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The 52 members of the Parliament of Vanuatu from 2008 to 2012 were elected on 2 September 2008.
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The 52 members of the Parliament of Vanuatu from 2008 to 2012 were elected on 2 September 2008.
Vanuatu, officially the Republic of Vanuatu, is an island country in Melanesia, located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago, which is of volcanic origin, is 1,750 km (1,090 mi) east of northern Australia, 540 km (340 mi) northeast of New Caledonia, east of New Guinea, southeast of Solomon Islands, and west of Fiji.
The history of Vanuatu spans over 3,200 years.
Vanuatu maintains diplomatic relations with many countries, and it has a small network of diplomatic missions. Australia, France, Japan, New Zealand, the People's Republic of China, South Korea and the United Kingdom maintain embassies, High Commissions, or missions in Port Vila. The British High Commission maintained a continued presence for almost a century, though closed from 2005 until reopening in 2019.
Air Vanuatu is an airline with its head office in the Air Vanuatu House, Port Vila, Vanuatu. It is Vanuatu's national flag carrier, operating to Australia, New Zealand, New Caledonia and points in the South Pacific. Its main base is Bauerfield International Airport, Port Vila.
Edward Nipake Natapei Tuta Fanua`araki was a Vanuatuan politician. He was the prime minister of Vanuatu on two occasions, and was previously the minister of Foreign Affairs briefly in 1991, the acting president of Vanuatu from 2 March 1999 to 24 March 1999 and the deputy prime minister. He was the president of the Vanua'aku Pati, a socialist, Anglophone political party.
The flag of Vanuatu was adopted on 18 February 1980.
Ham Lin̄i Vanuaroroa is a ni-Vanuatu politician. He is a former MP from Pentecost Island in Penama Province. He was Prime Minister of Vanuatu from 11 December 2004 until 22 September 2008, and is the current Deputy Prime Minister since 16 May 2014. Lin̄i is the brother of Walter Lin̄i, one of the founders of the modern Republic of Vanuatu. Ham Lin̄i is the current leader of the National United Party (VNUP).
The Fiji men's national football team is Fiji's national men's team and is controlled by the governing body of football in Fiji, the Fiji Football Association. The team plays most of their home games at the HFC Bank Stadium in Suva.
The Vanuatu men's national football team represents Vanuatu in international football, and is controlled by the Vanuatu Football Federation.
The Vanua'aku Pati is a democratic socialist political party in Vanuatu.
The Vanuatu national cricket team is the men's team that represents Vanuatu in international cricket. The team is organised by the Vanuatu Cricket Association, which became an affiliate member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) in 1995 and was promoted to associate status in 2009. Vanuatu made its international debut at the 1979 Pacific Games, at which time the country was still known as the New Hebrides. The majority of the team's matches have come against other members of the ICC East Asia-Pacific region, including both at ICC regional tournaments and at the cricket events at the Pacific Games.
Moise Poida is a Vanuatuan football manager and former player. He manages the Vanuatu men's national team and has been a former manager of club side Tafea. Poida has also managed the Vanuatu men's under-20 national team and Vanuatu men's under-23 national team. As a player, Poida made 21 appearances for the national team and scored three goals as a winger and midfielder. At club level, he played for Tafea F.C. for his entire career. In 2008 Poida played for an Oceanian representative side against a team that included members of France's 1998 FIFA World Cup winning team. The game included players such as Zinedine Zidane, Christian Karembeu and Robert Pires.
General elections were held in Vanuatu on 2 September 2008. In July the Melanesian Progressive Party requested that they be postponed, contesting the constitutionality of the Peoples Representation Act No. 33 of 2007, which allegedly enabled voters in certain constituencies to vote in two constituencies. The Principal Electoral Officer, Martin Tete, confirmed that the election would take place on 2 September, as scheduled. The day was declared a national holiday, to encourage people to vote.
The Wantok Cup was an international football competition between the national teams of three Melanesian countries: Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu. The Cup was to be a thrice-a-year competition, to be held in July (twice) and September (once), as part of independence commemoration celebrations in the Solomons, Vanuatu and Papua New Guinea, respectively. The inaugural edition of the Cup was held during independence celebrations in the Solomon Islands, from July 3 to July 7, 2008, and was won by the hosts.
Vanuatu competed at the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing. The country was making its return to the Paralympic Games, having been absent from the 2004 edition. Vanuatu sent only a small delegation with powerlifter Tom Tete as the only athlete, and did not win any medals.
Relations between Vanuatu and Cuba began shortly after the former gained its independence from France and the United Kingdom in 1980, and began establishing its own foreign policy as a newly independent state. Vanuatu and Cuba established official diplomatic relations in 1983.
The Republic of Vanuatu has been a member of the United Nations since the year of its independence in 1980. The country was a particularly active member in the 1980s, when, governed by Prime Minister Father Walter Lini and represented by Ambassador Robert Van Lierop, it was a consistent advocate for decolonisation. Subsequently, its emphasis within the United Nations shifted to the issue of climate change and the vulnerability of Small Island Developing States.
The Catholic Church in Vanuatu is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope in Rome. Catholics constitute 13% of the population of Vanuatu in 2022. The church is organized into one diocese based in the capital of Port Vila.
Aquaculture in Vanuatu exists on a small scale, both commercially and privately. Several aquacultural efforts have been made in the country, including attempts to raise Pacific oyster, rabbitfish, Malaysian prawn, and tilapia. Experiments with Kappaphycus alvarezii and three species of giant clam were carried out by the Fisheries Department in 1999. The official Fisheries Department records state that $1165 US of cultured coral was exported from the country in 2000, with 275 pieces in total. The cultivation of Macrobrachium lar in taro terraces is practiced for subsistence purposes, and Macrobrachium rosenbergii has been identified by the Vanuatu government as a high-priority species.
In 2009, there were 28,082 people of Vanuatu which had various degree of disability, which constituted about 12% of the total population.