Vanuatu History: Difference between revisions

'''B.C. '''The first settlers arrive from New Guinea and the Solomon Islands by canoe.<br>'''1200''' It is part of the kingdom of Tonga.<br>'''1606''' It is visited by the Spanish explorer Pedro Fernandez de Queiro who named them “''Espiritu Santo''.”<br>'''1768''' The Frenchman, Alexandre de Bougainville, put ashore on ''Aoba, Pentecost'', and ''Maewo'' and named them the “''Cyclades''” and named the strait between the islands after himself.<br>'''1774''' Vanuatu is explored by Captain James Cook, who renames them ''New Hebrides'' after the islands off Scotland.<br>'''1800''' English missionaries begin arriving. The population is about one million. Foreigners begin stripping the islands of sandalwood and introducing diseases.<br>'''1860''' Natives are kidnapped to work on sugar and cotton plantations in Queensland, Australia and Fiji.<br>'''1875''' French Tanners, who are Catholic settlers, petition France to annex the islands.<br>'''1876''' English Presbyterian missionaries petition England to annex the islands.<br>'''1887''' The islands were placed under an English and French Naval commission. Records are kept in both French and English.<br>'''1901''' Australia introduces the ''Pacific Islands Labour Bill'', ending the kidnapping (''blackbirding)'' of islanders.<br>'''1906''' A condominium government run by England and France is established.<br>'''1935''' Due to diseases and kidnaping, the native population has fallen to 45,000.<br>'''1940''' Allied forces use the island as a base. Roads are built, and wages are good for the natives.<br>'''1960''' European settlers claim over 30 percent of the land.<br>'''1978''' The condominium government ceases.<br>'''1980''' The islands become independent as Vanuatu. Most French nationals leave and the land is reverted entirely to the indigenous ''ni-Vanuatu''.<br>'''1991''' A coalition led by Prime Minister Maxime Carlot governs Vanuatu.