On 29 June, Foreign Minister Tavola said that Fiji was " running out of patience " and that he was writing to the government of Vanuatu in what he called a " final gesture of friendship.

During its history the PNGDF has sent 400 troops to assist the Vanuatu government put down a secessionist revolt in 1980 and was called out in aid to the civil power in Port Moresby in 1983.

The first island in the Vanuatu group discovered by Spaniards was Espiritu Santo when, in 1606, the Portuguese explorer, Pedro Fernández de Quirós, spied what he thought was a southern continent.

On 30 July 1980, amidst the brief Coconut War, the Republic of Vanuatu was created.

Vanuatu was alone in Pacific Islands ( sic ) in attaining independence at the perceived cost of defeating a more powerful, and openly antagonistic, adversary.

There are no railways in Vanuatu, although there was a small rail line on Efate during the colonial era.

Vanuatu in the 1980s was the only country in Oceania not to align with the Western bloc in the dying stages of the Cold War.

The same accusation was levelled by Vanuatu against France after the sinking of the Rainbow Warrior.

Vanuatu was a member of the United Nations Special Committee against Apartheid.

The result was that from 2005 – 2010, Australian aid was governed through the Australia – Vanuatu Joint Development Cooperation Strategy.

For a period of few weeks, both the PRC and ROC had diplomatic missions posted in Vanuatu while the Vanuatu government was in internal disagreement.

The following month, however, the Vanuatu government of Prime Minister Sato Kilman was voided by the Supreme Court, on the grounds that Kilman's election in December 2010 had not conformed to constitutional requirements.

In 2011, Vanuatu was one of fifteen countries to oppose Palestine's application to join the UNESCO, as part of its bid for greater international recognition.

The bill-tabled by Independent MP Ralph Regenvanu and supported by Prime Minister Edward Natapei and opposition leader Maxime Carlot Korman-committed Vanuatu to recognising West Papua's independence ; to seeking observer status for West Papua in the Melanesian Spearhead Group and in the Pacific Islands Forum ; and to " request Nations General Assembly support for the International Court of Justice to provide an advisory opinion on the process in which the former Netherlands New Guinea was ceded to Indonesia in the 1960s ".

In former years copra was collected by traders going from island to island and port to port in the Pacific Ocean but South Pacific production is now much diminished, with the exception of Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu.

One of the major topics with reference to Vanuatu and the Pacific region was the question of the suitability of underwater heritage for inscription on the World Heritage List.

During World War II, kudzu was introduced to Vanuatu and Fiji by United States Armed Forces to serve as camouflage for equipment.

He was appointed geologist to an expedition to the New Hebrides ( now Vanuatu ) in 1903 ; his report The geology of the New Hebrides, was one of the first major geological works of Melanesia.

During World War II, kudzu was introduced to Vanuatu and Fiji by United States Armed Forces to serve as camouflage for equipment.

* New Zealand International News, " New Vanuatu speaker calls for unity to help investment "

Outside of Port Vila a more rustic destination awaits, with most people living a traditional lifestyle: cooking island food or ' aelan kakae ', going to tend their gardens daily as subsistence agriculture is the dominant economy in Vanuatu and swimming at the beach.

* Wala ( Island ), a small island in Vanuatu, and a popular destination for cruise ships

Vanuatu is the only country in the world, which also recognises all of these four States.

Because Vanuatu is the most language-dense country in the world ( one count puts it at 113 languages for a population of 225, 000 ), Bislama usefully serves as a lingua franca for communication between ni-Vanuatu, as well as with and even between foreigners.

These include New Guinea ( the largest Pacific island and second largest island in the world after Greenland, which is divided into the sovereign nation of Papua New Guinea and the Indonesian provinces of Maluku, Papua and West Papua ), New Caledonia, Zenadh Kes ( Torres Strait Islands ), Vanuatu, Fiji, and the Solomon Islands.

The Melanesian Brotherhood, founded at Tabalia, Guadalcanal, in 1925 by Ini Kopuria, is now the largest Anglican Community in the world with over 450 brothers in the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines and the United Kingdom.

Vanuatu caused another shock in the 2007 South Pacific Games by knocking out the Solomon Islands for bronze medal and also enable to enter the second stage of qualification for the OFC nation Cup and consequently a chance with a playoff for the FIFA world cup in South Africa 2010.

It was the big gun in his campaign to get Bislama, first language of 6, 000 inhabitants of the South Pacific islands of Vanuatu, formally adopted as a world language ( wol wantok ).

On 11 March 2005, Vanuatu imposed a ban in biscuit imports, ostensibly to protect its own biscuit manufacturing industry, giving a monopoly on the business to the Espiritu Santo-based Wong Sze Sing store.

On 11 March 2005, Vanuatu imposed a ban in biscuit imports, ostensibly to protect its own biscuit manufacturing industry, giving a monopoly on the business to the Espiritu Santo-based Wong Sze Sing store.

The lease on the Saab 2000 was terminated in March 1999 and in June that year Air Vanuatu commenced using a de Havilland Canada Dash 8 of Vanuatu's government-owned domestic carrier Vanair on weekly services to Nouméa.

He was elected Prime Minister of Vanuatu on two separate terms, and was previously the Minister of Foreign Affairs briefly in 1991, the acting President of Vanuatu from 2 March 1999 to 24 March 1999 ( during a time in which he was the Speaker of Parliament ), and Deputy Prime Minister.

Father John Bennett Bani ( born July 1, 1941 ) was the president and head of state of Vanuatu from 25 March 1999 until March 24, 2004.

* A special case were the New Hebrides, for these were an Anglo-French colonial condominium, so he had a French colleague styled Résident, subordinate to France's haut commissaire ( high commissioner ) in the Pacific Ocean ( from 22 March 1907 the Governor of New Caledonia ); both were abolished at the independence of the Republic of Vanuatu in 1980.

Maseng had been acting president of Vanuatu from January 30 to March 2, 1994, while he was speaker of parliament and an acting president was needed in the interval between the expiration of a president's term and the next presidential election.

Later, Vanuatu recognized Kosovo in 2010 and Abkhazia in 2011.

On 23 May 2011, Vanuatu became the fifth UN member state ( after Russia, Nicaragua, Venezuela and Nauru ) to recognise Abkhazia.

On 12 July 2011 the Ambassador of Abkhazia in the Asia-Pacific region Juris Gulbis stated, that Abkhazia and Vanuatu plans to sign a framework agreement on cooperation in the field of culture, trade and banking sector.

In 2011 the UN suggested that Equatorial Guinea, Samoa, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu are among the candidates for promotion from LDC status.

He was Prime Minister of Vanuatu from December 2010 to April 2011 and from May to June 2011, though his premiership was subsequently annulled by a court of law.

In Vanuatu the sale of alcohol in shops and supermarkets is forbidden from midday Saturday until Monday morning, although it is available at resorts and hotels.

Relations between the Republic of Vanuatu and Cuba began shortly after the former gained its independence from France and the United Kingdom in 1980, and began establishing its own foreign policy as a newly independent state.

Vanuatu and Cuba established official diplomatic relations in 1983.

A cannibal feast on Tanna ( island ) | Tanna, Vanuatu, c. 1885-9

As of 2005, Fiji has become embroiled in a number of disagreements with other countries, including Australia, China, New Zealand, the United States, and Vanuatu.

Fiji retaliated on 13 June with a threat to impose a total commercial embargo on Vanuatu.

Major income-earners for Vanuatu targeted by the Fijian government include Vanuatu kava, valued at almost US $ 3. 2 million, and Air Vanuatu flights ( US $ 8 million ).

He said that in place of the ban, the Vanuatu government had introduced a restrictive new quota system for imports which would make it " impossible " to export to Vanuatu.

He called on the Fijian government to continue to pressure its Vanuatu counterparts.

Foreign Minister Tavola denounced the latest move of the Vanuatu government on 3 August, saying that it breached an agreement.

On 9 August, he announced that the government had decided to go ahead with its threatened embargo against the importing of Vanuatu kava.

On 16 August the Cabinet finalized the decision, banning all imports of Vanuatu kava for six months, after which the ban would be reviewed.

On 27 August, Tavola announced that following negotiations at the Melanesian Spearhead Group meeting in Papua New Guinea, he expected the Vanuatu government to lift the biscuit ban soon.

If they did so, he said he would ask the Cabinet to lift the embargo against Vanuatu kava.

The purpose of the visit would be to deliver his government's decision to lift the ban on Fijian biscuits, in return for Fiji lifting its ban on Vanuatu kava.

There are a total of 157 member countries in the WTO, with Russia and Vanuatu being new members as of 2012.

* 1980 – Vanuatu gains independence.

* Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Vanuatu from the United Kingdom and France in 1980.

In response Consumer Empowerment sold the Kazaa application to Sharman Networks, headquartered in Australia and incorporated in Vanuatu.

The macron is used in the orthography of a number of vernacular languages of the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu, particularly those which were first transcribed by Anglican missionaries.