The Republic of Vanuatu, is a collection of about 83 islands situated in the South-West Pacific Ocean, about 1,750 kilometers east of Australia and 500 kilometers northeast of New Caledonia.
The total land area is approximately 12,189 square kilometers and the territorial waters cover 450,000 square kilometers.
The total population of Vanuatu is estimated at 330,000 people. About 95% of the population is indigenous known as “Ni-Vanuatu”. The other segment of the population includes people of different nationalities, from Australia, New Zealand, Europe, Asia and other Pacific Islands. Over 20% live in the two large cities of Port Vila on Efate Island and Luganville on Espiritu Santo. More than 50,000 people live in the capital city of Port Vila.
Pronounced as van-wah-too, Vanuatu means ‘Our Land’
The word for land (vanua, fanua or fenua) is one of the most common Pacific words. The country’s people are called Ni-Vanuatu, meaning ‘Of Vanuatu’.
Vanuatu’s Population is estimated at 300,000 with 120 indigenous languages, more than any other in the world per capita.
Vanuatu or New Hebrides as it was known before, has been inhabited for over 4000 years. It was discovered in May 1606 by the Spanish Explorer, Captain Pedro Fernandez de Quiros. After de Quiros, Captain James Cook followed in 1774 as well as French and English missionaries, traders, and black birders who took local people as slaves to work in the Sugar cane plantations in Queensland, Australia. Most of these people never returned home.
The Landing of Captain Cook at Tanna- A history that includes bitter colonial rivals Britain and France sharing power for a century, this archipelago of 83 islands was known as the New Hebrides. Prior to independence in 1980, James Cook gave it this name during his expedition in 1774 because of dark, rugged islands reminded him of the Hebrides group, off Scotland’s west coast.
After some 74 years of joint rule between Britain and France, Vanuatu finally received its independence on the 30th July 1980. On December 1994, the 11 Local Government Councils were changed into 6 provinces, giving them more autonomy to decide on what is best for their people, though still under the rule of the national Government.
The Republic of Vanuatu is an independent parliamentary democracy, with 52 members of Parliament, for which general elections are held every 4 years.
The head of state is the President of the Republic, who is elected for a period of five years by an electoral college consisting of Members of Parliament and the Presidents of the Provincial Councils. The new President of the Republic of Vanuatu was elected on 23 July 2022.
The Electors are the 52 MPs and the 6 heads of provincial government. The Constitution provides for executive and legislative arms of government, and the judiciary. The President is Vanuatu’s Head of State. The judiciary consists of the Supreme Court with a Chief Justice and a Magistrates Court.
The Prime Minister office was created under the Constitution of Vanuatu upon the country’s independence in 1980, with independence campaigner Walter Lini becoming the first office-holder.
Vanuatu is a full member of the British Commonwealth, the French League of Nations, the United Nations, Agence de Co-operation Culturelle et Technique, the South Pacific Bureau for Economic Co-operation (SPEC), the Secretariat of the Pacific Community, the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank.
The new Prime Minister of Vanuatu effective 11 February 2025 is Hon Jotham Napat from the Tanna Constituency. He is the current leader of the Leaders Paty which he formed in 2015.
An Apostille is a certificate that authenticates the signature of a public official on a document for use in another country. Whilst Vanuatu is a signatory to the Hague Convention on Apostilles, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is not. Therefore, please check if you need an Apostille and if you do, there is a chain that you must follow. All Vanuatu Government issued documents like Birth Certificates should be Apostilled in Vanuatu by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Once that is done, we can then attest the documents here in the Vanuatu Consulate Dubai then you take those documents to the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs for a notarised stamp and then the document can be used for Government processes in the UAE.
If you do not have family in Vanuatu who can assist you with this first step, we can recommend some companies for this service. Please note there is a fee for this service so we recommend you apostille your documents in Vanuatu before travelling to the UAE.
Yes- we can provide this service after citing the Original and True copy. Please note there is a fee for this service. Please ask for a full list of our services and prices on Contact@vanuatuconsulateuae.com
No- we can only recommend agents who can assist you with this service in Vanuatu. We do not have the equipment nor capacity for such work yet. Do check with us on Contact@vanuatuconsulateuae.com and we will confirm if the status quo remains or whether this changes.
No- we can assist you with information but we do not have the equipment nor capacity for such work yet. Do check with us on Contact@vanuatuconsulateuae.com. and we will confirm if the status quo remains or whether this changes.
This is highly unlikely but you can call us on our emergency number +97155 447 8835 and we will try our best to assist as best we can. There is no guarantee that we will be able to assist in complex or bureaucratic matters especially where the law or rules have not been followed.
No- you cannot claim refugee status at the Vanuatu Consulate in Dubai-UAE. If you have a potential refugee case then please approach the nearest office of the UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner on Refugees) in Abu Dhabi- their phone number is +971 8 00 86427 at certain timings only or on email: uaeab@unhcr.org – see https://www.unhcr.org/countries/united-arab-emirates.
There are 16 public holidays in Vanuatu that is observed by the Consulate in addition to the UAE’s own public and religious holidays. This includes New Year’s Day, Election Day. Father Lini Day, Custom Chief’s Day and Good Friday and Ester Monday. See: https://www.gov.vu/index.php/events/holidays and also https://u.ae/en/information-and-services/public-holidays-and-religious-affairs/public-holidays. If in doubt, do contact our office for more information on Contact@vanuatuconsulateuae.com.
As at 28 April 2025, we are unable to but once we have the equipment and capabilities, we will inform the public of this function.
