Vanuatu. Vanuatu (English: VAH-noo-AH-too or van-WAH-too; Bislama and French pronunciation [vanuatu]), officially the Republic of Vanuatu (French: R??publique de Vanuatu; Bislama: Ripablik blong Vanuatu), is an island country in Melanesia located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago, which is of volcanic origin, is 1,750 km (1,090 mi) east of northern Australia, 540 km (340 mi) northeast of New Caledonia, east of New Guinea, southeast of Solomon Islands, and west of Fiji. Vanuatu was first inhabited by Melanesian people. The first Europeans to visit the islands were a Spanish expedition led by Portuguese navigator Fernandes de Queir??s, who arrived on the largest island...
