for the Scottish colony in Panama see Darien scheme. The Solomon Islands is a country in Melanesia, east of Papua New Guinea, consisting of nearly one thousand islands For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Australia topics. New Guinea, located just north of Australia, is the world's second largest island, having become separated from the Australian mainland when the area now known New Zealand is an Island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses (the North Island and the South Island

Administrative divisions

Main article: Provinces of Vanuatu

Vanuatu has been divided into six provinces since 1994. |||} Vanuatu has been divided into six Provinces since 1994. The names in English of all provinces are derived from the initial letters of their constituent A province is a territorial unit almost always an Administrative division. The names in English of all provinces are derived from the initial letters of their constituent islands:

1. Malampa (Malakula, Ambrym, Paama)
2. Penama (Pentecost, Ambae, Maewo - in French: Pénama)
3. Sanma (Santo, Malo)
4. Shefa (Shepherds group, Efate - in French: Shéfa)
5. Tafea (Tanna, Aniwa, Futuna, Erromango, Aneityum - in French: Taféa)
6. Torba (Torres islands, Banks islands)

Provinces are autonomous units with their own popularly elected local parliaments known officially as provincial councils. Malampa is a province of Vanuatu, made up of three main islands Malakula, Ambrym and Paama, from which the province's name is derived Penama is a province of Vanuatu, occupying the islands of Ambae, Maewo, and Pentecost. Sanma is a province located in the Northern part of the nation of Vanuatu, occupying the nation's largest Island, Espiritu Santo, which is located approximately Shefa is a province of Vanuatu, including the islands of Epi and Efate and the Shepherd Islands. Tafea is the southernmost province of Vanuatu. The name is an Acronym for the five islands that make up the province Torba is the northernmost province of Vanuatu, including the Banks Islands and the Torres Islands. They collect local taxes and make by-laws in local matters like tourism, the provincial budget or the provision of some basic services. They are headed by a chairman elected from among the members of the local parliaments and assisted by a secretary appointed by the Public Service Commission. Their executive arm consists of a provincial government headed by an executive officer who is appointed by the Prime Minister with the advice of the minister of local government. This article is about the government position For other uses see Prime Minister (disambiguation. The provincial government is usually formed by the party that has the majority in the provincial council and, like the national government, is advised in Ni-Vanuatu culture and language by the local council of chiefs. The provincial president is constitutionally a member of the electoral college that elects the President of Vanuatu. The President of Vanuatu is the chief of state of Vanuatu. It is an elected position elected for a five-year term by an Electoral college consisting of Parliament

The provinces are in turn divided into municipalities (usually consisting of an individual island) headed by a council and a mayor elected from among the members of the council.

Up to this day almost 77. 923% of the population speak French.

Politics

Main article: Politics of Vanuatu

Vanuatu has a parliamentary democracy political system which is currently headed by a President who has, primarily, ceremonial powers and who is elected for 5-year terms by a two-thirds majority in an electoral college. Politics of Vanuatu, takes place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic Republic, whereby the Prime Minister of Vanuatu A parliamentary system, also known as parliamentarianism (and parliamentarism in American English) is a System of government in which The President of Vanuatu is the chief of state of Vanuatu. It is an elected position elected for a five-year term by an Electoral college consisting of Parliament This electoral college consists of members of Parliament and the presidents of Regional Councils. The President may be removed by the electoral college for gross misconduct or incapacity. The Prime Minister, who is the head of government, is elected by a majority vote of a three-fourths quorum of the Parliament. The prime minister of Vanuatu is the effective head of the government of Vanuatu. This article focuses on the cases where the Head of Government is a separate office from the Head of State In Law, a quorum is the minimum number of members of a Deliberative body necessary to conduct the business of that group The prime minister, in turn, appoints the Council of Ministers, whose number may not exceed one-fourth of the number of parliamentary representatives. The prime minister and the Council of Ministers constitute the executive government.

The Parliament of Vanuatu is unicameral and has 52 members who are elected by popular vote every four years, unless earlier dissolved by a majority vote of a three-fourths quorum or by a directive from the President on the advice of the Prime Minister. The Parliament or Parlement has 52 members elected for a four year term in multi-seat constituencies. Unicameralism is the practice of having only one legislative or Parliamentary chamber The national Council of Chiefs, called the Malvatu Mauri and elected by district councils of chiefs, advises the government on all matters concerning ni-Vanuatu culture and language. The Malvatu Mauri or National Council of Chiefs are a body of government advisors in Vanuatu.

Government and society in Vanuatu tend to divide along linguistic French and English lines. Forming coalition governments, however, has proved problematic at times due to differences between English and French speakers. A coalition government, or coalition cabinet, is a Cabinet of a parliamentary Government in which several parties cooperate English is a West Germanic language originating in England and is the First language for most people in the United Kingdom, the United States French ( français,) is a Romance language spoken around the world by 118 million people as a native language and by about 180 to 260 million people

The Supreme Court consists of a chief justice and up to three other judges. Two or more members of this court may constitute a Court of Appeal. Magistrate courts handle most routine legal matters. The legal system is based on British common law and French civil law. Common law refers to law and the corresponding legal system developed through decisions of courts and similar tribunals rather than through legislative statutes or executive In academic terms French law can be divided into two main categories private law (" droit privé " and public law (" droit public " The constitution also provides for the establishment of village or island courts presided over by chiefs to deal with questions of customary law. In Law, custom can be described as the established patterns of behavior that can be objectively verified within a particular social setting

Foreign relations and military

Main article: Foreign relations of Vanuatu

Vanuatu has joined the Asian Development Bank, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the Agence de Coopération Culturelle et Technique, la Francophonie and the Commonwealth of Nations. Vanuatu maintains relations with more than 65 countries and has a very modest network of diplomatic missions. Asian Development Bank (ADB is a regional development bank established in 1966 to promote economic and social development in Asian and Pacific countries through loans and technical The World Bank is an internationally supported Bank that provides financial and technical assistance to developing countries for development programs (e The International Monetary Fund ( IMF) is an International organization that oversees the Global financial system by following the Macroeconomic The Agence de coopération culturelle et technique (ACCT French for Agency of cultural and technical cooperation) is an organisation that is part of La Francophonie La Francophonie is an international organisation of French-speaking countries and governments and in French, the community of French-speaking peoples

Since 1980 Australia, the United Kingdom (UK), France, and New Zealand have provided the bulk of Vanuatu's development aid. New Zealand is an Island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses (the North Island and the South Island Direct aid from the UK to Vanuatu ceased in 2005 following the decision by the AUS to no longer focus on the Pacific. However, more recently new donors such as the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) and the People's Republic of China have been providing increased amounts of aid funding. The Millennium Challenge Account (MCA run by the Millennium Challenge Corporation, is a bilateral development fund announced by the Bush administration Talk People's Republic of China) PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA ARTICLE GUIDELINES In 2005 the MCA announced that Vanuatu was one of the first 15 countries in the world selected to receive support—an amount of US$65 million was given for the provision and upgrading of key pieces of public infrastructure. The United States dollar ( sign: $; code: USD) is the unit of Currency of the United States; it has also been

Vanuatu retains strong economic and cultural ties to Australia, the European Union (in particular France) and New Zealand. Australia now provides the bulk of external assistance, including to the police force, which has a paramilitary wing. Vanuatu's military consist of a small, mobile, corps of 300 volunteers. The Vanuatu Police Force (VPF) includes the paramilitary Vanuatu Mobile Force (VMF). Total military expenditures are not available.

Economy and demographics

Economy

Main article: Economy of Vanuatu

The economy is based primarily on subsistence or small-scale agriculture, which provides a living for 65% of the population. Vanuatu 's economy is primarily agricultural 80% of the population is engaged in agricultural activities that range from subsistence farming to smallholder Subsistence agriculture is self-sufficient farming in which farmers grow only enough food to feed the family and to pay taxes or feudal dues Agriculture refers to the production of goods through the growing of plants and fungi and the raising of domesticated Animals The study of agriculture Fishing, cattle farming, offshore financial services, and tourism (with about 50,000 visitors in 1997) are other mainstays of the economy. For the computer security term see Phishing. Fishing is the activity of catching Fish. Financial services refer to services provided by the finance industry. Tourism is Travel for Recreational or Leisure purposes The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people who "travel Mineral deposits are negligible. A mineral is a naturally occurring substance formed through geological processes that has a characteristic chemical composition a highly ordered atomic structure and specific The country has no known petroleum deposits. Petroleum ( L petroleum, from Greek πετρέλαιον, lit A small light-industry sector caters to the local market. Tax revenues come mainly from import duties and a 12. 5 percent VAT on goods and services. Value added tax ( VAT) or goods and services tax ( GST) is a consumption Tax levied on value added. Economic development is hindered by dependence on relatively few commodity exports, vulnerability to natural disasters, and long distances between constituent islands and from main markets. A natural disaster is the consequence of a Natural hazard (eg

A severe earthquake in November 1999, followed by a tsunami, caused extensive damage to the northern island of Pentecote, leaving thousands homeless. An earthquake is the result of a sudden release of energy in the Earth 's crust that creates Seismic waves Earthquakes are recorded with a Seismometer A tsunami ((tsuːˈnɑːmi is a series of waves created when Pentecost Island is one of the 83 islands that make up the South Pacific nation of Vanuatu. Another powerful earthquake in January 2002 caused extensive damage in the capital, Port Vila, and surrounding areas, and was also followed by a tsunami. Another earthquake of 7. 2 struck on 2 August 2007. Events 338 BC - A Macedonian army led by Philip II defeated the combined forces of Athens and Thebes in the Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ^[5]

GDP rose less than 3%, on average, in the 1990s. In response to foreign concerns the government has promised to tighten regulation of its offshore financial centre. An offshore financial centre (or OFC) although not precisely defined is usually a low- Tax, lightly Regulated jurisdiction which specializes in providing In mid-2002, the government stepped up efforts to boost tourism. Australia and New Zealand are the main suppliers of Vanuatu's foreign aid. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Australia topics. New Zealand is an Island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses (the North Island and the South Island Aid (from the french word aide, also known as international aid, overseas aid, or foreign aid, especially in the United States) is

Vanuatu is a tax haven that until 2008 did not release account information to other governments or law-enforcement agencies. A tax haven is a place where certain Taxes are levied at a low rate or not at all International pressure, mainly from Australia, influenced the Vanuatu government to begin adhering to international norms to improve transparency. In Vanuatu, there are no income tax, no withholding tax, no capital gains tax, no inheritance taxes, or exchange controls. Withholding tax is an amount withheld by the party making payment to another (payee and paid to the taxation authorities A capital gains tax (abbreviated CGT) is a Tax charged on Capital gains the profit realized on the sale of a non-inventory Asset that was purchased Estate tax and Death duty redirect here Inheritance tax, estate tax and death duty are the names given to various taxes which A disproportionately large number of ship-management companies choose to flag their ships under the Vanuatu flag, because of the tax benefits and favorable labor laws. Several file-sharing groups, such as the providers of the KaZaA network of Sharman Networks and the developers of WinMX, have chosen to incorporate in Vanuatu to avoid regulation and legal challenges. Kazaa Media Desktop (once capitalized as " KaZaA " but now usually written " Kazaa " is a Peer-to-peer File sharing application Sharman Networks is a company headquartered in Australia and incorporated in Vanuatu. WinMX is a Freeware Peer-to-peer File sharing program authored by Frontcode Technologies that runs on Microsoft Windows operating systems

The ninth season of the reality TV series Survivor was filmed on Vanuatu, entitled Survivor: Vanuatu—Islands of Fire. Survivor is an American version of the Survivor Reality television Game show based on the Swedish television Survivor Vanuatu - Islands of Fire (also known as Survivor Vanuatu for short is the ninth installment of the Reality television game show series Survivor Two years later, Australia's Celebrity Survivor was filmed at the same location used by the U. Celebrity Survivor, also known promotionally as Celebrity Survivor Vanuatu and Australia's Celebrity Survivor, was an Australian S. version.

Demographics

Main article: Demographics of Vanuatu

Vanuatu has a population of 221,506. The population of Vanuatu is 985% indigenous Melanesian About 30000 live in the capital Port Vila. ^[4] Most is rural, though Port Vila and Luganville have populations in the tens of thousands. Port Vila (ˌpɔrt ˈviːlə is the capital city of Vanuatu. It is also Vanuatu's largest city Luganville is the second largest city in the Republic of Vanuatu and is located on the island of Espiritu Santo. The inhabitants of Vanuatu, or Ni-Vanuatu, are in the majority (98. Ni-Vanuatu is a Demonym used to refer to all Melanesian ethnicities originating in Vanuatu. 5%) of Melanesian descent, with the remainder made up of a mix of Europeans, Asians and other Pacific islanders. Melanesia (from Greek: μέλας black, νῆσος island) means "islands of the black-skinned people" Three islands were historically colonized by Polynesians. Polynesian outliers are a number of culturally Polynesian islands which lie in geographic or political Melanesia and Micronesia. About 2,000 Ni-Vanuatu live and work in New Caledonia. For the former North American fur-trading district see New Caledonia (Canada, and for the Scottish colony in Panama see Darien scheme. In 2006 the New Economics Foundation and Friends of the Earth environmentalist group rated Vanuatu as the happiest place to live out of 178 nations all over the world using the Happy Planet Index. The New Economics Foundation (NEF is an independent British Think-tank, or in their own description a "think-and-do tank" Friends of the Earth (HK is not a member of Friends of the Earth International The Happy Planet Index (HPI is an Index of human well-being and environmental impact introduced by the New Economics Foundation (NEF in July 2006 ^[6]

Culture

Vanuatu culture retains a strong diversity through local regional variations and through foreign influence. A slit drum is a hollow Percussion instrument, usually of Bamboo or wood which is made more Resonant through one or more slits in it The Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum, designated the Hawaii State Museum of Natural and Cultural History, is a Museum of History and Science in the Vanuatu may be divided into three major cultural regions. In the north, wealth is established by how much one can give away. Pigs, particularly those with rounded tusks, are considered a symbol of wealth throughout Vanuatu. A tusk is an extremely long Incisor Tooth of certain Mammals that protrudes when the Mouth is closed In the centre, more traditional Melanesian cultural systems dominate. In the south, a system involving grants of title with associated privileges has developed. ^[7]

Young men undergo various coming-of-age ceremonies and rituals to initiate them into manhood, usually including circumcision. Male circumcision is the removal of some or all of the Foreskin (prepuce from the Penis.

Languages

Main article: Languages of Vanuatu

There are three official languages: English, French, and Bislama. Vanuatu has three official languages English, French, and Bislama, a Creole language evolved from English English is a West Germanic language originating in England and is the First language for most people in the United Kingdom, the United States French ( français,) is a Romance language spoken around the world by 118 million people as a native language and by about 180 to 260 million people Bislama is a Creole language, one of the official languages of Vanuatu. Bislama is a pidgin language, and now a creole in urban areas, which essentially combines a typically Melanesian grammar with a mostly English vocabulary. A pidgin is a simplified language that develops as a means of communication between two or more groups that do not have a language in common in situations such as Trade A creole language, or simply a creole, is a stable Language that originates seemingly as a nativized Pidgin. It is the only language that can be understood and spoken by the majority of Vanuatu's population as a second language. A lingua franca (from Italian, literally meaning Frankish language, see etymology under Sabir and Italian below is any Language widely In addition 113 indigenous languages are still actively spoken in Vanuatu. Vanuatu has three official languages English, French, and Bislama, a Creole language evolved from English ^[7] The density of languages, per capita, is the highest of any nation in the world with an average of only 2000 speakers per language. All of these vernacular languages belong to the Oceanic branch of the Austronesian family. The Oceanic languages are a subgroup of the Austronesian languages, containing approximately 450 languages

Religion

Main article: Religion in Vanuatu

Christianity is the predominant religion in Vanuatu, consisting of several denominations. Approximately 83% of the population of Vanuatu is Christian. An estimated 32% is Presbyterian, 13% Roman Catholic, 13% Anglican, and 11% Christianity ( Greek Χριστιανισμός from the word Xριστός ( Christ)is a monotheistic Religion centered on the life and teachings The Presbyterian Church, adhered to by about one third of the population, is the largest of them. Presbyterianism is a family of Christian denominations within the Reformed branch of Protestant Western Christianity Roman Catholic and Anglican are other common denominations, each claiming about 15% of the population. Anglicanism is a tradition of Christian faith Churches in this tradition either have historical connections to the Church of England or have similar beliefs Others are the Seventh-day Adventist Church, the Church of Christ, Neil Thomas Ministries (NTM), as well as many other religious sects and denominations. The Seventh-day Adventist (abbreviated " Adventist " Church is a Christian denomination which is distinguished mainly by its observance The Neil Thomas Ministries (NTM is an organisation that aims to create an atmosphere of love and acceptance with good Christian fellowship and solid teaching in the Word of God enabling

Because of the modernities that the military in World War II brought with them when they came to the islands, several cargo cults developed. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including A cargo cult may appear in tribal societies in the wake of interaction with technologically advanced non-native Cultures The cult is focused on obtaining the material wealth Many died out, but the John Frum cult on Tanna is still large, and has adherents in the parliament. John Frum (or Jon Frum, or John From) is a figure associated with Cargo cults on the island of Tanna in Vanuatu. Tanna (sometimes spelled Tana) is an Island of Vanuatu. It is 40 km (25 mi long and 19 km (12 mi wide with a total area of 550 km² (212 Also on Tanna is the Prince Philip Movement, which reveres the United Kingdom's Prince Philip. The Prince Philip Movement is a Cargo cult of the Yaohnanen tribe on the southern island of Tanna in Vanuatu. ^[8] Villagers of the Yaohnanen tribe believed in an ancient story about the pale-skinned son of a mountain spirit venturing across the seas to look for a powerful woman to marry. The Yaohnanen is a tribe of people from the island of Tanna in Vanuatu. Prince Philip, having visited the island with his new wife Queen Elizabeth, fitted the description exactly and is therefore revered and even held as a god around the isle of Tanna. For the ship see RMS Queen Elizabeth 2 Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Context States headed by Elizabeth II Islam in Vanuatu is made up of about 200 converts and growing fast. Islam in Vanuatu is practised by about 200 members of the small island nation of Vanuatu in Oceania. ^[9] It was introduced by Hussein Nabanga who converted to Islam while training to be a Christian missionary.

Music

Traditional music (known in Bislama as kastom singsing or kastom tanis) is still thriving in the rural areas of Vanuatu. Bislama is a Creole language, one of the official languages of Vanuatu. Musical instruments consist mostly of idiophones: drums of various shape and size, slit gongs, as well as rattles, among others. An idiophone is any Musical instrument which creates sound primarily by way of the instrument vibrating itself without the use of strings or membranes A Slit gong, sometimes also called "slit drum" is a Log Drum used throughout Africa, Southeast Asia, and Oceania. A rattle is a Percussion instrument. It consists of a hollow body filled with small uniform solid objects like sand or nuts In various regions, aerophones, such as whistles or bamboo flutes, are or used to be played; membranophones and chordophones were also found in some areas, but have fallen into disuse during colonial times. An aerophone is any Musical instrument which produces Sound primarily by causing a body of air to vibrate without the use of strings or membranes and without A membranophone is any Musical instrument which produces Sound primarily by way of a vibrating stretched membrane A Chordophone is any Musical instrument which produces sound primarily by way of a vibrating string or strings stretched between two points The large slit gongs which symbolize Vanuatu belong to these traditional instruments; they were most often used as musical drums to accompany certain dances, but also sometimes – though seldom – as a ritual means of communication; although widespread throughout Vanuatu, they are used vertically only in central areas of the archipelago (mainly on Ambrym). Mountains and volcanoes Ambrym is the site of two active volcanic cones Benbow and Traditional music is actually a very general cover term encompassing a wide and complex variety of musical genres known by every local community – in a way very similar to the vague term classical music of Western societies. Classical music is a broad term that usually refers to mainstream music produced in or rooted in the traditions of Western liturgical and Secular music The term Western world, the West or the Occident ( Latin: occidens -sunset -west as distinct from the Orient) can have multiple meanings

Another musical genre that has become widely popular during the XXth century in all areas of Vanuatu, is known as string band music. This article is about the style of old-time American music The term string band also referred to the ensembles now known as Scratch bands part of the Music of the It combines guitars, ukulele, and popular songs. The guitar is a Musical instrument with ancient roots that is used in a wide variety of musical styles The ukulele (ˌjʉːkəˈlɛɪli from ʻukulele /ˌʔukuˈlele/ variantly spelled ukelele (particularly in the UK) or alternatively abbreviated uke

More recently the music of Vanuatu, as an industry, grew rapidly in the 1990s and several bands have forged a distinctive ni-Vanuatu identity. Vanuatu is a Pacific island nation whose music industry has been rapidly growing since the 1990s Popular genres of modern commercial music, which are currently being played in town include zouk music and reggaeton. Zouk is a style of rhythmic Music originating from the French islands of Guadeloupe and Martinique. Reggaeton (also spelled reggaetón, and known as reguetón and reggaetón in Spanish) is a form of urban music which became popular Reggaeton, a variation of hip-hop rapped in Spanish, played alongside its own distinctive beat, is especially played in the local nightclubs of Vanuatu with, mostly, an audience of Westerners and tourists.

Sport

Cricket is very popular in Vanuatu. There are 8000 registered cricketers. [1] Sport varies depending on the gender of those involved. Volleyball is considered a 'girls' sport' and males play Football.

Education

In Port Vila, and three other centres, are locations of the University of the South Pacific, an educational institution co-owned by twelve Pacific countries. Port Vila (ˌpɔrt ˈviːlə is the capital city of Vanuatu. It is also Vanuatu's largest city The University of the South Pacific ( USP) is a Public university with a number of locations spread throughout a dozen countries in Oceania. The campus in Port Vila, known as the Emalus Campus, houses the University's law school.

See also

• Communications in Vanuatu
• Transportation in Vanuatu
• John Frum Movement

References

External links

• Vanuatu travel guide from Wikitravel
• Interactive maps of Vanuatu
• Republic of Vanuatu government
• Vanuatu National Tourism Office
• In pictures: Vanuatu volcano

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