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KOMPAS.com – Vanuatu has been widely discussed recently on social media, and has even become trending topic On twitter.
The discussion on Vanuatu came after the country again brought up the subject of alleged human rights violations in Papua at the UN General Assembly on Saturday (9/28/2020).
The issue of human rights violations is not the first time Vanuatu has raised an issue.
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Launching Daily kompasOn March 27, 2015, the then Prime Minister of Vanuatu, Moana Carcasses Kalosil, also addressed the same issue before the UN Human Rights Council.
The issue continues to appear before the General Assembly or the UN session in 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 and, more recently, in 2020.
There is often a storm on the Papuan issue, so where is Vanuatu?
Geographic location
Quoted from British, The Republic of Vanuatu is an island nation located in the South Pacific Ocean.
The islands are located about 1,750 kilometers east of Australia, 500 kilometers northeast of New Caledonia, west of Fiji and south of the Solomon Islands.
The country’s islands form a chain similar to the letter Y of the fourteen main islands between the South Pacific Ocean and the Coral Sea and are home to several active volcanoes.
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The highest point in Vanuatu is Mount Tabwemasana, at 1,879 meters, located on Espiritu Santo Island.
The land area in Vanuatu is 12,190 square kilometers, equivalent to 4,707 square miles.
The archipelago has a population of 274,000 (as of 2019), the capital and largest city being Port Vila.
The language used is Bislama (a Creole language based on English), English, French and several Austronesian languages.
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Population
Vanuatu is a jointly managed Anglo-French condominium in the New Hebrides.
Vanuatu achieved independence in 1980.
The name Vanuatu means “Our land forever” in many locally spoken Melanesian languages.
The indigenous population, called ni-Vanuatu, is predominantly Melanesian, although some remote islands have Polynesian populations.
There are also small minorities of Europeans, Micronesians, Chinese and Vietnamese.
An estimated three-quarters of the population lives in rural areas, but since independence, the urban centers of Luganville and Port-Vila have attracted large numbers of people.
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Economy
Agriculture has traditionally been the economic foundation of Vanuatu, along with an intricate network within and between the islands.
Economic changes occurred with the development of European plantations after 1867. Cotton was an early crop, followed by maize (corn), coffee, cocoa beans, and coconut (for copra).
Presenting a report published by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), Vanuatu’s economy is heavily dependent on the tourism sector.
The ADB itself has so far been one of the country’s donor agencies. In 2019, the country’s economic growth will reach 3 percent.
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However, the growth rate of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) fell compared to the 2 previous years by 3.2 percent and 4.4 percent, respectively.
The slowdown in Vanuatu’s economy was caused by damage to the agricultural and tourism sectors due to Tropical Storm Hola and the eruption of volcanoes on Ambae Island.
Before the coronavirus pandemic, ADB’s economic growth in 2020 was projected at 2.8 percent.
The country’s agricultural sector relies heavily on copra, which is its main staple. Other export products are coconut oil and coconut fruit.
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