Vanuatu with the capital city Port Vila is located in Oceania (Oceania, group of islands in the South Pacific Ocean). It covers some 12,200 square kilometres (slightly larger than Connecticut) with 215,000 citizens.

About the flag and history of Vanuatu

Two equal horizontal bands of red (top) and green with a black isosceles triangle (based on the hoist side) all separated by a black-edged yellow stripe in the shape of a horizontal Y (the two points of the Y face the hoist side and enclose the triangle); centered in the triangle is a boar's tusk encircling two crossed namele fern fronds, all in yellow; red represents the blood of boars and men, green the richness of the islands, and black the ni-Vanuatu people; the yellow Y-shape - which reflects the pattern of the islands in the Pacific Ocean - symbolizes the light of the Gospel spreading through the islands; the boar's tusk is a symbol of prosperity frequently worn as a pendant on the islands; the fern fronds represent peace.

Multiple waves of colonizers, each speaking a distinct language, migrated to the New Hebrides in the millennia preceding European exploration in the 18th century. This settlement pattern accounts for the complex linguistic diversity found on the archipelago to this day. The British and French, who settled the New Hebrides in the 19th century, agreed in 1906 to an Anglo-French Condominium, which administered the islands until independence in 1980, when the new name of Vanuatu was adopted.

National administrative regions of Vanuatu

• Malampa
• Penama
• Sanma
• Shefa
• Tafea
• Torba
• Vanuatu (general)

Geography Quick-Facts

List of current world heritage sites