🇻🇺 Vanuatu

National Flag

Geography & Borders

This country has no land borders.

Introduction & Background

Vanuatu (English: /ˌvɑːnuˈɑːtuː/ⓘ VAH-noo-AH-too or /vænˈwɑːtuː/ van-WAH-too; Template:IPA-all), officially the Republic of Vanuatu (Template:Lang-fr; Template:Lang-bi), is an island country located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago, which is of volcanic origin, is 1,750km (1,090mi) east of northern Australia, 540km (340mi) northeast of New Caledonia, east of New Guinea, southeast of Solomon Islands, and west of Fiji.

Vanuatu was first inhabited by Melanesian people. The first Europeans to visit the islands were a Spanish expedition led by Portuguese navigator Fernandes de Queirós, who arrived on the largest island, Espíritu Santo, in 1606. Queirós claimed the archipelago for Spain, as part of the colonial Spanish East Indies, and named it La Austrialia del Espíritu Santo.