Vanuatu

Vanuatu

Vanuatu / is an island country located in the South Pacific. It is an archipelago of volcanic origin and is approximately 1,750 km northeast of Australia, 500 km northeast of New Caledonia, western Fiji, southeast Solomon Islands and near New Guinea. The first to live in Vanuatu are the Melanesian peoples

The first to live in Vanuatu are the Melanesian peoples. While the first Europeans arrived to visit the islands among the members of the Spanish mission led by Fernandes de Quiros, which landed in Espírito Santo in 1605. In the eighties of the nineteenth century France and the United Kingdom imposed control of parts of the country and in 1906 they agreed on a framework for joint management of the archipelago in the name of the new Hebrides. The independence movement arose in the 1970s and the Vanuatu Republic emerged in 1980

Vanuatu prevails in a tropical climate. The country is exposed to southeast trade winds from May to October. It rains between November and April

The Vanuatu Islands take the shape of the number 7 in the form of a chain that extends about 800 km from north to south. It is a Vanuata archipelago consisting of 80 islands, of which 67 inhabitants occupy an area covering a sea of ​​900,000 km. The archipelago's climate is humid. The forest covers 75% of the soil

 14 of these islands cover more than 100 square kilometers, of which only seventy are inhabited. The two largest islands in Vanuatu are Espírito Santo (3956 km2) and Malacola (2041 km2). Most of the Vanuatu Islands are mountainous and volcanic. Its climate is tropical or semi-tropical. Vanuatu's largest city is Port Vila, which is also its capital

These islands extend as a chain from north to south, and are composed mostly of narrow coastal plains and mountainous areas in the interior, and the mountains include many active volcanoes. The highest mountain of Tapuimasana, which is 1877 meters above sea level, is the highest mountain peak in the islands

Vanuatu is exposed to a number of natural hazards, such as hurricanes that sweep the country between December and April, in addition to volcanic activity, earthquakes and tsunamis, due to the islands being located in an area known as the Pacific Ring of Fire, which is a region full of volcanoes and earthquakes

The country's economy depends mainly on tourism and agriculture, and the population depends on fishing, but not mainly

More than 90% of the population is Milanese. Asians, Europeans and Polynesians make up the rest of the population. Three quarters of the population live in rural villages. Many of the houses in the village are made of wood, bamboo and palm leaves. Port Vila and Santo (in Espritusanto) are the only urban communities on the islands

The population speaks more than 100 languages ​​and Bislama is the most widely spoken language, a hybrid form of English that combines English words with Melanesian grammar. Vanuatu has approximately 300 primary schools and a number of secondary schools

Vanuatu culture maintains a strong diversity through local regional differences and through foreign influence. Vanuatu can be divided into three major cultural regions. In the north, wealth is formed by how much one can give up, through the grading system. Pigs, especially those with round fangs, are a symbol of wealth throughout Vanuatu. In the middle, traditional Melanesian cultural systems dominate. In the south, a system has been developed that includes granting ownership with associated concessions

Young men undergo various ceremonies and rituals upon reaching adulthood to embark on masculinity, including circumcision

In most villages there is a Nakamal or a club in the village, and it serves as a meeting point for men and a place to drink kava. Villages also contain sections for male and female only. These sections are located throughout the villages. In Nakamals, special spaces are provided for females when in menstruation

There are a few prominent authors of Ni Vanuatu. Women's rights activist Grace Mira Molisa, who died in 2002, has achieved international fame as a descriptive poet