Vanuatu — books & literature

The story of Vanuatu

Vanuatu's human story reaches back about 3,000 years, when Lapita-culture Austronesian voyagers , master navigators from island Southeast Asia , settled the archipelago's more than 80 islands and developed one of the most linguistically diverse societies on Earth. European contact came in 1606, when the Portuguese-born explorer Pedro Fernandes de Queirós, sailing for Spain, reached the islands and briefly founded a settlement at Big Bay. James Cook charted and named the group the New Hebrides in 1774, a name that stuck for two centuries. Rival British and French settlers and missionaries drew the two powers into an unusual joint rule: from 1906 the New Hebrides was governed as an Anglo-French Condominium, with two parallel administrations, currencies, and school systems running side by side. A nationalist movement led by Father Walter Lini pushed the territory to independence on 30 July 1980 as the Republic of Vanuatu , a name meaning roughly "Our Land Forever". Since then the young nation has built a reputation for community wellbeing, kastom (traditional) governance alongside a modern state, and bold international leadership on climate change.

Timeline — key moments

1. circa 1000 BCE

   Lapita-culture Austronesian voyagers settle the archipelago.

2. 1606

   Pedro Fernandes de Queirós becomes the first European to reach the islands, at Big Bay.

3. 1774

   James Cook charts the archipelago and names it the New Hebrides.

4. 1906

   Britain and France establish the Anglo-French Condominium of the New Hebrides.

5. 30 July 1980

   Independence as the Republic of Vanuatu under Prime Minister Walter Lini.

6. August-September 1980

   The brief "Coconut War" secessionist uprising on Espiritu Santo is put down.

7. 1980

   Ati George Sokomanu becomes the first President of Vanuatu.

8. 2015

   Category 5 Cyclone Pam devastates much of the country, prompting a major rebuilding effort.

9. 2023

   Vanuatu leads a UN General Assembly resolution asking the International Court of Justice to rule on states' climate obligations, adopted by consensus.

10. 2025

    The ICJ issues its landmark advisory opinion on climate change, the case Vanuatu initiated.

Top 10 things to know about Vanuatu

1. Vanuatu is a South Pacific archipelago of more than 80 islands, most of them volcanic.
2. The name "Vanuatu" means roughly "Our Land Forever" in several local Melanesian languages.
3. It has the highest density of languages per capita in the world , over 100 indigenous languages among ~340,000 people.
4. Bislama, an English-based Melanesian pidgin, is the national language alongside English and French.
5. From 1906 to 1980 it was ruled jointly by Britain and France as the unique Anglo-French Condominium of the New Hebrides.
6. Mount Yasur on Tanna Island is one of the most accessible active volcanoes on Earth, erupting almost continuously for centuries.
7. The naghol land-diving ritual on Pentecost Island , jumping from tall wooden towers with vines tied to the ankles , is widely credited as the inspiration for modern bungee jumping.
8. Vanuatu has repeatedly ranked among the world's happiest nations in wellbeing indexes.
9. Kastom (traditional law and custom) still governs much of daily and communal life alongside the modern state.
10. Vanuatu initiated the UN process that led the International Court of Justice to issue its first-ever advisory opinion on climate change.

Famous people from Vanuatu

Say it in Vanuatu's language

Did you know?

• ★Vanuatu has one of the highest concentrations of distinct languages of any country in the world , around one language for every 2,000 speakers.
• ★The Pentecost Island naghol land-diving ceremony, performed to bless the yam harvest, inspired New Zealander A.J. Hackett to invent the modern bungee jump.
• ★Vanuatu was ruled by two colonial powers at once for 74 years under the unusual Anglo-French Condominium, with parallel British and French administrations.

Vanuatu culture

• Kastom (customary law, land tenure, and chiefly authority) coexists formally with the national constitution and courts.
• Bislama, born from 19th-century Pacific trade and labour contact, unites speakers of over 100 local languages as a shared national tongue.
• The Nagol/naghol land-diving season each April-May on Pentecost Island draws islanders and visitors to watch the ritual jumps.
• Music and dance, string bands, and communal feasting mark island ceremonies, alongside strong Christian church traditions introduced by 19th-century missionaries.

Why read Vanuatu's books

Vanuatu's literary tradition is young in print but deep in oral history , chants, genealogies, and kastom knowledge passed down for generations, now joined by a growing body of Ni-Vanuatu poetry and writing on identity, land, and climate.