TIMSON Immigration
Vanuatu Introduction
Vanuatu (officially the Republic of Vanuatu) is a Pacific island nation located in the South Pacific Ocean and is a part of the Melanesian islands. Vanuatu consists of more than 80 islands among which 68 islands are inhabited, 14 islands have surface areas of more than 100 square kilometers and the largest island is Espiritu Santo. The capital of Vanuatu is Port Vila which is one of the largest city of the country and is located in Efate. The climate of Vanuatu is tropical, with rainfall of about 1600 millimeters per annum. Most of the islands have high mountains and vocanic mountains with rich tourism resources.
The local time of Vanuatu is three hours ahead of Beijing. The flight to Vanuatu is about 22 hours from Beijing and Shanghai, and 17 hours from Hong Kong. The official language of Vanuatu is English, French and Bislama. According to the statistics, in 1999, there are 95,682 men and 90,996 women in Vanuatu. 84% of the local residents believe in Christianity while some believe in traditional primitive religion.
Vanuatu was independent and founded in 1980 with a parliamentary democracy. The President is the head of the republic, while the Prime Minister is the head of the government. The Parliament of Vanuatu is unicameral and has 52 Senators, who are elected by popular votes every four years.
Vanuatu is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations and the United Nations and has joined the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the Agence de Coopération Culturelle et Technique, la Francophonie. Vanuatu established diplomatic relations with China in 1980.
The majority of people in Vanuatu are engaged in primary industries, such as agriculture, fishing, cattle raising. Tourism is quite important and is the main source of government revenue. Due to the price and high production costs, products from Vanuatu lack of competitiveness. Industrial products such as machinery and equipment, foodstuffs, and fuels have to be imported while exports include copra, kava, beef, cocoa, and timber.