VANUATU

14 team members
Adopt-a-country school: Avarua School
Accommodation: Avarua School
Dining: Sinai Hall

Capital:     Port Vila
Land Area:     12,195 sq km
Languages:     Bislama (Pidgin), English and French
Currency:     Vatu

The Republic of Vanuatu is a group of Melanesian islands located in the South Pacific Ocean. The country consists of an archipelago of 83 islands, which have been inhabited for thousands of years.
The earliest known settlement (4000 years BC) was in Malo, a small island south of Espiritu Santo. Ancient pottery has been found on many islands in the north and in the centre of the archipelago. These initial inhabitants were Melanesian.
Both Britain and France claimed the territory in 1906, forming a partnership to jointly manage the country through the British – French Condominium. A republic was eventually formed in 1980.
The population is about 200,000. The Ni Vanuatu have populated these islands for centuries with more than 115 distinctly different cultures and languages still thriving here, Vanuatu is recognized as one of the most culturally diverse countries in the world.
There are small communities of French, British, Australian, New Zealand, Vietnamese, Chinese and other Pacific Island people living in harmony with the Ni Vanuatu.  Although ni-Vanuatu, speak more than 100 languages, Bislama, the local form of Pidgin English, has become the most common language.