Vanuatu

Multiple waves of colonizers, each speaking a distinct language, migrated to the New Hebrides in the millennia preceding European exploration in the 18th century. This settlement pattern accounts for the complex linguistic diversity found on the archipelago to this day. The British and French, who settled the New Hebrides in the 19th century, agreed in 1906 to an Anglo-French Condominium, which administered the islands until independence in 1980, when the new name of Vanuatu was adopted.

Economical characteristics

 * Currency: Vanuatu vatu (ISO code: VUV)
 * Central bank discount rate: 6% (31 December 2009)
 * Commercial banks lending rate: 5.5% (31 December 2009 )
 * Stock of money (M1): $101.6 million (31 December 2008)
 * Quasi money (with M1 makes M2): $430 million (31 December 2008)

Links

 * Vanuatu on Wikipedia
 * Central bank of Vanuatu
 * Country profile (pdf) from the Enterprise Studies page (part of the The World Bank Group)
 * BBC country profile