VANUATU

Vanuatu, an archipelago of approximately 83 islands is situated in the South-western Pacific Ocean, about 1,750 kilometers east of Australia and 500 kilometers northeast of New Caledonia. The Republic of Vanuatu lies between latitude 13° south and 23° south and longitude 166° east and 172° east.

The total land area is approximately 12,189 square kilometers and the territorial waters cover 450,000 square kilometers.

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The total population of Vanuatu is estimated at 300,000 people. About 95% of the population is indigenous known as "Ni-Vanuatu". The other segment of the population includes people of different nationalities, such as Australians, New Zealanders, Europeans, Asians and other Pacific Islanders. Over 20% live in the two large cities of Port Vila and Luganville. More than 50,000 people live in the capital city of Port Vila.

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Vanuatu or New Hebrides as it was known in the condominium days has been inhabited for over 4000 years was discovered by Europeans in May 1606 by the Spanish Explorer Captain, Pedro Fernandez de Quiros. After de Quiros followed Captain James Cook in 1774, French and English missionaries, traders, and black birders who took local people as slaves to work in the Sugar cane plantations in Queensland, Australia. Most of these people never returned home.

After some 74 years of joint "Condominium" rule between Britain and France, Vanuatu finally received its independence on the 30th July 1980. On December 1994, the 11 Local Government Councils were changed into 6 provinces, giving them more autonomy to decide on what is best for their people, though still under the rule of the national Government.

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The Republic of Vanuatu is an independent parliamentary democracy, with 52 members of Parliament, for which general elections are held every 4 years. The most recent national election was held in where the coalition was elected.

The head of state is the President of the Republic, who is elected for a period of five years by an electoral college consisting of Members of Parliament and the Presidents of the Provincial Councils. The new President of the Republic of Vanuatu was elected in 2014. The Electors are the 52 MPs and the 6 heads of provincial government. The Constitution provides for executive and legislative arms of government, and the judiciary. The President is Vanuatu's Head of State. The judiciary consists of the Supreme Court with a Chief Justice and a Magistrates Court.

The Prime Minister office was created under the Constitution of Vanuatu upon the country's independence in 1980, with independence campaigner Walter Lini becoming the first office-holder.

Vanuatu is a full member of the British Commonwealth, the French League of Nations, the United Nations, Agence de Co-operation Culturelle et Technique, the South Pacific Bureau for Economic Co-operation (SPEC), the Secretariat of the Pacific Community, the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank (which has its regional headquarters here in Port Vila).

The new Prime Minister of Vanuatu effective June 2015 is Hon. Sato Kilmen. He is the Lakatoro on Malekula Island MP and the current leader of the People's Progressive Party political Party.

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The newly elected state ministers appointed by the Prime Minister and their respective portfolios are:

Prime Minister: Sato KILMAN
Deputy Prime Minister& Minister of Trade and Tourism: Moana CARCASSES
Minister of Foreign Affairs: Serge VOHOR
Minister of Agriculture: Christopher EMELEE
Minister of Justice: Dunstan HILTON
Minister of Lands: Paul TELUKLUK
Minister of Finance & Economic Management: Willie JIMMY
Minister of Public Utilities: Tony NARI
Minister of Climate Change: Thomas LAKEN
Minister of Internal Affairs: Hosea NEVU
Minister of Youth & Sports: Toara DANIEL
Minister of Health: Morkin STEVENS
Minister of Education: Alfred CARLOT
Parliamentary Secretary: Steven KALSAKA

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