An archipelago in the Pacific Ocean, the Continent of Oceania, in the region of Melanesia. The Republic of Vanuatu, formed by volcanic eruptions, consists of 83 islands, 1750 km east of Australia, west of Fiji, southeast of the Solomon Islands, near the Island of New Guinea.

The Vanuatu Islands, whose first inhabitants were Melanesians, were named the New Hebrides, first discovered by Captain James Cook in 1774, and continued to use the same name until independence was achieved. The islands discovered by European explorers in 1806 were claimed by France and England in the 1880s, and in 1906 they signed a treaty to co-administer the archipelago with the British and the French. With the independence movement that started in the 1970s, it achieved its independence in 1980 as the Parliamentary Republic of Vanuatu.

The yellow color in the flag, which was adopted on 30 July 1980 and consists of red, green, yellow and black colors, symbolizes the strong Christian belief, the red color symbolizes the sacrificed pigs, the green color symbolizes the underground wealth of the country, and the black color symbolizes the indigenous people of the country.

Port Vila, Vanuatu’s most developed, largest and most populous city, is also the capital. The cities of Port Olry, Lenakel, Luganville are among the other important places in the country.

Demographic structure of the population; Ni-Vanuatu (98.5%), who are the indigenous people of this region, constitute the majority. The remaining 1.5% are from New Zealand and Australia. In the country where 36.7% of the country is Presbyterian, 15% Anglican, 15% Roman Catholic, 7.6% local religions and 19.5% other religions, Bislama, an English-based language, French and Vanuatu are the official languages, with the majority of the population speaking 17 different local languages depending on the region they live in. The literacy rate in the country is 74%.

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We are going to the capital Port Villa on Efate Island, which is the 3rd largest island of Vanuatu and named as “Sandwich Island” by Captain Cook. With a population of 58 thousand, Port Villa is the center of economy and social life a.

Vanuatu is one of the countries that sell the most citizenship in the world, if you give 100 thousand US dollars, you will get citizenship, it is not known what it will do, but keep in mind.

Most tourists come to Vanuatu from Australia, Indonesia and China, as well as Americans and Europeans by large ships daily.

In these geographies, you can always encounter an unexpected surprise. We are staying in a very nice hotel with great food in nature.

You won’t believe it, but Vanuatu has been chosen as the country where the happiest people in the world live.

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After an early morning sea voyage, we passed through the dark and moist forest waters created by the dense trees, through the villages, and reached the Mele Cascade Waterfall, which flows gradually over the high rocks in the village of Mele Cascade, gradually cooling the surroundings.

When the weather is hot and humid, it is difficult to move and climb the hills, half of the group turned away from the road, but at the end of the road, the magnificent view was worth it. We spin through the water up to our knees, everything wet on us dries quickly.

In the Pacific Ocean, there are still indigenous peoples living in accordance with their traditions and cultures from years ago on some of the islands that are not easily accessible except for the main settlement islands. In Vanuatu, we wanted to go to one of the islands where there are tribes living according to their old traditions, we realized that transportation and accommodation are not easy, we need to prepare in advance, and there may still be cannibalism habits in some places due to old traditions. We decided not to risk getting the hide pierced out of nowhere and went to Tekosu village, to the show of the tribal people who lived in those areas in the past. In the dark forest, warriors greeted the warriors with their faces painted, in thatched skirts, necklaces made of animal bones on their heads and necks, and trumpets made of seashells. We came before the chief of the village, accompanied by warriors who screamed through the forest and pretended to jump at us. It’s like a cartoon. After the preliminary explanation, they explained how they hunted in the forest, how they were fed, what herbs they made against diseases, we toured the village and finally the show was completed with the farewell dance. They explained that in the real environment of this tribe, men and women only cover the genitals with leaves, not for privacy but to protect their sensitive parts for the continuation of the lineage. It would be interesting if we could go to the island where they actually lived, but it was still beautiful.

For lunch, we go to a place where there are bats, turtles, etc. They are obviously trying to do their best, but… These are not places where tourists come often, so there are some missing things, the intention is good… Places like this are very cheap when they are scarce. it doesn’t work, we got up hungry and it’s expensive!

We are going to Blue Lagun, one of the favorite places of this place. People swim and have fun in the lake, which is formed where the sea water and the fresh water coming from the river mix, and we did the same.

Vanuatu is one of the destinations with slightly more tourists than the other islands in the Melanazia region. It is possible to have good food in hotel restaurants. The important issue is the sea, but there is no fishing and eating habits here. They answer the question “Why don’t you eat fish” in the sense that fish is hard work, you need to get up early in the morning, so the correct answer is laziness created by hot climate and habits. For this reason, everyone eats chicken, and it cannot be said that it is cooked well between us.

The weather conditions are also interesting, everything is beautiful, the sun is hot on the top, it rains like crazy in a few seconds, it rains for a short time, then the sun is hot again as if it never happened. People are used to it, they don’t worry too much about getting caught in the rain on the way, they keep walking, even it’s good to cool off, everything dries up quickly when the sun shines.

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After a half-hour boat ride to the north of Lelepa Island, we go to Lelepac Island, which has a total population of only 220 people. The island, which has turquoise beaches far from civilization, was first known for the survivor program, which was shot by an American television in 2004.

Today we decided to have some fun here, the sea is wonderful. After dinner, we wander around to see what the people of the village were doing, they weren’t doing anything. Women sit in the shade of a large tree with their children, while men sit in the shade of another, larger tree. When you get tired of sitting all day, you go home in the evening and rest, and continue to sit in the shade of the tree during the day. Tiring business laziness!

We just finished the day.

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If we look briefly at the history of Vanuatu;

In 1606, Portuguese explorer Pedro Fernandez first discovered Vanuatu.

1860, It was used as a base to meet the labor needs of the surrounding countries. This trading system was called “blackbirding”.

1865, European settlers began to arrive on the island.

1887, France and England formed a commission to protect the rights of their citizens on the island.

1906, England and France signed an agreement to jointly rule the country. Legislative, executive and judicial order was established within the framework of this different administration, a two-headed administration and a common legal system.

1980, The country gained its independence and became the Republic of Vanuatu.

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To say something about the economy of Vanuatu, it can be said that agriculture in general, the money sent by its citizens working abroad and tourism. Most of the people are engaged in small-scale agriculture. Cocoa beans and timber have started to be among the exported products of recent times. Considering that hurricanes and other disasters in the country’s climate zone negatively affect the economy, it can be said that the Vanuatu economy is still in continuous development. The country is not rich in underground resources, a small amount of manganese is processed and exported.

The country’s currency, the Vanuatu Vatu, is regulated, printed and distributed by the central bank and is worth 1 USD=45000 VUV.

Total GDP (2020) $864 million, GDP per capita (2020) $2,879.

Since Vanuatu is an island country in the Pacific Ocean, naturally, the tropical climate prevails in the country. It is rainy and hot for 9 months of the year, hurricanes are seen during these periods, in the remaining part, the air is dry and cool.

Social life in Vanuatu, which is chosen as one of the countries where happy people live in the world, is based on tourism. In rural areas where half of the population lives, evaluations have been made that people have a high level of happiness. There is no statistical information on how these evaluations are made, it is not clear by what criteria the happy people of the world were chosen. The shepherd’s happiness comes from the smallness of his world! Maybe such is the case.

There are also some infrastructure problems in the country where the health systems are not very adequate. Income inequality between people is much less than in many countries. Vanuatu, which is open to technological developments, has adopted the belief culture like other Pacific island countries, that is, it is one of the countries where there are too many churches.

The Republic of Vanuatu is the country of calm, peaceful people, welcoming its guests with flowers, sincere, sincere and comfortable.

 

best regards

Hayrettin Kagnici

December 2022