Vanuatu History
It is thought the first people to reach Vanuatu were the Lapita from Papua New Guinea, who arrived in the northern islands from the Solomons in about 1500 BC. Subsequent settlers gradually moved south throughout the islands. Later, between the 11th and 15th centuries, a wave of Polynesian settlers came from the central Pacific, and some islands still reflect this Polynesian heritage.
The first European explorers arrived in May 1606 as part of a Spanish expedition headed by Pedro Fernandez de Quiros, a Portuguese explorer. The next explorer to visit Vanuatu was Frenchman Louis-Antoine de Boungainville, who landed at Ambae and Malo in May of 1768. British explorer James Cook, who drew the region’s first charts, arrived in the islands on 16 July, 1774, on his second Pacific expedition. Cook christened the islands the New Hebrides, and named many of the places he visited, including Tanna, Ambrym, the Shepherd Islands and Erromango. In 1789, William Bligh passed by the northern Banks in his longboat, after the infamous mutiny on the Bounty. Bligh found several unrecorded islands, and returned three years later to confirm his discovery.
In 1839, the first Christian missionary, Rev John Williams, landed on Erromango. He fell victim to cannibalism, and some early Polynesian teachers sent from Samoa suffered the same fate. It was not until 1848 that Rev John Geddie established a Presbyterian mission on Aneityum and this later became the main denomination on Efate and the islands to the south. The people were decimated by European diseases brought by the new settlers, leading to a huge population decline. Although protestant missionaries put a stop to traditional practices such as cannibalism, ancestor worship and kava drinking, many converts blended the new doctrine with their traditional beliefs. Today, traditional cultural life (kastom) remains strong in many places, particularly in the outer islands.
By 1844, the country’s first trading post was established on Aneityum, and European cattle ranchers began to arrive some 10 years later. French interests were dominant by the mid-1880s, when French settlers outnumbered the British three to one. In 1906, the Anglo-French Condominium of the New Hebrides was created, giving France and Britain dual administrative powers.
US forces arrived in Vanuatu in 1942 in an effort to counter Japan’s rapid advance through the Pacific. Bases were built at Havannah Harbour and Port Vila on Efate, and on Espiritu Santo. Some 100,000 troops were stationed at Santo, making it the largest US base in the Pacific outside of Hawaii. When US forces withdrew at the end of the war, huge amounts of surplus equipment were dumped into the sea off Million Dollar Point, near Luganville. Today, visitors to Santo can still see war relics, including old bombers and bunkers, while sunken military vessels and equipment have made Million Dollar Point world-famous for its superb wreck diving. Vanuatu achieved independence under its present name in July 1980, and now has a democratic government based on the Westminster system.