States of Oceania

Modern Vanuatu (Melanesia) (Oceania)
AD 1980 - Present Day
Incorporating Heads of State (1980-2024), Tanna/TAFEA, & Vemerana

Considered in some quarters to be a watery continent in its own right, Oceania starts where South-East Asia ends, to the south-east of Indonesia and East Timor. Its territory is somewhat debatable but generally and mainly consists of the waters of the Pacific Ocean, dotted with some two thousand islands, some of which are independent states and others either parts of countries or colonies.

The region of Melanesia, of which Vanuatu is a part, covers the South Pacific Ocean south-western section of Oceania. Proceeding from the west, Melanesia begins with Papua New Guinea, followed in turn by the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, and Fiji.

Vanuatu is a small island republic, one which consists of thirteen main islands and many smaller ones. To the north are the Santa Cruz Islands, with these being the easternmost part of the Solomon Islands. To the east is Fiji, to the south is the French possession of New Caledonia and, over sixteen hundred kilometres away, is the state of Queensland, Australia.

The capital is Port-Villa, while the territory as a whole contains a population of over two hundred thousand people, and one hundred and thirteen languages are spoken. About ninety-five percent of the population is formed from the indigenous ni-Vanuatu people. The rest includes Australians, New Zealanders, Europeans, Asians, and other Pacific islanders. Vanuatu has a republican form of government, with a president as head of state and a unicameral parliament under that position. Vanuatu is also a member of the Commonwealth of Nations.

The Lapita are of East Asian origin. They reached the Solomon Islands by about 30,000 BC before later beginning to explore out from the northern Solomons and the northern islands of the Bismarck Archipelago, by about 1200 BC. At that time, during the Neolithic Oceania period, they appear to have arrived in what are now the Santa Cruz Islands of the eastern Solomons, as well as Vanuatu (formerly the New Hebrides). Vanuatu legend claims that people arrived on Tongoa Island in the Shepherd Islands, an island group in central Vanuatu, around 3000 BC.

Captain Pedro Fernandez de Quiros, a Spanish explorer, became the first European to visit Vanuatu in 1606. Captain James Cook of Great Britain reached Vanuatu in 1774 and named the islands the New Hebrides. Then came French and English missionaries, traders, and blackbirders (persons who trick or coerce others into slavery). Those who were enslaved were taken to sugarcane plantations in Queensland, Australia, and most never came back.

In 1887 the New Hebrides came under the joint administration of an Anglo-French naval commission. In 1906, the New Hebrides became an Anglo-French condominium.

A curious religious element developed around 1938, when believers claimed that John Frum (or Brum or Prum), a legendary American serviceman later connected to the Second World War was expected to deliver European and American goods which would bring fabulous prosperity to the islands. These goods, called cargo, were being intercepted by foreigners, but one day the ni-Vanuatu ancestors would return bringing this cargo. The post-war British outlawed the cult until 1956, when the Anglo-French condominium recognised John Frum and 'cargo culture' as a religion.

The islands experienced a number of secessionist movements before and during the period in which they became independent. The 'Forcona Movement' in the north of the island of Tanna proclaimed in 1974 that island's independence. British and French troops quickly suppressed the movement. Another secessionist movement, the 'John Frum Movement' began in Tanna in 1980.

The federation of Na-Griamel, which consisted of Aoba Island, Maéwo Island, the Banks Islands, the Torres Islands, and the island of Espiritu Santo in the northern part of the New Hebrides, proclaimed its secession on 27 December 1975. The Na-Griamel secession was suppressed in 1977 only to resume again in May 1980. Also by 1980, the N'makiaute secessionist movement was formed on Malakula Island.

Another secessionist movement which was led by the 'Kapiel Alliance' in the centre of Tanna island proclaimed on 1 January 1980 the 'TAFEA Nation' which consisted of the islands of Tanna, Anatom, Futuna, Erromango, and Aniwa. The British suppressed Tafea on 26 May 1980.

A secessionist provisional government of Vemerana was proclaimed on Espiritu Santo on 1 June 1980. The revolt spread on 28 June to Aoba and Malakula islands, but collapsed there on 4 July. British and French troops established control over the rebel capital at Luganville on 24 July, but the rebels fled inland. While all this was going on - and to complicate things - on 30 July 1980, the New Hebrides became independent as the republic of Vanuatu.

Far East Kingdoms

Oceania

Images and text copyright © all contributors mentioned on this page. An original king list page for the History Files.