Vanuatu Country Profile

Vanuatu General Information:

Capital: Port Villa

Language: Local languages (more than 100) 63.2%, Bislama (official; creole) 33.7%, English (official) 2%, French (official) 0.6%, other 0.5% (2009 est.)

Religion: Protestant 70% (includes Presbyterian 27.9%, Anglican 15.1%, Seventh Day Adventist 12.5%, Assemblies of God 4.7%, Church of Christ 4.5%, Neil Thomas Ministry 3.1%, and Apostolic 2.2%), Roman Catholic 12.4%, customary beliefs 3.7% (including Jon Frum cargo cult), other 12.6%, none 1.1%, unspecified 0.2% (2009 est.)

Currency: Vatu

Cryptocurrency: In 2017, Vanuatu became host to the world’s first government to accept bitcoin in exchange for citizenship. In 2019, cryptocurrency was also distributed in Vanuatu as humanitarian relief. 200 residents of Vanuatu were given tap-and-pay cards loaded with $50 of the Dai stablecoin to spend as needed.

GMT: (-) 11

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 are other mainstays of the economy.

About Vanuatu

Vanuatu is a Pacific island country located in the South Pacific Ocean. It is a string of more than 80 islands. Most of the islands are inhabited and some have active volcanoes. The capital city of Vanuatu is Port Villa. Port Vila houses major government buildings of the country.

The Parliament of Vanuatu is located in the capital city and is the Supreme Court. Port Vila is also the island nation’s busiest harbour and the centre of trade and commerce in Vanuatu. The current population of Vanuatu is 288,532. 

Vanuatu ranks number 183rd as the most populated country. The major languages spoken in Vanuatu are Bislama, French and English. The major religion in Vanuatu is Christianity.

Tallis Obed Moses was sworn in as president in July 2017 after being chosen by parliament. He succeeded president Baldwin Lonsdale, who died in office. 

The government of Vanuatu does not seem to have a stable government since 2008 as the prime minister has changed 12 times. Either a new prime minister gets elected and does a year in office or an old prime minister gets re-elected. 

This can be seen in 2010 when the prime minister of Vanuatu was Edward Natapei. Edward Natapei had left the country to attend talks on climate change in Cancún on December 2nd.

However, his political opponents took the opportunity in his absence and before the day was out a no-confidence motion had been presented to parliament, and by a majority of ten, they removed Edward Natapei as prime minister. The current prime minister Charlot Salwai has managed to stay in power since 2016.