VANUATU ISLANDS

Planet earth is uniue in all the universe for its abundance and variety of animals, every one of which should be protected

Please use our INDEX to navigate this site 

 

 

 

 

Map of the Pacific Islands, showing the partner governments to a Blue Bond, that is to enable the stability of transportation and move away from fossil fuels.

 

 

 

Vanuatu is a Pacific island country located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago, which is of volcanic origin, is 1,750 kilometres (1,090 mi) east of northern Australia, 540 kilometres (340 mi) northeast of New Caledonia, east of New Guinea, southeast of the 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. Since the Portuguese and Spanish monarchies had been unified under the king of Spain in 1580 (following the vacancy of the Portuguese throne, which lasted for sixty years, until 1640, when the Portuguese monarchy was restored), Queirós claimed the archipelago for Spain, as part of the colonial Spanish East Indies, and named it La Austrialia del Espíritu Santo.

In the 1880s, France and the United Kingdom claimed parts of the archipelago, and in 1906, they agreed on a framework for jointly managing the archipelago as the New Hebrides through an Anglo–French condominium. An independence movement arose in the 1970s, and the Republic of Vanuatu was founded in 1980. Since independence, the country has become a member of the United Nations, Commonwealth of Nations, Organisation internationale de la Francophonie and the Pacific Islands Forum. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ECONOMICS

The four mainstays of the economy are agriculture, tourism, offshore financial services, and raising cattle. Vanuatu sells citizenship for about $150,000, and its passports allow visa-free travel throughout Europe. With demand from the Chinese market booming, passport sales may now account for more than 30% of the country's revenue. There is substantial fishing activity, although this industry does not bring in much foreign exchange. Exports include copra, kava, beef, cocoa and timber, and imports include machinery and equipment, foodstuffs and fuels. In contrast, mining activity is unsubstantial.

Although manganese mining halted in 1978, there was an agreement in 2006 to export manganese already mined but not yet exported. The country has no known petroleum deposits. A small light-industry sector caters to the local market. Tax revenues come mainly from import duties and a 15% VAT on goods and services. Economic development is hindered by dependence on relatively few commodity exports, vulnerability to natural disasters, and long distances between constituent islands and from main markets.

Agriculture is used for consumption as well as for export. It provides a living for 65% of the population. In particular, production of copra and kava create substantial revenue. Many farmers have been abandoning cultivation of food crops, and use earnings from kava cultivation to buy food. Kava has also been used in ceremonial exchanges between clans and villages. Cocoa is also grown for foreign exchange.

In 2007, the number of households engaged in fishing was 15,758, mainly for consumption (99%), and the average number of weekly fishing trips was 3. The tropical climate enables growing of a wide range of fruits and vegetables and spices, including banana, garlic, cabbage, peanuts, pineapples, sugarcane, taro, yams, watermelons, leaf spices, carrots, radishes, eggplants, vanilla (both green and cured), pepper, cucumber and many others. In 2007, the value (in terms of millions of vatu – the official currency of Vanuatu), for agricultural products, was estimated for different products: kava (341 million vatu), copra (195), cattle (135), crop gardens (93), cocoa (59), forestry (56), fishing (24) and coffee (12).

 

Tourism brings in much-needed foreign exchange. Vanuatu is widely recognised as one of the premier vacation destinations for scuba divers wishing to explore coral reefs of the South Pacific region. A further significant attraction to scuba divers is the wreck of the US ocean liner and converted troop carrier SS President Coolidge on Espiritu Santo island. Sunk during World War II, it is one of the largest shipwrecks in the world that is accessible for recreational diving. Tourism increased 17% from 2007 to 2008 to reach 196,134 arrivals, according to one estimate. The 2008 total is a sharp increase from 2000, in which there were only 57,000 visitors (of these, 37,000 were from Australia, 8,000 from New Zealand, 6,000 from New Caledonia, 3,000 from Europe, 1,000 from North America, 1,000 from Japan. Tourism has been promoted, in part, by Vanuatu being the site of several reality-TV shows. The ninth season of the reality TV series Survivor was filmed on Vanuatu, entitled Survivor: Vanuatu—Islands of Fire. Two years later, Australia's Celebrity Survivor was filmed at the same location used by the US version. In mid-2002, the government stepped up efforts to boost tourism.

 

Financial services are an important part of the economy. Vanuatu is a tax haven that until 2008 did not release account information to other governments or law-enforcement agencies. International pressure, mainly from Australia, influenced the Vanuatu government to begin adhering to international norms to improve transparency. In Vanuatu, there is no income tax, withholding tax, capital gains tax, inheritance tax, or exchange control. Many international ship-management companies choose to flag their ships under the Vanuatu flag, because of the tax benefits and favourable labour laws (Vanuatu is a full member of the International Maritime Organization and applies its international conventions). Vanuatu is recognised as a "flag of convenience" country. Several file-sharing groups, such as the providers of the KaZaA network of Sharman Networks and the developers of WinMX, have chosen to incorporate in Vanuatu to avoid regulation and legal challenges. In response to foreign concerns the government has promised to tighten regulation of its offshore financial centre. Vanuatu receives foreign aid mainly from Australia and New Zealand. 

 

 

 

Captain James Cook landing at Tana, Vanuatu Islands

 

 

Captain James Cook landing at Tana

 

 

 

2019 PACIFIC BLUE SHIPPING PARTNERSHIP

 

The Pacific Coalition know as the Pacific Blue Shipping Partnership includes the Governments of: Fiji, Marshall, Samoan, Solomon, Tuvalu and Vanuatu Islands, as announced on Tuesday 24th September 2019. The Partnership has set an emissions reduction target of 40% by 2030, and full decarbonisation by 2050. There are as yet limited practical solutions to solve the coalition's aims.

 

The region imports 95% of its fossil fuels. Imported petroleum accounts for an average of 40% of GDP in Pacific island countries, with the transport sector the largest fuel user.

 

In archipelago states of small island populations spread over vast ocean distances, sea travel is vital for linking communities and for economic development. The lack of regular connectivity between islands is a major constraint on domestic, social and economic development and on international trade. This represents a challenge that falls within scope of the Horizon 2020 call for proposal in September 2019.

 

Dr Peter Nuttall, a scientific and technical adviser for the Micronesian Center for Sustainable Transport at the University of the South Pacific, told the Guardian that shipping was the “absolute lifeline” of any Pacific community.

“Without shipping, our economies die, our people can’t survive. In places like the Solomon Islands or the Marshall Islands, 80% to 90% of all goods arrive by ship. We have the most expensive shipping in the world, the longest transport routes, and the worst ships.”


He said the Pacific was acutely vulnerable to oil shocks, citing examples from remote Pacific islands where critical services, such as visits by health professionals, had to be abandoned because fuel prices were too high.

Dr Nuttall said the Pacific “cannot wait for the rest of the world. We have to bespoke design a Pacific solution if it is going to work, not leave the Pacific to languish.

 

We’re running the biggest risk. The Pacific did nothing to cause climate change, but we’re about to get smashed by it. What is it we can practically do to make people’s lives better now? We know the answers, and we don’t have time to wait.”

 

 

 

 

 

2019 - Pacific Island coalition seeks zero carbon shipping.

 

 

 

In preserving the Vanuatu islands natural heritage ..

 

 

 

 

 

ZEV - End view of a zero emission container ship that is designed for long distance runs and payloads of 120 tonnes. Ideal for economical transport with adding to global warming

 

A zero carbon container ship prototype design for Pacific island transport

 

 

ZEV - Side and plan views of a zero carbon container ship that is powered only by the sun and wind. The design features autonomous tracking of the light and wind energy using computers, to enhance energy harvesting.

 

 

 

LINKS:

 

 

WORLD GEOGRAPHY

 

 

 

 

WORLD GEOGRAPHY

 

 

 

Adelaide

Aden - Yemen

Afghanistan

Africa

Alaska

Albania

Algeria

Amazon Rainforest

Amsterdam

Antarctic - Scott

Arctic North Pole

Argentina

Asia

Athens

Atlantis - Plato's Lost City

Australia

Austria

Aztecs - Mexico

Baghdad

Bahamas

Bahrain

Bangladesh

Barbados

Beachy Head, England

Belgium

Benin

Berlin

Bermuda

Black Rock Desert

Bohemia

Bolivia

Bonneville Utah History

Bonneville, Utah, USA

Brazil

Brighton - West Pier

British Columbia

Buckingham Palace

Bulgaria

Burkina Faso

Burma

California

Canada

Canary Islands

Cape Horn

Cape Verde

Cape York - Au

Caribbean

Cayman Islands

Central Africa

Chichester Harbour

Chile

China

Columbo - Sri Lanka

Columbia

Corfu

Cowes, Isle of Wight

Croatia

Crooked Island, Bahamas

Cuba

Cyprus

Czechoslovakia

Darwin - Australia

Daytona Beach

Denmark

Eastbounre Pier, England

Earthquakes

Ecuador

Egypt

Eindhoven

Estonia

Equator

Europe

Falkland Islands

Falmouth, Cornwall

Fiji

Finland

Florida

France

Galapagos Islands

Geography Links

Geography Mountains

Geography Records

Geography Resources

Geography Statistics

 

 

Germany

Ghana

Gibraltar - Links

Greece

Greenland

Guinea

Guinea Bissau

Hawaii

Holland the Nertherlands

Hollywood, California, LA

Hong Kong

Hungary

Hurricanes

Iceland

India

Indonesia Links

Iran

Iraq

Ireland

Isle of Man

Isle of Wight - The Needles

Israel

Italy

Ivory Coast

Jakarta - Java

Jamaica

Japan

Johannesburg

Jordan

Kent, England

Kenya

Korea South Republic

Korea North

Kuwait

Kyoto

Lanzarote, Gran Canaria

Las Vegas

Lebanon

Liberia

Libya

Liechtenstein

Life on Earth

Lithuania

London - Big Ben

London Eye

London Houses Parliament

London - Buckingham Palace

London - Old Bailey

London - Overview

London - The City

London - Tower Bridge

London - Trafalgar Square

Luxembourg

Madame Tussauds

Malaysia

Mali

Malta

Marshal Islands

Mauritania

Maya Empire - Central America

Melbourne, Australia

Middle East

Mexico

Monaco

Morocco

Mountains

Mumbai

Naples- Italy

National Geographic

Nepal

New York

New Zealand

Niger

Nigeria

North Africa

Norway

Nova Scotia

Oceans and Seas

Oman

Pakistan

Palermo - Sicily

Palestine

Palma - Malorca

 

 

Panama Canal - Links

Paris

Pendine Sands

Peru

Philippines

Pisa, Leaning Tower

Planet Earth

Poland

Port Moresby - PNG

Port Said - Egypt

Portugal

Puerto Rico

Qatar

Quebec

Rio de Janeiro

Romania

Rome

Russia

Salt Lake City

Samoa

Saudi Arabia

Scandanavia

Scotland

Senegal

Siera Leone

Singapore

Solomon Islands

Somalia

South Africa

South America

Southampton

Spain - Espana

Sri Lanka - Links

Stonehenge

Sudan

Suez Canal

Sundancer Holiday Resort

Sussex, England Index

Sweden

Switzerland

Sydney, Australia

Syria

Tahiti - Polynesia - Links

Tahitian - Men & Women Customs

Taiwan

Thailand

The Gambia

Togo

Tokyo, Japan

Tonga - Polynesia

Toronto

Trinidad - Lesser Antilles

Trinidad and Tobago

Tsunami

Tunbridge Wells, England

Tunisia

Turkey

Tuvalu Islands

UAE - United Arab Emirates

UK Statistics

Ukraine

United Kingdom

United Kingdom - Gov

USA

Uruguay

Vanuatu Islands

Vatican City

Venezuela

Venice

Vienna

Vietnam

Volcanoes

Volendam

Wales

Washington D.C.

WAYN Where Are You Now

Wealden iron industry

Wendover

West Africa

World Peace Supporters

Yemen

Yugoslavia

Zurich

 

 

 

 

 

Solar Cola drinkers care about planet earth

 

.. Thirst for Life

 

Planet Earth Solar Cola can 330 mil

 

(330ml Planet Earth can)

 

 

 

 

ACIDIFICATION - ADRIATIC - AEGEAN - ARCTIC - ATLANTIC - BALTIC - BAY BENGAL - BAY BISCAY - BERING - BLACK - CARIBBEAN - CORAL - EAST CHINA SEA

ENGLISH CH - GOC - GUANABARA - GULF GUINEA - GULF MEXICO - INDIAN - IONIAN  - IRISH - MEDITERRANEAN - NORTH SEA - PACIFIC

PERSIAN GULF - SEA JAPAN - STH CHINA - PLASTIC - PLANKTON - PLASTIC OCEANS - SEA LEVEL RISE - SOUTHERN - TYRRHENIAN

 

 

 

 

This website is Copyright © 1999 & 2024.  The bird logos and name Solar Navigator are trademarks. All rights reserved.  All other trademarks are hereby acknowledged.   Max Energy Limited is an educational charity.