Vanuatu

Land Characteristics

Name of Country: Republic of Vanuatu

Form of Government: Republic (Commonwealth)

Capital: Port Vila

Area: 12190 km²

Time Zone: GMT + 10 hours

Population: 240 000

Population 2015: (estimated) 282 000

Population density: 20 per km²

Life expectancy: 71 years

Infant mortality (per 1000): 16

Languages: English *, French *, Bislama and around 110 Melanesian languages and dialects

Literacy: 83%

Religion: Presbyterian 32%, Catholic 13%, Anglican 13%, Adventists 11%, indigenous religions and Others 31%

Population: Melanesians 91%, Polynesians & Micronesians 3%, Others 6%

Currency: Vatu

Economy: Agriculture 22%, Services 68%, Industry 10%

GDP per capita: 2620 US-Dollars

Climate: Tropical, temperate by trade winds

Highest point: Mount Tabwemasana (1877m high)

Vanuatu is a Y-shaped archipelago made up of 83 islands, which is located in the region of Melanesia. People have inhabited the area for the last 7000 years, but it was not discovered by Europeans until Portuguese sailors landed in 1606.
With the visit by the British Captain James Cook in 1774, the islands gained the name "New Hebrides". They were administered by Great Britain and France for more than 100 years, starting in 1887.
Like the inhabitants of Tuvalu who were abducted as laborers, the people of the New Hebrides had to work on sugarcane plantations in Australia and Fiji for many years.
Since the independence in 1980 the archipelago was named "Vanuatu". After that there was a Francophone movement on the island of Espiritu Santo. The whole country went through an unstable, but democratic change.
The population is mainly formed by Melanesians who speak more than 100 different languages. On the island of Efate is Vanuatu's capital Port Vila, which is appreciated by many as the most beautiful city in the South Pacific.