Vanuatu, formerly called the New Hebrides, is a group of over 80 volcanic islands in the western Pacific.

The first Europeans to visit Vanuatu  in May 1606 were members of the Spanish expedition led by Pedro Fernandez de Quiros.

James Cook arrived on 16 th July 1774, on his second Pacific expedition. He drew the first charts of the region and named the places he visited. Many of the names are still in use today, including Tanna, Erromango, Ambryn and the Shepherd Islands.

In 1789 shortly after the mutiny on the bounty, William Bligh sailed through the Northern Banks group in his longboat. He sighted several previously unrecorded islands and returned three years later to confirm his discoveries.

The first Christian missionary on the scene was the Reverend John Williams from the London Missionary Society. In 1839 he stepped ashore on Erromango and was promptly eaten. Presbyterianism eventually became the major Christian denomination. The Anglican Diocese of Melaesia followed in 1860,while Catholicism arrived in 1887. 

Bislama, a form of Pidgin English, is Vanuatu’s national language. English and French are also widely spoken.

Vanuatu also has the highest concentration in the world of different local languages per head of population. There are 106, and 81 are still actively spoken.

95% of Bislama is based on English, with a few dozen French words and ‘ island language’ thrown in.

Here are a few that made us chuckle.

Buk blong mi : The book belongs to me

Sating ia hemi bugarup or Samting ia I brok : This is broken

Fulap : Full

Tankyu : Thank you