]! ^! Multiple waves of colonizers, each speaking a distinct language, migrated to the New Hebrides in the millennia preceding European exploration in the 18th century. This settlement pattern accounts for the complex linguistic diversity found on the archipelago to this day. The British and French, who settled the New Hebrides in the 19th century, agreed in 1906 to an Anglo-French Condominium, which administered the islands until independence in 1980, when the new name of Vanuatu was adopted. 
]" ^" Oceania, group of islands in the South Pacific Ocean, about three-quarters of the way from Hawaii to Australia ^# 16 00 S, 167 00 E ^$ Oceania ^% `! 12,200 sq km `" 12,200 sq km `# 0 sq km `* includes more than 80 islands, about 65 of which are inhabited ^& slightly larger than Connecticut ^' 0 km ^( 2,528 km ^) measured from claimed archipelagic baselines `$ 12 nm `M 24 nm `N 200 nm `O 200 nm or to the edge of the continental margin ^* tropical; moderated by southeast trade winds from May to October; moderate rainfall from November to April; may be affected by cyclones from December to April ^+ mostly mountainous islands of volcanic origin; narrow coastal plains ^, `% Pacific Ocean 0 m `& Tabwemasana 1,877 m ^- manganese, hardwood forests, fish ^. `' 1.64% `( 6.97% `) 91.39% (2005) ^/ NA ^0 tropical cyclones or typhoons (January to April); volcanic eruption on Aoba (Ambae) island began 27 November 2005, volcanism also causes minor earthquakes; tsunamis ^1 a majority of the population does not have access to a reliable supply of potable water; deforestation _P `P Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 94 `Q none of the selected agreements ^2 a Y-shaped chain of four main islands and 80 smaller islands; several of the islands have active volcanoes 
]# ^3 211,971 (July 2007 est.) ^4 `+ 31.9% (male 34,590/female 33,124) `, 64.3% (male 69,496/female 66,745) `- 3.8% (male 4,178/female 3,838) (2007 est.) ^5 `! 23.4 years `. 23.4 years `/ 23.4 years (2007 est.) ^6 1.46% (2007 est.) ^7 22.35 births/1,000 population (2007 est.) ^8 7.75 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.) ^9 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.) ^: `0 1.05 male(s)/female `1 1.044 male(s)/female `, 1.041 male(s)/female `- 1.089 male(s)/female `2 1.044 male(s)/female (2007 est.) ^; `! 52.45 deaths/1,000 live births `. 54.96 deaths/1,000 live births `/ 49.81 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.) ^< `2 63.22 years `. 61.67 years `/ 64.84 years (2007 est.) ^= 2.63 children born/woman (2007 est.) ^> NA ^? NA ^@ NA ^A `3 Ni-Vanuatu (singular and plural) `4 Ni-Vanuatu ^B Ni-Vanuatu 98.5%, other 1.5% (1999 Census) ^C Presbyterian 31.4%, Anglican 13.4%, Roman Catholic 13.1%, Seventh-Day Adventist 10.8%, other Christian 13.8%, indigenous beliefs 5.6% (including Jon Frum cargo cult), other 9.6%, none 1%, unspecified 1.3% (1999 Census) ^D local languages (more than 100) 72.6%, pidgin (known as Bislama or Bichelama) 23.1%, English 1.9%, French 1.4%, other 0.3%, unspecified 0.7% (1999 Census) ^E `5 age 15 and over can read and write `2 74% `. NA `/ NA 
]$ ^F `6 Republic of Vanuatu `7 Vanuatu `Z Ripablik blong Vanuatu `[ Vanuatu `\ New Hebrides ^H parliamentary republic ^I `8 Port-Vila (on Efate) `9 17 44 S, 168 19 E `: UTC+11 (16 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) ^J 6 provinces; Malampa, Penama, Sanma, Shefa, Tafea, Torba ^K 30 July 1980 (from France and UK) ^L Independence Day, 30 July (1980) ^M 30 July 1980 ^N unified system being created from former dual French and British systems ^O 18 years of age; universal ^P `; President Kalkot Matas KELEKELE (since 16 August 2004) `< Prime Minister Ham LINI (since 11 December 2004); Deputy Prime Minister Sato KILMAN (since 11 December 2004) `= Council of Ministers appointed by the prime minister, responsible to Parliament `> president elected for a five-year term by an electoral college consisting of Parliament and the presidents of the regional councils; election for president last held 16 August 2004 (next to be held in 2009); following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or majority coalition is usually elected prime minister by Parliament from among its members; election for prime minister last held 29 July 2004 (next to be held following general elections in 2008) `? Kalkot Matas KELEKELE elected president, with 49 votes out of 56, after several ballots on 16 August 2004 ^Q unicameral Parliament (52 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms) `> last held 6 July 2004 (next to be held 2008) `? percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - NUP 10, UMP 8, VP 8, VRP 4, MPP 3, VGP 3, other and independent 16; note - political party associations are fluid `* the National Council of Chiefs advises on matters of culture and language ^R Supreme Court (chief justice is appointed by the president after consultation with the prime minister and the leader of the opposition, three other justices are appointed by the president on the advice of the Judicial Service Commission) ^S Jon Frum Movement [Song KEASPAI]; Melanesian Progressive Party or MPP [Barak SOPE]; National United Party or NUP [Hem LINI]; Union of Moderate Parties or UMP [Serge VOHOR]; Vanua'aku Pati (Our Land Party) or VP [Edward NATAPEI]; Vanuatu Greens Party or VGP [Moana CARCASSES]; Vanuatu Republican Party or VRP [Maxime Carlot KORMAN] ^T NA ^U ACCT, ACP, AsDB, C, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, IOC, ITU, ITUC, MIGA, NAM, OIF, OPCW, PIF, Sparteca, SPC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNOCI, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WMO, WTO (observer) ^V Vanuatu does not have an embassy in the US; it does, however, have a Permanent Mission to the UN ^W the US does not have an embassy in Vanuatu; the ambassador to Papua New Guinea is accredited to Vanuatu ^X two equal horizontal bands of red (top) and green with a black isosceles triangle (based on the hoist side) all separated by a black-edged yellow stripe in the shape of a horizontal Y (the two points of the Y face the hoist side and enclose the triangle); centered in the triangle is a boar's tusk encircling two crossed namele leaves, all in yellow 
]% ^Y This South Pacific island economy is based primarily on small-scale agriculture, which provides a living for 65% of the population. Fishing, offshore financial services, and tourism, with more than 60,000 visitors in 2005, 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. 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. 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 center. In mid-2002 the government stepped up efforts to boost tourism through improved air connections, resort development, and cruise ship facilities. Agriculture, especially livestock farming, is a second target for growth. Australia and New Zealand are the main suppliers of tourists and foreign aid. ^Z $276.3 million (2003 est.) ^[ $341 million (2005) ^\ 6.8% (2005 est.) ^] $2,900 (2003 est.) ^^ `@ 26% `A 12% `B 62% (2000 est.) ^_ 76,410 (1999) ^` `@ 65% `A 5% `B 30% (2000 est.) ^a 1.7% (1999) _! NA% _" `C NA% `D NA% _# -1.6% (2005 est.) _$ `E $78.7 million `F $72.23 million (2005 est.) _& copra, coconuts, cocoa, coffee, taro, yams, fruits, vegetables; beef; fish _' food and fish freezing, wood processing, meat canning _( 1% (1997 est.) _) 43 million kWh (2004) _* 39.99 million kWh (2004) _+ 0 kWh (2004 est.) _, 0 kWh (2004) _- 0 bbl/day (2004 est.) _. 620 bbl/day (2004 est.) _/ NA bbl/day _0 NA bbl/day _1 0 cu m (2004 est.) _2 0 cu m (2004 est.) _Q $-28.35 million (2003) _3 $34.11 million f.o.b. (2004 est.) _4 copra, beef, cocoa, timber, kava, coffee _5 Thailand 46.5%, India 14.1%, Poland 7.9%, Turkey 7.7%, Japan 6.9% (2005) _6 $117.1 million c.i.f. (2004 est.) _7 machinery and equipment, foodstuffs, fuels _8 Australia 18.4%, Japan 16.6%, Singapore 14.7%, Poland 8.5%, NZ 7.2%, Fiji 6.3% (2005) _[ $40.54 million (2003) _9 $81.2 million (2004) _: $37.8 million (2004) _; vatu (VUV) _< vatu per US dollar - 111.93 (2006), NA (2005), 111.79 (2004), 122.19 (2003), 139.2 (2002) _= calendar year 
]& _> 6,800 (2004) _? 12,700 (2005) _@ `G NA `H NA `I country code - 678; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Pacific Ocean) _A AM 2, FM 4, shortwave 1 (2004) _B 1 (2004) _C .vu _D 413 (2006) _E 7,500 (2004) 
]' _F 31 (2006) _G `! 3 `J 1 `b 1 `c 1 (2006) _R `! 28 `c 10 `W 18 (2006) _H `! 1,070 km `K 256 km `L 814 km (1999) _S `! 51 ships (1000 GRT or over) 1,340,132 GRT/1,908,687 DWT by type: bulk carrier 29, cargo 8, container 1, liquefied gas 2, petroleum tanker 1, refrigerated cargo 3, roll on/roll off 2, vehicle carrier 5 `X 51 (Australia 2, Canada 5, Denmark 6, Estonia 1, Japan 28, Poland 5, Russia 1, Switzerland 2, US 1) (2006) _I Forari, Port-Vila, Santo (Espiritu Santo) 
]( _J no regular military forces; security forces comprise the Vanuatu Police Force (VPF) and paramilitary Vanuatu Mobile Force (VMF), which includes Vanuatu's naval force, known as the Police Maritime Wing (PMW); border security in Vanuatu is the joint responsibility of the Customs and Inland Revenue Service, VPF, VMF, and PMW (2003) _K males age 18-49: 50,221 (2005 est.) Manpower fit for military service: males age 18-49: 33,837 (2005 est.) _U NA 
]) _N Matthew and Hunter Islands east of New Caledonia claimed by Vanuatu and France 