Pacific Islands News Association

News : Victory [17/10/2019 - Fiji]
News Feature : East-West Centre Hosts Inaugural Micronesian conference of Leaders [17/10/2019 - United States]
News Feature : Stepping up to the UN: Australia’s peacekeeping deployment with Fiji [17/10/2019 - Fiji]
News Feature : Study reveals justice needs and satisfaction in Fiji [17/10/2019 - Fiji]
Business News : Changes to Fiji employment relations act may be coming [17/10/2019 - Fiji]
Business News : Samoa PM to open buy Samoa made export to China exhibition [17/10/2019 - Samoa]
News : Marshall Islands is elected to UN Human Rights Council, scored a major diplomatic victory [17/10/2019 - United States]
News : Samoa prepares to host Chinese Vice Premier Hu Chunhua [17/10/2019 - Samoa]
News : Norton Rose files key to PNG royal commission into UBS loan [17/10/2019 - Australia]
Sports News : Fiji’s Lorraine Mar awarded ANOC Meritorious Award for her contribution to sports in Fiji and the Oceania region [17/10/2019 - Qatar]
Sports News : Toea Wisil and Brandon Schuster awarded Oceania’s best female and best male athletes at the ANOC 2019 Awards in Doha [17/10/2019 - Qatar]
News Feature : Tuberculosis infections declining, but not fast enough among poor, marginalised: UN health agency [17/10/2019 - Switzerland]
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Country profile - Vanuatu

Vanuatu flag

Vanuatu - a string of more than 80 islands once known as the New Hebrides - achieved independence from France and Britain in 1980.

Most of the islands are inhabited; some have active volcanoes.

Vanuatu is mountainous and much of it is covered with tropical rainforests. Like most of the area, it is prone to earthquakes and tidal waves. Most of the people live in rural areas and practice subsistence agriculture.

Vanuatu has been spared the unrest which has befallen neighbouring countries such as the Solomon Islands and Fiji, although the largest island, Espiritu Santo, experienced a brief insurrection in 1980.

Local traditions are strong. Women, for example, often have lower social standing than men and have fewer educational opportunities.

The economy has been unable to grow fast enough to meet the needs of Vanuatu's expanding population.

The main sources of revenue are agriculture and eco-tourism. Both depend on the weather, and when, as in 1999, cyclones and persistent rain hit Vanuatu, both suffer.

Tax revenue is derived from import duties, and neither personal income nor company profits are taxed.

Vanuatu tightened up its tax and regulatory systems after the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development warned that it could face sanctions if lax taxation regimes were exploited by criminals for money-laundering.

Australia, a key donor, has pushed for good governance and economic reform in the islands.

Additional information