This amazing diversity is a result of 4,000 years of sporadic immigration from many Pacific countries. In late 1930s to early 1942, the Japanese and the Americans arrived on Efate, totally unannounced, filling Mele Bay with warships, where the Underwater post office currently is. Proudly supported by. During WW2, Vanuatu was overrun by American troops in an effort to stop the advancing Japanese army and prevent them from gaining a foothold in the area. World-famous for its diving, Santo (as it’s affectionately known) is home to a remarkable collection of dive sites which include the 198 metre World War II troop carrier; The SS President Coolidge - considered by many to be the best wreck dive in the world; sunken trucks, cranes and fork lifts (Million Dollar Point); as well as caves, coral and chasms (Tutuba Point).Pentecost Land diving or Nagol Pentecost Island has become famous throughout the world for the land diving ritual (Nagol or N'gol) which occurs every Saturday between April and June.
PORT VILA - Though a young boy at the time, Wallace Andre clearly recollects that moment six decades ago when a U.S. dive bomber began to encounter trouble while paying a visit to his coastal village on the eastern edge of Vanuatu's capital … They were convicted but their prison sentences were subsequently quashed following appeals from the international community. Vanuatu’s leader at independence and first Prime Minister (1980–91), Father Walter Lini, died at the age of 57 in February 1999.During August 1999 opposition parties won three of the four by- elections to be held, giving them control of 26 of the 52 parliamentary seats, and putting them in a strong position to defeat the government, which finally occurred in November 1999 after two government members defected to the opposition and Barak Sope (MPP) was elected Prime Minister by 28 votes to 24. Download the Air Vanuatu Entertainment app to your tablet, smart phone or ipad before you take flight on our Boeing 737-800 aircraft. In October 1998, Kalpokas dismissed Lini, excluding the NUP from the coalition, and formed new alliances with the UMP and the John Frum Movement (JFM). The South Pacific World War II Museum will be built on.
Knowledge and Power in a South Pacific Society , 1990. The name ‘New Hebrides’ was given to the islands by Captain James Cook on his visit in 1774. Stretching more than 1,300 kilometres, there are roughly 80 Melanesian Islands which form the Vanuatu archipelago. A government of national unity was formed in 1978 and, with advisory help from France and the UK, a new constitution providing for independence in 1980 was adopted in October 1979. After two months, he was replaced by Korman.
However, before these elections could be held, Lini resumed as Prime Minister. Not long after Cook it was colonised by both the French and the British, with both countries laying claim to the island group. In September 1991, Donald Kalpokas succeeded Lini as leader of the VP and Prime Minister.The general election of December 1991 brought in a new government, a coalition led by Maxime Carlot Korman, leader of the francophone Union of Moderate Parties (UMP). Under the Condominium there were three separate governments – one French, one British, and one joint administration.Apart from the Joint Court, everything in the New Hebrides was duplicated and existed in pairs – one British, the other French – two currencies, two police forces, two sets of laws, two education systems, two health services, and even two prison systems.The system worked amicably until the outbreak of World War II when France was defeated by Germany in 1940. In Espiritu Santo, 100,000 troops arrived in short order and throughout the islands, an interesting social phenomenon took place creating new friendships between the local Hebridean and American soldiers. The first major change was agreement, at a meeting between France and the UK in 1974, to setting up a representative assembly (with a majority elected by universal franchise) to replace the colonial advisory council. Vanuatu : History. The VP won 18 seats, the UMP 12, the NUP 11 and other parties 11; no party had an overall majority. The islands of Vanuatu have been inhabited since 500 BCE, and the region was part of the Tongan Empire into the 14th century. Bubbling away above Tanna Island, visitors can walk right up to the fiery rim, taking in one of nature’s most spectacular shows of belching geysers and glowing lava. “Something happened,” Wallace remembers. PORT VILA (TR) – Though a young boy at the time, Wallace Andre clearly recollects that moment six decades ago when a U.S. dive bomber began to encounter trouble while paying a visit to his coastal village on the eastern edge of Vanuatu’s capital island of Efate.