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Vanuatu

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Countries; Geography of
Oceania (Australasia)

              Ripablik blong Vanuatu
   République du Vanuatu
   Republic of Vanuatu

   Flag of Vanuatu Coat of arms of Vanuatu
   Flag            Coat of arms
   Motto: "In God we stand"
   Anthem: Yumi, Yumi, Yumi
   Location of Vanuatu
   Capital
   (and largest city)    Port Vila
                         17°45′S 168°18′E
    Official languages   Bislama, English, French
   Government            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 2005 estimate 211,000 ( 183rd)
    - Density            17/km² ( 188th)
                         44/sq mi
        GDP ( PPP)       2005 estimate
    - Total              $726 million ( 175th)
    - Per capita         $3,346 ( 121st)
       HDI  ( 2003)      0.659 (medium) ( 118th)
         Currency        Vanuatu vatu ( VUV)
         Time zone       ( UTC+11)
       Internet TLD      .vu
       Calling code      +678

   Vanuatu, officially the Republic of Vanuatu, is a Melanesian island
   nation located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago is located
   some 1,750 km (1090 mi) east of Australia, 500 km (310 mi) north-east
   of New Caledonia, west of Fiji and south of the Solomon Islands.

   Vanuatu was first inhabited by Melanesian people. Europeans began to
   settle in the area in the late 18th century and in 1906 Britain and
   France officially claimed the country, jointly managing it through the
   British-French Condominium. An independence movement was established in
   the 1970s, and the Republic of Vanuatu was created in 1980.

History

   Many of the islands of Vanuatu have been inhabited for thousands of
   years, the oldest archaeological evidence found dating to 1300 BC.

   In 1606, the Spanish expedition led by explorers Luis Váez de Torres
   and Pedro Fernández de Quirós became the first Europeans to reach the
   islands, believing it to be part of Terra Australis. Europeans began
   settling the islands in the late 18th century, after British explorer
   James Cook visited the islands on his second voyage, and gave them the
   name New Hebrides. In 1887, the islands began to be administered by a
   French-British naval commission. In 1906, the French and British agreed
   to an Anglo-French Condominium on the New Hebrides. Vanuatu suffered
   from the practice of blackbirding, wherein half of the adult male
   population of some of the islands became indentured workers in
   Australia. Because of introduced diseases, the population fell greatly,
   to 45,000 in 1935.

   During World War II, the islands of Éfaté and Espiritu Santo were used
   as allied military bases. In the 1960s, the ni-Vanuatu people started
   to press for self-governance and later independence; full sovereignty
   was finally granted by both European nations on July 30, 1980. It
   joined the UN in 1981, and the Non-Aligned Movement in 1983. 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. New elections were called several times since
   1997, most recently in 2004.

Politics

   Vanuatu has a republican political system headed by a President who has
   primarily ceremonial powers and is elected by a two-thirds majority in
   an electoral college consisting of members of Parliament and the
   presidents of Regional Councils. The president serves a 5-year term.
   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 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; these are
   elected every four years by popular vote, unless dissolved by majority
   vote of a three-fourths quorum or a directive from the President on the
   advice of the Prime Minister. 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. Government and society in Vanuatu tend to divide along
   linguistic--French and English--lines. Forming coalition governments,
   however, has proved problematic at times, owing to differences between
   English and French speakers. 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 law. The
   constitution also provides for the establishment of village or island
   courts presided over by chiefs to deal with questions of customary law.

Administrative divisions

   Provinces of Vanuatu

   Since 1994, Vanuatu has been divided into six provinces:
     * Malampa
     * Penama
     * Sanma
     * Shefa
     * Tafea
     * Torba

Foreign relations

   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.

   Since 1980, Australia, the European Union, the United Kingdom, France,
   and New Zealand have provided the bulk of Vanuatu's development aid.
   Direct aid from the British to Vanuatu has ceased since 2005 following
   the decision by the British to no longer focus on the pacific. However,
   more recently new donors such as the US Millennium Challenge Account
   (MCA) and the Chinese have been providing increased amounts of aid
   funding. In 2005 the MCA announced that Vanuatu was one of the first 15
   countries in the world selected to receive support - an amount of USD
   65mm was given for the provision and upgrading of key pieces of public
   infrastructure.

   Vanuatu retains strong economic and cultural ties to Australia, the
   European Union, New Zealand, and France. Australia now provides the
   bulk of external assistance, including to the police force, which has a
   paramilitary wing.

Geography

   Vanuatu is an archipelago of 83 islands, of which two — Matthew and
   Hunter — are also claimed by the French overseas department of New
   Caledonia. Of all the 83 islands, 14 have surface areas of more than
   100 square kilometres, from largest to smallest: Espiritu Santo (3956
   km²/1527 mi²), Malakula (2041 km²/788 mi²), Éfaté (900 km²/350 mi²),
   Erromango (888 km²/343 mi²), Ambrym (678 km²/262 mi²), Tanna (555
   km²/214 mi²), Pentecôte (491 km²/190 mi²), Épi (445 km²/172 mi²), Ambae
   or Aoba (402 km²/155 mi²), Vanua Lava (334 km²/129 mi²), Santa Maria
   (328 km²/127 mi²), Maéwo (304 km²/117 mi²), Malo (180 km²/70 mi²) and
   Anatom or Aneityum (159 km²/65 mi²).

   Most of the islands are mountainous and of volcanic origin, and have a
   tropical or sub-tropical climate. The nation's largest towns are the
   capital Port Vila, which is situated on Éfaté, and Luganville, on
   Espiritu Santo. The highest point in Vanuatu is Mount Tabwemasana, at
   1879 m (6158 ft), on the island of Espiritu Santo. There are several
   active volcanoes in Vanuatu, including Lopevi as well as several
   underwater ones. Volcanic activity is common with an ever-present
   danger of a major eruption, the last of which occurred in 1945.
   Rainfall averages about 2,360 millimetres (94 in.) per year but can be
   as high as 4,000 millimetres (160 in.) in the northern islands.

   Vanuatu is recognised as a distinct terrestrial ecoregion, known as the
   Vanuatu rain forests. Vanuatu is part of the Australasia ecozone, which
   also includes neighbouring New Caledonia and the Solomon Islands, as
   well as Australia, New Guinea, and New Zealand.

Economy

   The economy is based primarily on subsistence or small-scale
   agriculture, which provides a living for 65% of the population.
   Fishing, offshore financial services, and tourism (with about 50,000
   visitors in 1997), are other mainstays of the economy. Mineral deposits
   are negligible; the country has no known petroleum deposits. A small
   light industry sector caters to the local market. Tax revenues come
   mainly from import duties and a 12.5 percent Value Added Tax (VAT) on
   goods and services. Economic development is hindered by dependence on
   relatively few commodity exports, vulnerability to natural disasters,
   and long distances from main markets and between constituent islands. A
   severe earthquake in November 1999, followed by a tsunami, caused
   extensive damage to the northern island of Pentecote, leaving thousands
   homeless. Another powerful earthquake in January 2002 caused extensive
   damage in the capital, Port-Vila, and surrounding areas, and also was
   followed by a tsunami.

   GDP growth 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. In mid-2002, the government stepped up
   efforts to boost tourism. Australia and New Zealand are the main
   suppliers of Vanuatu's foreign aid. Vanuatu is a tax haven that does
   not release account information to other governments and law
   enforcement agencies. Pressure is however being brought to bear on the
   Vanuatu government to adhere to international norms to improve
   transparency in this respect. In Vanuatu, there is no income tax, no
   withholding tax, no capital gains tax, no inheritance taxes, and no
   exchange controls. Companies like KaZaA and WinMX have chosen to
   incorporate in Vanuatu to avoid regulation and legal challenges.

   Vanuatu was considered the most successfully happy state on earth by
   the New Economics Foundation's Happy Planet Index (HPI), which assesses
   the efficacy with which countries produce happy citizens, according to
   their ecological footprint, life expectancy, and subjective
   satisfaction.

Demographics

   Map of Vanuatu
   Enlarge
   Map of Vanuatu

   Vanuatu had a population of 205,754 (July 2005 estimate from the CIA
   World Factbook). Most of the population is rural, though Port Vila and
   Luganville have populations in the tens of thousands. The inhabitants
   of Vanuatu, or Ni-Vanuatu, are in majority (98.5%) of Melanesian
   descent, with the remainder made up of a mix of Europeans, Asians and
   other Pacific islanders. Three islands were historically colonized by
   Polynesians. About 2,000 Ni-Vanuatu live and work in New Caledonia.

Languages

   There are three official languages: English, French and Bislama. The
   latter is a pidgin language which essentially combines a typically
   Melanesian grammar with a mostly English vocabulary (with marginal
   influence from French, plus some vocabulary taken from certain
   indigenous languages). Bislama is the only language which can be
   understood and spoken by the whole population of Vanuatu, generally as
   a second language.

   In addition, about 110 indigenous languages are still actively spoken
   in Vanuatu. 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.

Religion

   Christianity is the predominant religion in Vanuatu, consisting of
   several denominations. The Presbyterian Church, adhered to by about one
   third of the population, is the largest of them. Roman Catholic and
   Anglican are other common denominations, each claiming about 15% of the
   population. Others are the Seventh-day Adventist Church, the Church of
   Christ, Neil Thomas Ministries or "NTM", as well as many other
   religious sects and denominations.

   Because of the modernities that soldiers in World War II brought with
   them when they came to the island, several cargo cults developed. Many
   died out, but the John Frum cult on Tanna is still large, and has
   adherents in the parliament.

Culture

   Vanuatu culture retains a strong diversity derived through local
   regional variations and through foreign influence. Vanuatu may be
   divided into three major cultural regions:
     * In the north, wealth is established by how much one can give away
       (especially pigs, which are considered a symbol of wealth
       throughout Vanuatu).
     * In the centre, more traditional Melanesian cultural systems
       dominate.
     * In the south, a system involving grants of title with associated
       privileges has developed.

   Young men undergo various coming-of-age ceremonies and rituals to
   initiate them into manhood, usually including circumcision. Visitors
   are encouraged to display modesty and politeness and to dress in a
   respectful manner. The music of Vanuatu, as an industry, grew rapidly
   in the 1990s, and several bands have forged a distinctive Vanuatuan
   identity. In Port Vila and two other centres are locations of the
   University of the South Pacific, an educational institution co-owned by
   twelve Pacific countries. The Vanuatu campus is the only law school in
   the university.

Miscellany

     * The ninth season of the reality TV series Survivor was filmed on
       Vanuatu, entitled Survivor: Vanuatu - Islands of Fire. Two years
       later, Australia's Celebrity Survivor was filmed in the same
       location used by the U.S. version.

     * Several file sharing groups such as the providers of the KaZaA
       network of Sharman Networks and the developers of WinMX have
       relocated to Vanuatu, allegedly to avoid legal problems and for tax
       benefits.

     * In 2006, the New Economics Foundation and Friends Of The Earth
       environmentalist group rated Vanuatu as the most happy place to
       live of 178 nations all over the world using the Happy Planet
       Index.

   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vanuatu"
   This reference article is mainly selected from the English Wikipedia
   with only minor checks and changes (see www.wikipedia.org for details
   of authors and sources) and is available under the GNU Free
   Documentation License. See also our Disclaimer.
