Vanuatu
Name
| Official name | The Republic of Vanuatu (Ripablik blong Vanuatu; République de Vanuatu) — the independence of 30 July 1980 under the constitution of 5 October 1979 (in force on independence; the three official texts in Bislama, English and French); the UN's member (15 September 1981), the Commonwealth's (1980), the Francophonie's (the OIF), the Pacific Islands Forum's, the Melanesian Spearhead Group's (1988; the headquarters at Port Vila), the Non-Aligned Movement's (1983 — the first Pacific member), the WTO's (24 August 2012), the ACP's |
|---|---|
| Former names | The New Hebrides (Nouvelles-Hébrides) — James Cook's name of 1774 after the Scottish Hebrides; the Anglo-French Condominium of the New Hebrides (the Anglo-French Joint Naval Commission of 1887, the Condominium of 20 October 1906 and the Protocol of 1914 — the 'Pandemonium' of the two administrations, the two police forces, the two school systems and the three courts); 'Austrialia del Espiritu Santo' — Pedro Fernández de Quirós's name of May 1606 for Santo, believed by him the Great Southern Land; the short-lived 'Republic of Vemerana' of the Santo secessionists (May–August 1980) |
| Demonym | Ni-Vanuatu (the people — 'of Vanuatu'; the Bislama and the English use for the indigenous citizens), Vanuatuan (the adjective's other form); the Melanesians about 99% of the citizens by the 2020 census, the island identities (the Tannese, the Santo people, the Malekulans, the Pentecost people), the Polynesian outliers (Futuna, Aniwa, Emae's Mele-Fila of Efate), the French and the British descendants, the Chinese and the Vietnamese of the Condominium's plantations |
| Meaning of the name | 'Vanuatu' — 'the land standing up' or 'our land, eternal' (vanua 'land, home' and tu 'stand' in many of the islands' languages; both readings stated), chosen by the Vanua'aku Pati's leaders for independence; 'Vanua'aku' 'our land'; 'Port Vila' from the Portuguese and the Spanish 'vila' ('the town') by the usual line; 'Efate', 'Santo' (Espiritu Santo — 'the Holy Spirit', Quirós's name), 'Tanna' (by Cook's misreading of the word for 'earth' by the usual line) |
| Motto | 'Long God yumi stanap' ('In God we stand') — the national motto in Bislama on the coat of arms (1980); the anthem's 'Yumi, Yumi, Yumi' title ('We, We, We'); the Vanua'aku Pati's independence slogans; the 'Melanesian socialism' of Walter Lini's era |
Quick facts
| Capital | Port Vila — the capital on Efate's southwest coast (Shefa province), about 50,000 people in the town by the 2020 census and about 70,000–80,000 in the wider area by the estimates (both stated); the harbor of Mele Bay and Vila Bay, the cruise ships' wharf, the central market (open 24 hours from Monday to Saturday by custom), the Parliament House (the 1990s' building), the National Museum and the Kaljoral Senta (the national cultural institution), the Chinese-built convention center and the government offices, the Erakor lagoon, the Hideaway Island's underwater post office; the earthquake of 17 December 2024 (magnitude 7.3; 14 dead; the buildings of the town center and the U.S. embassy's block damaged — the election delayed by two days) |
|---|---|
| Largest cities | Port Vila (about 50,000 in the town; about 70,000–80,000 with the peri-urban areas — both stated), Luganville (Espiritu Santo; about 18,000 — the World War II base town of the Americans, the deep-water port of the north), Isangel and Lenakel (Tanna), Lakatoro and Norsup (Malekula), Saratamata (Ambae; the Penama capital), Sola (Vanua Lava; the Torba capital), Port Olry (Santo), Lamap (Malekula); about 75% of the people in the rural villages of the islands |
| Official language | Bislama, English and French — the three official languages by the constitution (Bislama the national language — the English-based creole of the 19th-century plantation labor; English and French the principal languages of the education by the Condominium's legacy, about 60% and 40% of the schools by the usual split); about 110–138 indigenous languages by the counts (both stated) — the world's densest per person (about one language for every 2,500–3,000 people); the sand drawings' language-free communication |
| Currency | Vatu (VUV; VT; no subunits) — the vatu of 1 January 1981 (the New Hebrides franc and the Australian dollar before it); pegged to an undisclosed basket of the trading partners' currencies; about 113–120 vatu to the U.S. dollar by the 2025–26 quotes (both ends stated), about 0.73–0.78 Indian rupees to the vatu; the Reserve Bank of Vanuatu (the Central Bank of 1980, renamed in 1989; Governor August Letlet) — the policy rate of 2.75% and the statutory reserve of 5.5% (March 2026), the inflation target of 0–4%; the inflation of 0.8% in the December quarter of 2025 and about 1.5% projected for 2026 by the bank; the reserves of VT 82.55 billion (March 2026; above four months of imports) |
| Time zone | UTC+11 the year round (Vanuatu Time; no daylight saving since the 1980s' trials) — the same clock as the Solomon Islands and New Caledonia, 5 hours 30 minutes ahead of India (IST); the working week Monday to Friday; the Gregorian calendar with the Christian holidays and the custom days |
| Calling code, internet and ISO codes | +678 (the operators Digicel and Vodafone Vanuatu — the TVL of the past; the Interchange submarine cable of 2014 to Fiji and the Tamtam cable of 2022 to New Caledonia; the 4G of the towns, the Starlink licenses of 2024–25 by the reports); internet .vu (the domain's sales); ISO 3166 VU, VUT, 548; the vehicle code VU; the IOC code VAN, FIFA code VAN; the aircraft registration YJ-; the plugs of Type I at 220–240 V and 50 Hz |
| Area | About 12,189 km² of land (4,706 sq mi) — about 12,190–12,280 km² by the counts (both stated) — the 157th of the world by the usual table, about 0.37% of India's area; 83 islands (about 65 inhabited) in a Y-shaped chain about 1,300 km long; the largest islands — Espiritu Santo (about 3,956 km²), Malekula (about 2,041 km²), Efate (about 900 km²), Erromango, Ambrym, Tanna, Pentecost, Epi, Ambae, Vanua Lava, Gaua, Maewo; the EEZ about 680,000 km²; Matthew and Hunter islands claimed by Vanuatu and held by France as part of New Caledonia (both stated, LAW 2) |
| Population | 300,019 by the census of 2020 (the National Statistics Office) — 272,459 in 2016's mini-census, 234,023 in 2009, 186,678 in 1999, 142,419 in 1989; about 320,000–335,000 by the 2025–26 estimates (both stated); the provinces by the 2020 census — Shefa about 107,000 (with Port Vila), Sanma about 59,000 (with Luganville), Tafea about 45,000, Malampa about 41,000, Penama about 33,000, Torba about 11,000; the men about 51% |
| Density | About 25–27 people per km² — Efate's and Port Vila's crowding (Shefa the densest province), Tanna's fertile slopes (about 30,000 people on about 550 km²), the near-empty interiors of Santo and Malekula, the small outer islands (the Banks and the Torres, the Shepherds); about 75% rural in the villages of the coasts |
| Religion | Christian about 93–95% by the 2020 census (the Presbyterians about 27–28% — the largest; the Anglicans about 12–15%, the Seventh-day Adventists about 12–14%, the Catholics about 12%, the Church of Christ, the Assemblies of God, the Neil Thomas Ministries and the other Pentecostals; both the shares' census and the churches' counts stated); the kastom (the custom) faiths of Tanna's villages; the John Frum movement of Tanna (the cargo cult of about 1940 — the 15 February 'John Frum Day' and the U.S. flags; a 'cargo cult' by the outsiders' line and a kastom and political movement by the members' — both stated, LAW 2); the Bahá'í, the Muslims small; the constitution's Christian preamble (the 'Christian principles') |
| Government type | Unitary parliamentary republic under the constitution of 1980 — the President (the ceremonial head of state; elected for five years by an electoral college of the Parliament's 52 members and the six provincial council presidents), the Prime Minister elected by the Parliament from its members (the head of the government), the unicameral Parliament of 52 (four-year term), the Malvatumauri National Council of Chiefs (the advisory body on the custom and the land), the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal; the 2024 constitutional amendments (the referendum of 29 May 2024 — about 80% 'yes' by the commission's count; the MPs losing their seats on leaving their parties) against the coalitions' instability |
| Head of state | President Nikenike Vurobaravu (since 23 July 2022) — born 3 December 1951, the diplomat of the Vanua'aku Pati (the first resident High Commissioner to Fiji, 2014–15 and 2017 onward; the reform coordinator of the ADB's program); elected by the electoral college in the eighth round (47 of 58 votes); the dissolution of the Parliament of 18 November 2024 on Prime Minister Charlot Salwai's request (the opposition's no-confidence motion pending — the dissolution's legality upheld by the court); the term to July 2027 |
| Head of government | Prime Minister Jotham Napat (since 11 February 2025; the Leaders Party of Vanuatu) — born 7 August 1972 on Tanna, the Foreign Minister of 2022–23; elected with 50 votes and 2 void; the coalition of the Leaders Party, the Vanua'aku Pati, the Reunification Movement for Change, the Iauko Group and the Land and Justice Party (27 January 2025); the no-confidence motion defeated on 19 December 2025 (36 to 12) after the Court of Appeal's order; the Nakamal Agreement with Australia (June 2026); the UN visit canceled after the MV Matui's sinking (September 2026) |
| Legislature | The Parliament of Vanuatu — 52 members for four years from 18 constituencies by the single non-transferable vote (the multi-member districts; Port Vila 6 seats, Luganville 2, the islands' seats); the snap election of 16 January 2025 (moved from 14 January by the earthquake; the turnout about 69%): the Leaders Party 9, the Vanua'aku Pati 7, the Union of Moderate Parties 6, the Iauko Group 6, the Rural Development Party 6, the Reunification Movement for Change 5, the Land and Justice Party 5, eight small parties and an independent 1 each; one woman elected (Marie Louise Paulette Milne of the Green Confederation); Speaker Stephen Dorrick Felix (since 11 February 2025); the Opposition Leader Ishmael Kalsakau |
| National Day | 30 July — the Independence Day (1980; the 46th of 2026 — the celebrations at the Port Vila's Independence Park); the public holidays — 1 January (the New Year), 21 February (the Father Walter Lini Day — the first Prime Minister), 5 March (the Custom Chiefs' Day), Good Friday and Easter Monday, 1 May (the Labor Day), Ascension Day, 24 July (the Children's Day), 30 July (the Independence), 15 August (the Assumption Day), 5 October (the Constitution Day), 29 November (the Unity Day), 25 December (Christmas) and 26 December (the Family Day) |
| Driving side and HDI | Right (the road network of about 1,070–1,500 km by the counts, about a quarter sealed; the Efate Ring Road of 2011 by the U.S. Millennium Challenge Corporation); Human Development Index about 0.61–0.62 by the 2024 and the 2025 reports (both stated), 'medium', about 140th of 193; the life expectancy about 70–72 years; the GDP a head about US$3,200–3,600 by the relays; the WorldRiskReport's highest disaster risk of the world in most of its editions (the exposure to the cyclones, the quakes, the volcanoes and the sea) |
Flag & national symbols
| National flag | The flag of 18 February 1980 — a red upper band and a green lower band divided by a black-edged golden horizontal Y (the pall's arms toward the hoist) with a black triangle at the hoist bearing a golden curled boar's tusk (the prosperity — the tusk worn as a pendant) and two crossed namele fern leaves (the peace; their 39 fronds the 39 members of the first legislative assembly by the usual reading); the red the blood of the boar and of the people, the green the richness of the islands, the black the ni-Vanuatu people, the gold Y the light of the Gospel and the islands' shape; designed by Kalontas Malon; the proportion 3:5Flag of Vanuatu |
|---|---|
| Coat of arms | The national emblem of 1980 — a Melanesian warrior holding a spear, standing before a mountain (the volcano) with the boar's tusk and the crossed namele leaves behind him, the motto 'Long God yumi stanap' on the scroll below; on the passports, the vatu notes and the government's seal |
| National anthem | 'Yumi, Yumi, Yumi' ('We, We, We') — the words and the music by François Vincent Ayssav (1980); in Bislama only; adopted at the independence of 30 July 1980; sung at the state events, the schools and the sporting events (no lyrics quoted) |
| National motto | 'Long God yumi stanap' ('In God we stand') — the motto of the coat of arms in Bislama (1980); the independence era's Vanua'aku Pati slogans; the 'Vanuatu 2030 — The People's Plan' (the National Sustainable Development Plan of 2016) |
| National colors | Red, green, black and gold — the flag's; the national teams' gold and black; the namele green of the emblems; the island dress's bright 'Mother Hubbard' (the 'island dress' of the missionaries' era) and the custom's pandanus mats |
| National animal | None by law — the pig (the boar's curled tusk of the flag; the pigs' killing in the grade-taking ceremonies of the chiefs; the tusked boar the wealth's measure), the dugong of the lagoons, the green and the hawksbill turtles, the Vanuatu megapode (the endemic 'namalao' that buries its eggs in the warm volcanic soil of Ambrym and Tanna), the coconut crab (the world's largest land crab), the Vanuatu flying foxes, the saltwater crocodiles of Vanua Lava (the world's easternmost) |
| National flower and tree | The namele (the cycad fern — Cycas seemannii; the peace's leaves of the flag and the emblem — the national plant by the usual line), the banyan of Tanna (the giant nabanga), the kava plant (Piper methysticum — the root of the drink; the Kava Act of 2002 protecting the noble varieties; about 80 varieties by the counts), the coconut palm (the copra), the sandalwood of Erromango (the 19th-century trade), the nangai and the natapoa nut trees |
| National dish | None by law — the lap lap (the grated yam, taro, manioc or banana pudding with the coconut cream, wrapped in the leaves and baked in the earth oven — the national dish by the usual line), the simboro (the grated root wrapped in the island cabbage), the tuluk, the nalot (the pounded taro), the coconut crab, the Santo beef (the grass-fed cattle under the coconuts), the kava (the drink of the nakamal at dusk) |
| National sport | None by law — the football (the most popular; the national team's OFC Nations Cup runs and the Erakor Golden Star and the Galaxy FC of the national league; the OFC Champions League's finals of Amicale FC — 2011 and 2014), the beach volleyball (the women's team — the Commonwealth Games' and the Pacific Games' medals, by the reports), the cricket (the ICC's associate; the women's team's T20 games), the athletics, the archery, the naghol (the land diving of Pentecost — the ancestor of the bungee jumping by the usual line, the yam harvest's rite of April–June) |
| Heritage listings | One World Heritage property by UNESCO's list — Chief Roi Mata's Domain (2008; the 17th-century chief's residence, burial and death sites on Efate, Lelepa and Artok — the first Pacific island state's cultural listing by the usual line); the intangible heritage — the Vanuatu sand drawings (2003 proclamation, inscribed 2008; the continuous-line drawings of the myths and the messages); the tentative list (the Yasur–Tanna landscape, the Santo's Big Bay); the Kaljoral Senta's fieldworker network (the national cultural institution) |
| Symbol status | The flag, the emblem and the anthem by the national symbols' act of 1980 (the constitution's Article 3 — the national languages); the Independence Day and the holidays by the Public Holidays Act; the Kava Act (2002); no national animal, flower, dish or sport by law — the pig, the namele, the lap lap and the football by custom; the flag's misuse an offense by the act |
Geography
| Location | The southwest Pacific Ocean in Melanesia between about 13° and 21° S and 166° and 171° E — a Y-shaped chain of 83 islands about 1,300 km long, about 1,750 km east of Australia's Queensland coast, about 500 km northeast of New Caledonia, about 800 km west of Fiji and southeast of the Solomon Islands; on the Pacific 'Ring of Fire' where the Australian plate dives under the Pacific plate (the New Hebrides Trench, about 7,600 m deep); Port Vila about 11,500 km from New Delhi |
|---|---|
| Regions | Six provinces — Torba (the Torres and the Banks islands; capital Sola), Sanma (Espiritu Santo and Malo; Luganville), Penama (Pentecost, Ambae and Maewo; Saratamata), Malampa (Malekula, Ambrym and Paama; Lakatoro), Shefa (Efate, Epi and the Shepherds; Port Vila), Tafea (Tanna, Aniwa, Futuna, Erromango and Aneityum; Isangel) — the names from the islands' initials; the island groups — the northern Banks and Torres, the central chain, the southern Tafea |
| Highest point | Mount Tabwemasana (Espiritu Santo) — about 1,879 m (1,877–1,879 m by the surveys, both stated), in the Cumberland range of Santo's rugged west; the other heights — Santa Maria of Gaua (about 797 m), Mount Marum (about 1,270 m) and Benbow of Ambrym, Manaro Voui of Ambae (about 1,496 m), Mount Tukosmera of Tanna (about 1,084 m), Lopevi (about 1,413 m), Mount Yasur of Tanna (about 361 m — the small, ever-erupting volcano) |
| Lowest point | The Pacific Ocean at sea level (0 m) — the coastal lagoons (Erakor and Emten of Port Vila), the mangroves of Malekula and Santo, the lakes of the volcanic calderas (Manaro Lakua of Ambae, Letas of Gaua) |
| Longest river | The Jordan River of Espiritu Santo (Big Bay; the name given by Quirós in 1606 — about 25–40 km by the counts, both stated) and the Sarakata of Santo (Luganville's river) — the islands' short rivers and the waterfalls (the Mele Cascades of Efate, the Millennium Cave's river of Santo, the Siri waterfall of Gaua) |
| Largest lake | Lake Letas of Gaua (about 19 km² — the largest freshwater lake of the island Pacific by the usual line; the crater lake beside Mount Garet), the crater lakes of Ambae (Manaro Lakua, Voui — the acid lake of the 2017–18 eruption), Lake Siwi of Tanna (drained in 2000 by the ash dam's collapse), the Ambrym's crater lava lakes of Marum and Benbow (the lava lakes drained by the eruption of December 2018) |
| Largest island | Espiritu Santo — about 3,956 km² (the largest of Vanuatu; Luganville, the Champagne Beach, the Blue Holes, the SS President Coolidge wreck of 26 October 1942 — among the world's largest accessible wreck dives), then Malekula (about 2,041 km²; the Big Nambas and the Small Nambas peoples), Efate (about 900 km²; Port Vila), Erromango (about 888 km²), Ambrym (about 678 km²), Tanna (about 550 km²), Pentecost (about 491 km²), Epi (about 445 km²), Ambae (about 402 km²) |
| Climate | Tropical rainforest (Af) and tropical monsoon (Am) by the Köppen map — the hot, wet season of November to April (the cyclones; about 27–30 °C) and the cooler, drier season of May to October (about 20–25 °C); the rainfall of about 2,000–2,500 mm a year at Port Vila and about 4,000 mm in the north (the Banks and the Torres), drier in the south (Aneityum's and Tanna's rain shadow, about 1,500 mm); the El Niño droughts and the La Niña rains; the sea's rise of about 6 mm a year by the regional records (both the local and the global figures stated) |
| Natural hazards | The cyclones (Pam — the Category 5 of 13–14 March 2015, 11–16 dead by the counts (both stated), about 64% of the GDP's damage by the World Bank's line; Harold — the Category 5 of 6 April 2020 in the pandemic's lockdown; the twin cyclones Judy and Kevin of 28 February – 3 March 2023 and Lola of October 2023), the earthquakes (the Port Vila quake of 17 December 2024 — magnitude 7.3, 14 dead; the Sanma quake of 30 March 2026 — magnitude 7.3, about 122 km deep, the landslides of Malekula and the shaking of Santo; the magnitude 6.1 off the islands of 16 August 2026), the volcanoes (the evacuation of all of Ambae's about 11,000 people in 2018; the Ambrym eruption of December 2018; Manaro Voui's eruption of 25 August 2026, by the reports), the tsunamis, the droughts and the floods |
| Nearby countries | No land borders — the sea neighbors: New Caledonia (France; the southwest — the Matthew and Hunter islands' dispute, both France's 'New Caledonia's islands' line and Vanuatu's claim stated, LAW 2), the Solomon Islands (the north — the Temotu's Santa Cruz islands), Fiji (the east; about 800 km), Australia (the west; about 1,750 km — the Nakamal Agreement's partner of June 2026); the maritime boundary treaties with the Solomon Islands and Fiji |
| Minerals and resources | The fertile volcanic soils (the copra, the kava, the cocoa, the coffee of Tanna, the beef of Santo), the fisheries (the tuna of the EEZ — the license revenue; the deep-sea fishing fleet's flag registry), the forests (the timber, the sandalwood of Erromango and Tanna), the manganese of Efate (mined in 1962–1978 at Forari), the geothermal potential of Efate and Ambae's planned plants, the seabed minerals' interest (the moratorium's support of 2022 by the government's line); the ship registry (the Vanuatu Maritime Services — the flag of convenience's fleet) and the financial center's licenses |
| Protected areas | The community conservation areas (about 4% of the land and few marine reserves by the counts — both stated): the Vatthe conservation area of Big Bay (Santo; the lowland forest), the Loru forest of Santo, the Erromango's Kauri reserve (the kauri pines), the Nguna-Pele marine protected area network (2003; the community 'tabu' areas), the Lake Letas' wetland of Gaua, the Big Bay's turtle and dugong areas; the national park plans of the Environment Protection and Conservation Act (2002) |
| Extreme points | North: the Torres islands' Hiu (about 13°04′ S; the northernmost); South: the Matthew and Hunter islands by Vanuatu's claim (about 22°20′ S — disputed with France, LAW 2) or Aneityum by the undisputed line (about 20°15′ S; both stated); East: Futuna of Tafea (about 170°14′ E) or the Hunter island by the claim (about 172°05′ E — both stated); West: the Santo's west coast near Cape Cumberland (about 166°31′ E) |
| Land and water | About 12,189 km² of land (both counts stated) — the forests about 36–40% (the lowland and the montane rainforests, the cloud forests of Santo), the coconut plantations and the gardens, the grasslands of the dry sides (Efate's west, Tanna's west), the volcanic ash fields of Tanna's Sulphur Bay and Ambrym's 'ash plain'; the EEZ of about 680,000 km² (about 56 times the land) |
| Islands and coasts | 83 islands (about 65 inhabited; 14 larger than 100 km²) with about 2,500 km of coast — the coral reefs and the beaches (Champagne Beach of Santo, Port Olry, Port Resolution of Tanna — Cook's anchorage of 1774), the raised coral terraces of Efate and Malekula, the black volcanic sand beaches of Ambrym and Tanna, the blue holes of Santo, the Shepherd islands' small volcanic peaks, the Banks' Gaua and Vanua Lava, the Hideaway Island's underwater post office (2003) |
| The country | The 'land standing up' in five pictures — Tanna's Mount Yasur at night (the red fountains of the lava over the crater's rim), the land divers of Pentecost (the naghol's wooden towers and the vines), the custom villages of Malekula and Tanna (the kastom dress, the nakamal's kava at dusk), Port Vila's harbor and the market's fruit, Santo's Champagne Beach and the blue holes; the sand drawings and the slit drums (the tamtams) of Ambrym |
People
| Population | 300,019 by the census of 2020 (the National Statistics Office) — about 320,000–335,000 by the 2025–26 estimates (both stated); the counts since 1967 (77,988 by the Condominium's first census), 111,251 in 1979, 142,419 in 1989, 186,678 in 1999, 234,023 in 2009, 272,459 in 2016 (the mini-census after Pam); the provinces by the 2020 census — Shefa about 107,000, Sanma about 59,000, Tafea about 45,000, Malampa about 41,000, Penama about 33,000, Torba about 11,000 (rounded); Port Vila about 50,000 and Luganville about 18,000 |
|---|---|
| Growth rate | About 2.3–2.5% a year by the census's 2016–2020 rate and the estimates (both stated) — among the Pacific's fastest; the young families and the falling deaths; the seasonal labor abroad (the Australian and the New Zealand programs) the outflow's main line rather than the migration for good |
| Fertility rate | About 3.5–3.8 children per woman by the 2020 census and the estimates (both stated) — down from about 6 in the 1970s; the rural women's higher rates, Port Vila's about 3 |
| Life expectancy | About 70–72 years at birth by the estimates (the women about 73–74, the men about 68–70; both stated); the non-communicable diseases rising (the diabetes, the heart disease — the diets' shift to the rice and the tinned food), the malaria's decline (Aneityum's elimination by the usual line), the tuberculosis; the COVID's first community spread of March 2022 (about 14–20 deaths by the counts, both stated) |
| Age structure | 0–14 years about 36–38%, 15–64 about 58–60%, 65 and over about 4% by the 2020 census (both ranges stated) — the median age about 20–21; the youth's job shortage in Port Vila and the seasonal work abroad |
| Urbanization | About 24–25% urban by the 2020 census (Port Vila and Luganville; the peri-urban settlements of the islanders from Tanna, Ambrym and Paama — Blacksands, Ohlen, Seaside, Freswota) — the urban growth about 3–4% a year; about 75% rural in the villages |
| Ethnic groups | The ni-Vanuatu (Melanesians) about 99% of the citizens by the 2020 census — the many island peoples and their custom areas (the Nambas of Malekula, the Sa of Pentecost, the Tannese of the kastom villages), the Polynesian-speaking outliers (Futuna, Aniwa, the Mele and the Ifira of Efate, Emae); the Europeans (the French and the British descendants), the Chinese (the trade families of Luganville and Port Vila, the new arrivals of the 2010s–20s), the Vietnamese (the 1920s' indentured laborers' descendants), the Fijians and the other Pacific islanders |
| Languages | Bislama (the national language; the English-lexified creole — about 97% of the people speaking it, the first language of a growing share in the towns), English and French (the official and the education languages — the anglophone and the francophone school streams of the Condominium's legacy; the language's political divide of the Vanua'aku Pati and the UMP), about 110–138 indigenous Oceanic languages by the counts (both stated; among them the Raga of Pentecost, the Lenakel and the Kwamera of Tanna, the Uripiv of Malekula, the South Efate) — the world's highest language density per person |
| Religion | Christian about 93–95% by the 2020 census (the Presbyterian Church of Vanuatu about 27–28% — the largest, from the 1848 Aneityum mission of John Geddie; the Anglicans of the Melanesian Mission (1849) about 12–15%; the Seventh-day Adventists about 12–14%; the Catholics of the Marist mission about 12%; the Church of Christ, the Assemblies of God, the Pentecostal and the other churches), the kastom beliefs of some Tanna and Malekula villages (both the share's census figure and the churches' figures stated), the John Frum and the Prince Philip movements of Tanna (the Yaohnanen villagers' veneration of the Duke of Edinburgh — the visit of the chiefs to Windsor in 2007; his death mourned on 9 April 2021) |
| Health | The Ministry of Health's hospitals (the Vila Central Hospital — the main referral hospital, the Northern Provincial Hospital of Luganville, the Lenakel hospital of Tanna) and the health centers and the aid posts of the islands; the doctors about 0.2 per 1,000 people by the counts (the Cuban-trained ni-Vanuatu doctors of the 2010s–20s); the health spending about 3–4% of GDP; the overseas referrals to Australia and New Zealand; the Vila Central Hospital's rebuild after the December 2024 quake |
| Education | The free primary schooling of the 2010 fee-free policy (Year 1 to Year 6; the anglophone and the francophone streams); the literacy about 85–89% by the estimates (both stated); the University of the South Pacific's Emalus campus (Port Vila; the law school), the National University of Vanuatu (2019 — the first national university), the Vanuatu Institute of Technology, the Vanuatu Agriculture College of Santo; the secondary enrollment's gaps of the outer islands |
| Migrants and diaspora | The seasonal workers — the largest Pacific sender to New Zealand's seasonal employer program (the RSE; 2007) and a large one to Australia's Pacific labor mobility program (the PALM) — about 10,000–15,000 workers abroad a year by the counts (both stated; the remittances about 10–20% of GDP by the relays, both ends stated); the 'blackbirding' descendants of the 1863–1906 labor trade in Queensland (the Australian South Sea Islanders) and in Fiji, Samoa and New Caledonia; the ni-Vanuatu in New Caledonia (about 2,500–3,000) |
| Social indicators | The 'basic needs' poverty about 15–20% by the national lines (both stated) and the subsistence farming's safety net (the custom land and the gardens — the 'happiest country' of the Happy Planet Index of 2006, the index's first edition); the unemployment of the youth in the towns; the women's political representation among the world's lowest (one woman in the 2025 Parliament; the reserved seats in the municipal councils of 2013 onward) |
| Cities and provinces | Six provinces (since 1994; the 11 local government regions of 1985–1994 before them) — Torba, Sanma, Penama, Malampa, Shefa, Tafea — each with an elected provincial council and a president (the electoral college's members for the President of the Republic); the municipalities of Port Vila (the Port Vila Municipal Council) and Luganville; the area councils of the islands; the custom chiefs' councils (the Malvatumauri at the national level, the island and the area councils of chiefs) |
| Names and customs | The custom (kastom) — the grade-taking ceremonies of the chiefs (the Nimangki of Malekula and Ambrym — the tusked pigs' killing), the kava of the nakamal (the men's meeting house) at dusk, the naghol land diving of Pentecost, the Toka dance of Tanna, the Rom dance of Ambrym (the masks), the sand drawings, the slit drums (the tamtams of Ambrym), the pig's tusk as the wealth, the custom land (the constitution's Article 73 — the land belongs to the custom owners), the bride price, the 'wantok' system of the kin's support; the names of the Christian, the English, the French and the island roots |
| Media and sport culture | The Vanuatu Daily Post (the main daily; 1993 as the Trading Post), the Vanuatu Independent, the government's Vanuatu Broadcasting and Television Corporation (VBTC; Radio Vanuatu and Television Blong Vanuatu), the private Buzz FM; the Facebook groups the public square (the Yumi Toktok Stret); the press freedom's ranks of the region's upper half by the RSF's line; the football's following (the Port Vila Football League — Erakor Golden Star, Tafea FC, Amicale, Galaxy), the beach volleyball, the cricket of the Vanuatu Cricket Association, the Melanesian Cup |
Government
| System | Unitary parliamentary republic under the constitution of 1980 — the President the ceremonial head of state (five years; the electoral college of the 52 MPs and the six provincial council presidents — a two-thirds majority needed in the first rounds), the Prime Minister elected by the Parliament (the head of the government; the Council of Ministers of up to a quarter of the MPs), the unicameral Parliament of 52, the Malvatumauri National Council of Chiefs (the custom and the land's advisory body); the coalition politics of many small parties — about 30 changes of prime minister since 1980 by the counts; the 2024 amendments against the party-hopping (the referendum of 29 May 2024) |
|---|---|
| Head of state | President Nikenike Vurobaravu (since 23 July 2022; the Vanua'aku Pati) — born 3 December 1951; the diplomat and the adviser; elected in the eighth round with 47 of 58 votes; the dissolution of the Parliament on 18 November 2024 at Prime Minister Salwai's request (the opposition's challenge and the court's upholding — both lines stated, LAW 2); the term to July 2027 (the next presidential election by the electoral college in mid-2027) |
| Head of government | Prime Minister Jotham Napat (since 11 February 2025; the Leaders Party of Vanuatu) — the Council of Ministers of the coalition of 27 January 2025 (the Leaders Party, the Vanua'aku Pati, the Reunification Movement for Change, the Iauko Group, the Land and Justice Party); the Deputy Prime Minister and the ministers of the Finance and Economic Management, the Foreign Affairs, the Internal Affairs, the Climate Change; the survival of the no-confidence motion of 19 December 2025 (36 to 12; the Court of Appeal's ruling that the Speaker's block was unconstitutional); the Nakamal Agreement with Australia (signed in Canberra in late June 2026); the independent inquiry promised after the MV Matui's sinking (September 2026) |
| Legislature | The Parliament of Vanuatu (unicameral; 52 members, four years) — the 13th Parliament from the snap election of 16 January 2025: the Leaders Party 9, the Vanua'aku Pati 7, the Union of Moderate Parties 6, the Iauko Group 6, the Rural Development Party 6, the Reunification Movement for Change 5, the Land and Justice Party 5, the National United Party, the Laverwo, the Nagriamel, the Green Confederation, the Progressive Development, the Ngwasoanda and the Namarakieana 1 each, an independent 1; Speaker Stephen Dorrick Felix (11 February 2025); one woman MP; the next general election due by early 2029 |
| Parties | The Leaders Party of Vanuatu (Napat's; 2020s), the Vanua'aku Pati (1971 — the independence party of Walter Lini; anglophone roots), the Union of Moderate Parties (UMP; 1970s — the francophone roots, Kalsakau's), the Reunification Movement for Change (RMC; Salwai's), the Iauko Group (Tanna), the Rural Development Party, the Land and Justice Party (the Graon mo Jastis Pati; 2010), the National United Party (Lini's split of 1991), the Nagriamel (Jimmy Stevens's Santo movement of the 1960s), the Green Confederation and the others; about 15 parties in the 2025 Parliament |
| Judiciary | The Supreme Court (the Chief Justice and the puisne judges; the original jurisdiction) and the Court of Appeal (the Supreme Court's judges with the visiting judges of the region; the 2025 ruling on the no-confidence motion), the Magistrates' Courts, the Island Courts (the custom law's cases), the Customary Land Tribunals and the Land Court (2014 reforms); the common law and the French civil law's mixed heritage of the Condominium, the custom law under the constitution; the Ombudsman and the Public Prosecutor |
| Administrative divisions | Six provinces — Torba (Sola), Sanma (Luganville), Penama (Saratamata), Malampa (Lakatoro), Shefa (Port Vila), Tafea (Isangel) — each with an elected provincial council and a secretary-general; the municipalities of Port Vila and Luganville (the elected councils with the reserved women's seats of 2013); the area councils (about 70 by the counts); the custom councils of chiefs |
| Constitution and rights | The constitution of 1980 (the trilingual text; the 'Christian principles' and the Melanesian values of the preamble; the custom land's ownership — Article 73 — and the land's return to the custom owners at independence); the rights — the free press of the region's upper ranks by the RSF's line, the free elections (the Commonwealth observers' reports), the women's under-representation, the citizenship sales' transparency debate (both stated, LAW 2); the 2024 amendments (the party discipline and the MPs' seats); Freedom House's 'Free' (about 82 of 100) by its 2025 report |
| Military | No regular army — the Vanuatu Mobile Force (VMF; the paramilitary wing of the Vanuatu Police Force — about 300 personnel by the counts; the 1980 Santo's restoration of the order with the Papua New Guinea troops) and the Police Maritime Wing (the patrol boat RVS Takuare of 2021 from Australia's Pacific Maritime Security Program); the defense by the partners' agreements — the Nakamal Agreement of June 2026 with Australia (the bar on any foreign military base or infrastructure; Australia the primary policing partner), the police cooperation with China (the 2022–23 support) and with France and New Zealand |
| Foreign relations | The Melanesian Spearhead Group's host (Port Vila); the Pacific Islands Forum; the climate diplomacy — the UN General Assembly's resolution of 29 March 2023 asking the International Court of Justice for an advisory opinion on the states' climate obligations, the court's unanimous opinion of 23 July 2025 (the 'historic' win of Vanuatu's campaign led by the law students of the University of the South Pacific); Australia (the Nakamal Agreement — A$500 million over the longer term, signed in Canberra on 29–30 June 2026 by the two reports' dates, after Napat's withdrawal from the September 2025 signing over the sovereignty concerns), China (the infrastructure — the Parliament annex, the convention center, the wharf of Luganville, the presidential offices handed over in 2024, by the reports), France and New Zealand, the West Papua's self-determination support (both Indonesia's and the Papuan movement's lines stated, LAW 2), the Matthew and Hunter islands' claim (LAW 2) |
| Police and security | The Vanuatu Police Force (about 600–700 officers by the counts) with the Vanuatu Mobile Force; the Australian and the New Zealand police support programs (the Nakamal Agreement's primacy of 2026); the Chinese police training and equipment of 2022–24; the Maritime Safety Authority (the MV Matui's sinking of 11 September 2026 and the criminal complaints against the Tui Shipping's owners, managers and the master, by the reports); the riots of 2007 (the Tanna–Ambrym clash at Port Vila) and the 2024 earthquake's emergency |
| Elections | The snap general election of 16 January 2025 (moved from 14 January by the earthquake; the turnout 69.09% — 146,631 votes of 212,245 registered); the constitutional referendum of 29 May 2024 (the party-switching amendments approved — about 80% 'yes' by the commission's count; the low turnout); the 2022 election (13 October 2022) and the 2020 election; the next general election due by early 2029 and the presidential vote by the electoral college in mid-2027 |
| The politics of 2024–26 in dates | 29 May 2024 the constitutional referendum; 9 May 2024 Air Vanuatu in voluntary administration (the liquidation of 2024); 18 Nov 2024 the Parliament dissolved; 17 Dec 2024 the Port Vila earthquake (14 dead); 16 Jan 2025 the snap election; 27 Jan 2025 the coalition formed; 11 Feb 2025 Napat elected Prime Minister and Felix Speaker; 23 Jul 2025 the ICJ's climate opinion; Sep 2025 the Nakamal Agreement's signing called off by Napat; 19 Dec 2025 the no-confidence motion defeated (36 to 12); 30 Mar 2026 the Sanma earthquake (magnitude 7.3); 29–30 Jun 2026 the Nakamal Agreement signed in Canberra; 30 Jul 2026 the 46th Independence Day; 25 Aug 2026 Manaro Voui's eruption (by the reports); 11 Sep 2026 the MV Matui sinks (53 aboard; 14 rescued, 2 bodies found, 37 missing); 18 Sep 2026 the search ended; 27 Sep 2026 the national memorial (by the reports) |
| Current issues | The ferry safety after the MV Matui (the independent inquiry; the inter-island shipping's regulation), the earthquakes' reconstruction (Port Vila 2024; Sanma 2026), the citizenship-by-investment sales (the 2025 receipts of VT 11.7 billion in nine months — 154% of the target, by the reports; the EU's suspension of the visa-free travel over the program, partial of 2022–23 and wider later, by the reports — the revenue line and the integrity concern both stated, LAW 2), the Nakamal Agreement's implementation and the China ties, the climate's loss and damage (the ICJ opinion's follow-up), the airline after Air Vanuatu's collapse, the 2027 presidential vote |
Economy
| GDP (nominal) | About US$1.1–1.3 billion (2025–26 by the IMF's and the World Bank's relays, both stated) — about US$3,200–3,600 a head; about VT 140–150 billion by the national accounts (the nine-month 2025 surplus of VT 9.97 billion equal to 6.8% of GDP by the reports); the lower-middle-income economy (the graduation from the UN's least-developed list on 4 December 2020) |
|---|---|
| GDP (PPP) | About US$1.2–1.4 billion by purchasing power (the IMF's relayed lines; both stated) — about US$3,500–4,000 a head; among the Pacific's small economies (smaller than Fiji, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands; larger than Samoa and Tonga) |
| Growth and inflation | The growth of 3.7% in 2025 by the Reserve Bank (broad-based) against about 2.2% by the IMF's estimate (both stated); the 2026 forecast of about 3.9% (the fastest since 2017, by the reports) with the reconstruction and the infrastructure; the 2024 contraction after the Air Vanuatu collapse and the December quake (the region's slowest recovery by the reports); the inflation of 3.3% (September 2025) and 0.8% (the December quarter of 2025) with about 1.5% projected for 2026 by the Reserve Bank (the figures' periods stated); about 11–12% in 2023 (the post-cyclone peak) |
| Monetary policy and the vatu | The Reserve Bank of Vanuatu (Governor August Letlet) — the vatu's basket peg (the undisclosed weights of the trading partners' currencies; the Australian, the U.S. and the New Zealand dollars, the euro and the yen by the usual reading); the policy rate of 2.75% and the statutory reserve deposit of 5.5% (March 2026); the inflation target of 0–4%; the reserves of VT 82.55 billion (March 2026; above the 4 months of imports); the vatu about 113–120 to the U.S. dollar in 2025–26 (5% firmer on the year to February 2026, 8.3% weaker on the Australian dollar — the bank's line), about 0.73–0.78 Indian rupees to the vatu |
| Public finances | No income tax, no corporate tax and no capital gains tax (the tax haven's tradition) — the VAT of 15% (from 2018; 12.5% from 1998), the import duties and the excise; the citizenship-by-investment receipts (the 'Development Support Program' and the 'Vanuatu Contribution Program' — the single largest line of the 'other revenue' by the reports; VT 11.7 billion in the first nine months of 2025); the 2026 budget of VT 64 billion (the largest in the country's history; 19% above the 2025 plan, by the reports); the public debt expected to fall below 45% of GDP by the reports (about 40–50% by the relays — both stated); the China's Exim Bank loans of the infrastructure; the budget support of Australia and New Zealand |
| Structure and labor | Services about 60–65% of GDP (the tourism, the government, the trade, the finance and the citizenship sales), agriculture about 20–25% (the subsistence gardens — about two-thirds of the households by the counts — the copra, the kava, the beef, the cocoa), industry about 8–10% (the food processing, the construction); the formal jobs about 30,000–40,000 by the counts; the seasonal labor abroad (about 10,000–15,000 a year) the youth's outlet; the private credit growth of 1.8% a year (by the reports) |
| Trade | The goods exports about US$60–80 million a year by the counts (both stated) — the kava (the top export in the 2020s; to Fiji, New Caledonia, the United States and the islands' diaspora), the copra and the coconut oil, the beef (to Japan, the Pacific and the EU), the cocoa, the coffee, the timber, the fish; the imports about US$350–450 million (the fuel, the food, the machinery, the vehicles); the trade deficit financed by the tourism, the remittances, the aid and the citizenship sales; the partners — Australia, China, New Zealand, Fiji, New Caledonia, Japan, the EU; the WTO's member since 2012 and the PACER Plus agreement (2020) |
| Agriculture | The subsistence gardens of the yam, the taro, the manioc, the sweet potato and the banana (about 75% of the people's food by the counts); the coconuts and the copra (about 40,000–60,000 metric tons in the good years; the plantations of the Condominium); the kava (the noble varieties of the Kava Act of 2002; the export boom of the 2020s), the cattle (about 150,000–200,000 head — the Santo beef grazing under the coconuts; the organic beef's niche), the cocoa (Malekula's fine flavor), the coffee (Tanna's), the vanilla, the peanuts, the fishing; the cyclones' losses (Pam of 2015, Harold of 2020) |
| Industry | The food processing (the copra mills, the kava processing, the abattoirs of Port Vila and Luganville — the beef canning), the Tusker beer brewery (1990), the construction (the reconstruction after the 2023 cyclones and the 2024 and 2026 quakes), the small manufacturing; the financial center and the ship registry (the Vanuatu Maritime Services' flag of convenience; the offshore companies' register — the Vanuatu Financial Services Commission); the citizenship sales' agents |
| Tourism | The visitors' rebound after the border's reopening of July 2022 — the air arrivals of July 2025 up 130% on July 2024 after the Air Vanuatu collapse's slump, the 2026 forecast of about 116,000 holiday arrivals by air (still about 4% below the pre-2020 level, by the reports) plus the cruise passengers (about 200,000–250,000 a year before the pandemic by the counts); Port Vila, Santo's beaches and the Coolidge wreck dive, Tanna's Mount Yasur, the Pentecost land diving (April–June), the Hideaway Island's underwater post office; the visitors mostly from Australia, New Zealand and New Caledonia |
| Energy | The electricity about 30–40% renewable by the counts (both stated) — the wind farm of Devil's Point (Efate; 2009), the solar farms and the mini-grids, the coconut oil's biofuel trials, the Sarakata hydro of Santo; the diesel the rest (the fuel imports); the grid concessions of UNELCO (Engie's company; Efate, Malekula, Tanna) and the Vanuatu Utilities and Infrastructure (VUI; Luganville) — the Port Vila concession's handover dispute of 2024–25 by the reports; the target of 100% renewable power by 2030 in the national energy road map |
| Banks and markets | The Reserve Bank of Vanuatu; the commercial banks — the National Bank of Vanuatu (the state's; 1991), the Bank South Pacific (BSP; the ANZ's former operations), Bred Bank Vanuatu (French), the Pacific Mutual and the credit unions; the Vanuatu Financial Services Commission's offshore regime (the FATF's 'gray list' of 2016–18; the tax haven's reputation and the reforms' line both stated, LAW 2); no stock exchange (the plans of the 2020s); the mobile money (the M-Vatu) |
| Infrastructure projects | The Port Vila Lapetasi multi-purpose wharf (2018; the cruise ships' and the cargo's), the Luganville Champagne wharf (the China-built wharf of 2017), the Efate Ring Road (2011), the Bauerfield airport's runway rebuild (2021; the World Bank's), the Santo–East Coast road, the Tanna and the Malekula roads, the Port Vila's water supply and the urban roads after the 2024 quake, the Chinese-built government buildings (the presidential offices and the ministries, by the reports), the Australian-funded Nakamal Agreement's projects (2026) |
| Poverty and inequality | The 'basic needs' poverty about 15–20% by the national lines (both stated) and the hardship of the urban settlements of Port Vila; the subsistence safety net of the custom land; the Gini about 0.32–0.38 by the estimates (both stated); the outer islands' gaps in the water, the power, the schools and the clinics; the cyclone and the quake recovery's burdens |
| Economic history in brief | The sandalwood trade of Erromango and Tanna (the 1820s–1860s), the blackbirding labor trade to Queensland and Fiji (1863–1906), the planters' copra and the cotton of the Condominium (the French and the British settlers' land claims), the American wartime boom of Santo (1942–45; the 'million-dollar point' where the U.S. Army dumped its surplus into the sea), the tax haven of 1971 onward, the independence's land return (1980), the vatu of 1981, the tourism growth of the 1990s–2010s, the Pam's devastation (2015), the citizenship sales' boom (2017 onward), the pandemic's border closure (March 2020 – July 2022), the cyclones of 2023, the Air Vanuatu collapse and the Port Vila quake (2024), the 2025–26 rebound |
Transport
| Roads | About 1,070–1,500 km of roads by the counts (both stated; about a quarter sealed) — the Efate Ring Road (about 130 km; 2011, the U.S. Millennium Challenge Corporation), the Santo East Coast road (Luganville–Port Olry), the Tanna roads (Lenakel–Whitesands), the Malekula road; the minibuses ('B' plates) and the trucks of the islands; no road links between the islands |
|---|---|
| Rail | None — no railway has ever operated in Vanuatu (the plantations' small tramways of the Condominium aside, by the usual line) |
| Town transport | Port Vila's minibuses (the private 'bus' vans with the 'B' plates — the flat fare across the town; about 1,000–1,500 by the counts), the taxis ('T' plates), the trucks of the outer islands; Luganville's minibuses; no public bus system; the water taxis of the Port Vila harbor and the Erakor lagoon |
| Air | Bauerfield International Airport (VLI; Port Vila — the runway rebuilt in 2021), Santo-Pekoa International (SON; Luganville — the World War II base field), White Grass (Tanna; the international flights' plans) and about 30 domestic airstrips (Norsup, Lamap, Craig Cove, Longana, Sola, Aneityum); Air Vanuatu (1981 — the national airline put into voluntary administration on 9 May 2024 and liquidated; its domestic arm's continuation) — the foreign carriers Qantas, Virgin Australia, Fiji Airways, Air New Zealand, Solomon Airlines and Aircalin linking the islands |
| Ports and waterways | The ports of Port Vila (the Lapetasi wharf and the cruise wharf) and Luganville (the Champagne wharf; the deep-water port of the north); the inter-island shipping of the private ferries and the cargo boats (the MV Matui's sinking between Santo and Ambae on 11 September 2026 — 53 aboard, 14 rescued, two bodies found and 37 missing, the search ended on 18 September; the criminal complaints against the Tui Shipping company and the master, by the reports), the government's shipping support scheme (the Vanuatu Inter-Island Shipping Support Project); the ship registry of the Vanuatu Maritime Services (the foreign-owned flags) |
| Energy and utilities | UNELCO (the Union Électrique du Vanuatu; the Engie concession of Efate, Malekula, Tanna and Ambae — the Port Vila concession's expiry and the Vanuatu Utilities and Infrastructure's takeover talks of 2024–25 by the reports) and VUI (Luganville), the Utilities Regulatory Authority (2008); the water supply — UNELCO's Port Vila water and the Department of Water's rural systems; the telecoms of Digicel and Vodafone (the Interchange and the Tamtam submarine cables) |
| Border crossings and bridges | No land borders — the entry by the air (Bauerfield, Pekoa) and by the sea (Port Vila, Luganville, the cruise anchorages of Mystery Island, Champagne Beach, Wala and Pentecost); the bridges of the Efate Ring Road and the Santo roads (the Teouma and the Sarakata bridges); the Australian-funded rebuilds after the 2024 and the 2026 quakes |
History in dates
| c. 1100 BCE – 500 BCE | The Lapita voyagers' arrival (about 3,000–3,200 years ago by the radiocarbon dates) — the Teouma cemetery of Efate (found in 2003; the oldest cemetery of the Pacific islands, the Lapita pots and the headless burials), the decorated Lapita pottery of the islands, the first settlers' Austronesian languages; the extinct giant land tortoises and the crocodiles hunted out by the first settlers (the Teouma finds) |
|---|---|
| 500 BCE – 1400 | The Erueti and the Mangaasi pottery traditions (the post-Lapita cultures), the islands' gardens and the pigs, the growth of the many languages and the chiefly systems (the grade-taking of the north, the hereditary chiefs of the south and the center), the trade and the marriage networks between the islands; the Polynesian back-migration to Futuna, Aniwa, Mele and Emae (about 1,000 years ago by the usual line) |
| 1400 – 1605 | The Kuwae caldera's eruption (about 1452–53 by the usual dating — the Tongoa and the Epi split by the oral history's line; the global cooling's signal in the ice cores — the date and the scale debated, both stated); Chief Roi Mata of Efate (about 1600 — the peace-maker chief whose burial on Artok island, with about 50 retainers, became the UNESCO domain of 2008) |
| 1606 – 1773 | Pedro Fernández de Quirós's Spanish expedition at Big Bay of Santo (May 1606) — 'Austrialia del Espiritu Santo', the New Jerusalem settlement's short stay (the Jordan River); the 420th anniversary of 2026; Louis Antoine de Bougainville's visit (1768; the 'Great Cyclades') |
| 1774 – 1839 | James Cook's charting of the islands (July–September 1774; the 'New Hebrides'; Port Resolution of Tanna named after his ship; the Mount Yasur's glow seen from the sea); the sandalwood traders of Erromango and Tanna (the 1820s onward — the conflicts and the killings); the missionary John Williams killed on Erromango (20 November 1839) |
| 1840 – 1862 | The Presbyterian mission of John Geddie on Aneityum (1848) and the Melanesian Mission of the Anglicans (Bishop Selwyn's of 1849); the Gordon missionaries killed on Erromango (1861); the epidemics of the measles, the dysentery and the smallpox — the population's collapse (from about 1 million by one estimate or a few hundred thousand by others to about 40,000 by the 1930s — both stated, LAW 2) |
| 1863 – 1905 | The blackbirding — the labor recruitment, often by the force or the deception, of about 40,000 ni-Vanuatu for the Queensland and the Fiji plantations (1863–1906; the 'kanaka' trade — the recruitment's coercion and the voluntary contracts' line both stated, LAW 2); the British and the French settlers' land claims (the Société Française des Nouvelles-Hébrides of 1882); the Anglo-French Joint Naval Commission (1887) |
| 1906 – 1940 | The Anglo-French Condominium of the New Hebrides (20 October 1906; the Protocol of 1914 ratified in 1922) — the 'Pandemonium' of the two Resident Commissioners, the two police forces, the two currencies, the two school systems and the Joint Court; the Tonkinese (Vietnamese) laborers of the French plantations (the 1920s–30s); the Spanish flu (1919); the Free French alignment of 1940 (the first French territory to join de Gaulle by the usual line, 20 July 1940) |
| 1941 – 1945 | World War II — the American bases of Efate and Espiritu Santo (from 1942; about 100,000–500,000 U.S. servicemen passing through Santo by the counts, both stated — the Luganville base for the Guadalcanal campaign; James Michener's 'Tales of the South Pacific' of 1947 written there); the SS President Coolidge sunk by the friendly mines off Luganville (26 October 1942); the John Frum movement's rise on Tanna (from about 1940; the U.S. troops' cargo); the 'Million Dollar Point' of 1945 |
| 1946 – 1970 | The postwar Condominium; the Nagriamel movement of Jimmy Stevens on Santo (the 1960s; the land rights against the planters); the first local councils; the manganese mine of Forari (1962–1978); the first census (1967 — 77,988); the tax haven law (1971) |
| 1971 – 1979 | The New Hebrides National Party (1971; the Vanua'aku Pati from 1977) of Father Walter Lini; the Representative Assembly (1975 — the first elections); the Vanua'aku Pati's boycott and the 'People's Provisional Government' (1977); the constitutional conference and the constitution of 5 October 1979; the election of November 1979 (the Vanua'aku Pati's majority) |
| 1980 | The Santo rebellion — the 'Coconut War' (May–August 1980; Jimmy Stevens's Nagriamel and the 'Republic of Vemerana' declared on 28 May 1980, backed by the American Phoenix Foundation and some French settlers — the secession's 'land rights' line and the government's 'foreign-funded rebellion' line both stated, LAW 2); the independence of 30 July 1980 (Walter Lini the first Prime Minister, George Sokomanu the first President); the Papua New Guinea troops' restoration of Santo (August 1980; Stevens's arrest on 31 August) |
| 1981 – 1991 | The vatu (1 January 1981); the UN's membership (15 September 1981); Lini's 'Melanesian socialism' and the non-alignment (the Non-Aligned Movement of 1983, the ties with Libya and Cuba, the nuclear-free Pacific); the Sokomanu's attempt to dismiss Lini and the constitutional crisis (December 1988); Cyclone Uma (1987); Lini's ouster by his party (1991) |
| 1991 – 1999 | Maxime Carlot Korman (the UMP) the first francophone Prime Minister (1991–1995 and 1996); the coalition era of the many prime ministers (Serge Vohor, Donald Kalpokas); the Vanuatu Mobile Force's mutiny and the brief kidnapping of the President and the Deputy Prime Minister (October 1996); Walter Lini's death (21 February 1999); the Penama earthquake and the tsunami of November 1999 |
| 2000 – 2009 | The Lake Siwi's drainage on Tanna (2000); Edward Natapei's governments; Ham Lini's (2004–2008; Walter Lini's brother); the Tanna–Ambrym riots of Port Vila (March 2007); the Prince Philip movement's chiefs at Windsor (2007); the Chief Roi Mata's Domain on UNESCO's list (2008); the census of 2009 (234,023) |
| 2010 – 2014 | The coalition swings (Sato Kilman, Serge Vohor, Edward Natapei — the rulings on the prime ministers' elections of 2011); the Efate Ring Road (2011); the WTO's membership (24 August 2012); the Moana Carcasses Kalosil government (2013–14; the citizenship sales' start of the 2010s); the Hideaway's underwater post office's fame; the 2014 cable |
| 2015 | Cyclone Pam (13–14 March 2015; Category 5 — 11–16 dead by the counts, both stated; about two-thirds of the population affected, the damage about 64% of GDP by the World Bank's line); the bribery convictions of 14 MPs including the Deputy Prime Minister (October 2015) — the pardon by the acting President Marcellino Pipite (the Speaker) and its revocation by the courts; the snap election called |
| 2016 – 2019 | The snap election (22 January 2016) and Charlot Salwai's government (2016–2020); the mini-census (2016 — 272,459); the Ambae's evacuations (September 2017 and July 2018 — all of about 11,000 people moved; the Manaro Voui's ash and the acid rain); the Ambrym's eruption and the earthquake (December 2018); the citizenship sales' growth; the National University's founding (2019) |
| 2020 – 2021 | The pandemic's border closure (March 2020 – July 2022; the COVID-free status until November 2020's first case); Cyclone Harold (6 April 2020; Category 5 — Santo, Pentecost and Malo); Bob Loughman's government (20 April 2020); the census (November 2020 — 300,019); the graduation from the UN's least-developed countries (4 December 2020); the Prince Philip's death mourned on Tanna (April 2021) |
| 2022 | The first community spread of COVID (March 2022); the border's reopening (July 2022); the President's election of Nikenike Vurobaravu (23 July 2022); the Parliament's dissolution by Loughman (August 2022) and the election of 13 October 2022; Ishmael Kalsakau the Prime Minister (4 November 2022); the security agreement with Australia signed (December 2022; the opposition's sovereignty objections — both stated, LAW 2) |
| 2023 | The twin cyclones Judy and Kevin (28 February – 3 March 2023; the state of emergency), the UN General Assembly's ICJ request of 29 March 2023 (Vanuatu's campaign); the political crisis — Kalsakau ousted (4 September 2023) for Sato Kilman, Kilman ousted (6 October 2023) for Charlot Salwai; Cyclone Lola (October 2023 — the earliest Category 5 of a South Pacific season by the usual line) |
| 2024 | The constitutional referendum (29 May 2024; the party-switching rules); Air Vanuatu's voluntary administration (9 May 2024) and its liquidation; the China-built presidential offices handed over (by the reports); the Parliament's dissolution (18 November 2024) at Salwai's request; the Port Vila earthquake (17 December 2024; magnitude 7.3 — 14 dead, the town center, the U.S. and the other embassies' building and the bridges damaged) |
| 2025 (January – June) | The snap election (16 January 2025; turnout 69.09%); the coalition's formation (27 January); Jotham Napat elected Prime Minister with 50 votes (11 February 2025) and Stephen Felix the Speaker; the reconstruction of Port Vila; the citizenship receipts' boom (VT 11.7 billion by September, by the reports) |
| 2025 (July – December) | The International Court of Justice's unanimous advisory opinion on the climate obligations (23 July 2025 — the Vanuatu-led request); the 45th Independence Day (30 July); Napat's withdrawal from the Nakamal Agreement's signing over the sovereignty concerns (September 2025); the inflation of 3.3% (September); the Court of Appeal's ruling on the Speaker's block and the no-confidence motion's defeat (19 December 2025; 36 to 12) |
| 2026 (January – June) | The 2026 budget of VT 64 billion (the largest, by the reports); the Reserve Bank's 2.75% rate (March); the Sanma earthquake (30 March 2026 at 7:44 pm local time; magnitude 7.3, about 122 km deep — the landslides of northeast Malekula and the strong shaking of Santo; the 29 March date of the UTC-based reports — both stated); the 420th anniversary of Quirós's Santo landing (May); the Nakamal Agreement signed in Canberra by Napat and Australia's Albanese (29–30 June 2026 by the two reports' dates; A$500 million; no foreign military base) |
| 2026 (July – October) | The 46th Independence Day (30 July 2026); the magnitude 6.1 earthquake off the islands (16 August 2026); Manaro Voui's eruption on Ambae (25 August 2026, by the reports); the MV Matui's sinking between Santo and Ambae (11 September 2026 — 53 aboard, 14 rescued, two bodies, 37 missing; the search ended on 18 September; the criminal complaints against Tui Shipping and the master; Napat's UN visit canceled; the independent inquiry; the national memorial of 27 September — by the reports) |
| The prime ministers in brief | Walter Lini (1980–1991), Donald Kalpokas (1991), Maxime Carlot Korman (1991–95, 1996), Serge Vohor (1995–96, 1996–98, 2004, 2011), Donald Kalpokas (1998–99), Barak Sopé (1999–2001), Edward Natapei (2001–04, 2008–10, 2011), Ham Lini (2004–08), Sato Kilman (2010–11, 2011–13, 2015–16, 2023), Moana Carcasses Kalosil (2013–14), Joe Natuman (2014–15), Charlot Salwai (2016–20, 2023–25), Bob Loughman (2020–22), Ishmael Kalsakau (2022–23), Jotham Napat (2025–) — the coalitions' 'musical chairs' (both the instability's critics and the coalition democracy's defenders stated) |
| The presidents in brief | George Sokomanu (Ati George Sokomanu; 1980–1989), Fred Timakata (1989–1994), Jean-Marie Léyé Lenelgau (1994–1999), John Bani (1999–2004), Alfred Masing Nalo (2004 — removed by the court within weeks), Kalkot Mataskelekele (2004–2009), Iolu Abil (2009–2014), Baldwin Lonsdale (2014–2017; died in office), Tallis Obed Moses (2017–2022), Nikenike Vurobaravu (2022–) |
| The disasters in brief | The Kuwae eruption (about 1452–53; LAW 2 on the dating), the epidemics of the 19th century, the cyclones Uma (1987), Prema (1993), Ivy (2004), Pam (2015), Harold (2020), Judy and Kevin (2023), Lola (2023); the quakes of 1999 (Penama), 2002 (Port Vila), 2024 (Port Vila) and 2026 (Sanma); the Ambae evacuation (2018); the MV Matui's sinking (2026) |
Records
| The languages' records | About 110–138 indigenous languages for about 300,000–335,000 people (both counts stated) — the world's highest language density per person by the usual line; Bislama the national creole; the three official languages (Bislama, English, French) — one of the few states with a creole as a national and official language |
|---|---|
| The volcanoes and the quakes | Mount Yasur of Tanna — among the world's most accessible active volcanoes (the visitors at the crater rim; the continuous Strombolian eruptions for at least 800 years by the usual line); the Ambrym's twin lava lakes of Marum and Benbow (among the few lava lakes of the world until December 2018); about nine active volcanoes (six on land, three under the sea by the usual count); the New Hebrides Trench (about 7,600 m); the magnitude-7 quakes of 2024 and 2026 |
| The disasters' records | The world's highest disaster risk by the WorldRiskReport's index in most of its editions; Cyclone Pam (2015) among the strongest of the South Pacific (about 250 km/h of the sustained winds); the whole-island evacuation of Ambae (2018); the two Category 5 cyclones in a week (Judy and Kevin, 2023) and the earliest Category 5 of a season (Lola, October 2023) by the usual line |
| The firsts of the state | The world's only condominium colony of two powers (1906–1980); the climate case that took the International Court of Justice's advisory opinion (23 July 2025); the first Pacific state on the Non-Aligned Movement (1983); the Happy Planet Index's first 'happiest' (2006); the underwater post office (Hideaway Island, 2003 — the world's first by the usual line); the Teouma's oldest Pacific islands' cemetery (about 3,000 years) |
| The land diving | The naghol of Pentecost — the men jumping from the wooden towers of about 20–30 m with the vines tied to the ankles (the yam harvest's rite of April–June) — the ancestor of the bungee jumping by the usual line (A. J. Hackett's inspiration of the 1980s); the women's origin legend; the tourists' viewing fees and the custom owners' rules |
| The custom and the arts | The sand drawings (UNESCO's intangible list — the proclamation of 2003, the inscription of 2008), the slit drums (the tamtams) of Ambrym, the Malekula's and the Ambrym's grade-taking ceremonies, the Rom dance's masks, the tusked pigs (the circular tusks of the 'hermaphrodite' pigs' breeding — the wealth's symbol), the Toka of Tanna, the Fest'Napuan music festival of Port Vila (1996), the string band music |
| The wildlife's records | The coconut crab (the world's largest land arthropod — the protected harvests), the Vanuatu megapode (the endemic bird that buries its eggs in the volcanic soil), the dugong of the Epi's Lamen Bay (the swims with the dugongs), the saltwater crocodiles of Vanua Lava (the world's easternmost wild population), the flying foxes (the endemic Vanuatu flying fox), the reefs' about 300 coral species by the counts |
| The war's marks | The SS President Coolidge (the luxury liner turned troopship; sunk off Luganville on 26 October 1942 — about 200 m long, among the world's largest accessible wreck dives), the Million Dollar Point (the U.S. surplus dumped at the end of the war), the Luganville's Quonset huts and the airfields (the Bomber Field 1 of Pekoa), James Michener's 'Tales of the South Pacific' (the Pulitzer of 1948; the musical 'South Pacific' of 1949 and the 'Bali Ha'i' of Ambae's view) |
| The movements and the beliefs | The John Frum movement of Tanna (the 15 February John Frum Day; the U.S. flags and the drills; the 'cargo cult' of the outsiders' line and the kastom and the political movement of the members' — both stated, LAW 2), the Prince Philip movement of Yaohnanen (Tanna; the chiefs' meeting with the Duke at Windsor in 2007), the Nagriamel of Santo (the 1960s–80 land movement of Jimmy Stevens), the custom villages' rejection of the money economy (the 'kastom' villages of Tanna's interior) |
| The sporting records | The OFC Champions League's finals of Amicale FC (2011, 2014); the beach volleyball's women's team (the Commonwealth Games' and the Pacific Games' medals, by the reports); the Pacific Mini Games' host (Port Vila, December 2017); the 2026 football's World Cup qualifying in the OFC rounds; the cricket's women (the T20 internationals since 2018); the athletes at the Olympics since 1988 (Seoul) |
| The economic records | No income tax, no corporate tax, no capital gains tax; the citizenship sales' receipts the largest single 'other revenue' line (VT 11.7 billion in nine months of 2025, by the reports); the 2026 budget of VT 64 billion (the largest); the kava the top export; the graduation from the UN's least-developed list (4 December 2020); the ship registry's foreign fleet |
| The land and the sea | 83 islands in a chain of about 1,300 km; Espiritu Santo the largest (about 3,956 km²); Mount Tabwemasana (about 1,879 m); Lake Letas of Gaua (about 19 km² — the largest freshwater lake of the island Pacific by the usual line); the Santo's blue holes; the EEZ of about 680,000 km² (about 56 times the land) |
| The small and the strange | The two of everything of the Condominium (the 'Pandemonium'); the Prince Philip's worship on Tanna; the underwater post office's waterproof postcards; the national anthem in Bislama only; the 'Republic of Vemerana' of Santo (1980); the Matthew and Hunter islands' claim against France (LAW 2); the 'B' and the 'T' plates of Port Vila's buses and taxis; the kava bars (the nakamals) as the town's evening life |
| The census and the counts | The censuses of 1967 (77,988), 1979 (111,251), 1989 (142,419), 1999 (186,678), 2009 (234,023), the mini-census of 2016 (272,459) and 2020 (300,019); the estimates of about 320,000–335,000 for 2025–26 (both stated); the languages' counts of 110–138 (both stated); the islands' count of 83 (about 65 inhabited) |
| The empires and the powers | The Spanish (Quirós, 1606), the French (Bougainville, 1768), the British (Cook, 1774), the missionaries (1839 onward), the blackbirders (1863–1906), the Anglo-French Condominium (1906–1980), the Americans of World War II (1942–45), the independence (1980) and the 21st century's partners — Australia (the Nakamal Agreement of 2026), China (the infrastructure and the police support), France and New Zealand |
| The last and the next | The independent inquiry into the MV Matui's sinking (September 2026 onward); the presidential election by the electoral college in mid-2027 (Vurobaravu's term to July 2027); the next general election by early 2029; the Nakamal Agreement's projects; the next census (about 2030); the ICJ opinion's follow-up at the UN and the COP talks |
Frequently asked questions
What is the official name of Vanuatu?
The Republic of Vanuatu (Ripablik blong Vanuatu in Bislama; République de Vanuatu in French) — the state of the independence of 30 July 1980 from the Anglo-French Condominium of the New Hebrides (1906–1980), the world's only colony ruled jointly by Britain and France; the demonym ni-Vanuatu (the people) and Vanuatuan; the Commonwealth's and the Francophonie's member (both), the UN's member of 15 September 1981, the Pacific Islands Forum's, the Melanesian Spearhead Group's (the seat at Port Vila), the WTO's (2012); the champion of the UN General Assembly's request for the International Court of Justice's climate opinion (the opinion of 23 July 2025).
What is the capital of Vanuatu?
Port Vila — the capital and the largest town on the southwest coast of Efate island in Shefa province, about 50,000 people in the town by the 2020 census and about 70,000–80,000 with its suburbs by the estimates (both stated); the seat of the President, the Parliament, the Supreme Court and the Malvatumauri Council of Chiefs; the harbor of the cruise ships, the Port Vila central market, the National Museum (the Kaljoral Senta's collections — the national cultural institution), the Chinese-built government buildings; the earthquake of 17 December 2024 (magnitude 7.3; 14 dead). Luganville on Espiritu Santo the second town.
How big is Vanuatu, and how many people live there?
About 12,189 km² of land (4,706 sq mi; about 12,190–12,280 km² by the counts — both stated) on 83 islands (about 65 inhabited) spread over about 1,300 km north to south — about the size of the Puducherry–Goa pair's six times or of Tripura's 1.2 times, about 0.37% of India's area; the sea zone (the EEZ) about 680,000 km²; 300,019 people by the 2020 census (the National Statistics Office's count) and about 320,000–335,000 by the 2025–26 estimates (both stated); about 25% urban (Port Vila and Luganville).
What are the highest and lowest points of Vanuatu?
Mount Tabwemasana on Espiritu Santo — about 1,879 m (1,877–1,879 m by the surveys, both stated), the summit of the Cumberland range on Santo's west, rarely climbed (the three-day trek through the forest); the active volcanoes — Mount Yasur of Tanna (about 361 m; among the world's most accessible active craters), Benbow and Marum of Ambrym, Manaro Voui of Ambae (its eruptions of 2017–18 and of 25 August 2026, by the reports), Lopevi; the lowest point the Pacific Ocean at sea level (0 m).
What currency does Vanuatu use?
The vatu (VUV; VT; no subunits) — introduced on 1 January 1981 in place of the New Hebrides franc and the Australian dollar; the Reserve Bank of Vanuatu (1980 as the Central Bank; Governor August Letlet) — the vatu pegged to an undisclosed basket of the major trading partners' currencies; about 113–120 vatu to the U.S. dollar by the 2025–26 quotes (the vatu 5% firmer on the U.S. dollar and 8.3% weaker on the Australian dollar on the year to February 2026 by the bank), about 0.73–0.78 Indian rupees to the vatu; the policy rate of 2.75% (March 2026) and the inflation target of 0–4%; the notes of 200 to 10,000 vatu (the polymer series of 2010–2014).
Who governs Vanuatu?
Prime Minister Jotham Napat — born 7 August 1972 on Tanna, the Leaders Party of Vanuatu's leader, elected by Parliament on 11 February 2025 (50 votes and 2 void) after the snap election of 16 January 2025 — the coalition of the Leaders Party, the Vanua'aku Pati, the Reunification Movement for Change, the Iauko Group and the Land and Justice Party; the no-confidence motion of Opposition Leader Ishmael Kalsakau defeated on 19 December 2025 (36 to 12) after the Court of Appeal's order; President Nikenike Vurobaravu (since 23 July 2022; the ceremonial head of state, the term to July 2027); the Parliament of 52 (Speaker Stephen Felix since 11 February 2025); the Malvatumauri National Council of Chiefs.
Explore all general-knowledge topics and the A-to-Z lists.
We Value Your Opinion Comments