Talk:Vanuatu

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Melanesia
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Contents

[edit] Talk

Someone seriously needs to work on this page

Go for it. - Hephaestos 23:45, 1 Aug 2003 (UTC)

[edit] Lost in the translation

The Vanuatu national motto is very poorly translated. Unfortunately, the sense of the phrase 'Long God yumi stanap' is ambiguous and difficult to express in English.

'Long' is a preposition indicating place, and can be understood in this context to mean 'with' or 'near'.

'Yumi stanap' means, literally, 'we stand', but here it should not be understood as a literal statement. The phrase implies strength, unity and ability.

Ringbark adds: LGYS is somewhere between "We stand firm in God" and "Let us stand firm in God" - that is, it is somewhere between a statement and a command. I choose to translate "stanap" as "stand firm" rather than "stand" because it is ultimately derived from "stand up" rather than just "stand". In another context, "stanap" refers to an erection, but that is probably not relevant here.

[edit] Population...

seven Two figures are mentioned in this page. One (199,000 odd) is in the fact box, while another (202,000 odd) is in the Demographics section. These ought to be synchronized. Jonathan Grynspan 17:13, 12 Dec 2004 (UTC) While someone is updating demographics, can we have something better about water area? It says negligible, but that is definitely incorrect. I'll try to fix it myself later, but someone else might be able to get there first. Ringbark 00:49, 16 Dec 2004 (UTC)

"Due to diseases introduced by the new European populations, the native population fell to a mere 45,000 in 1935." Do you know what it fell from?

194.46.245.146 10:48, 10 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Similarities in texts

I noticed that the first paragraph and some of the second paragraph under Economy looked very similar to the economy overview in the CIA World Factbook's Vanuatu page, which can be found at https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/nh.html

I think this should be looked into.

[edit] UNDERWATER Post Office!

Here is a link to a little-known place in Vanuatu. I know, at first I thought it was fake too. Matau 02:01, 5 October 2005 (UTC)

It's not fake...I've seen it and the Volcano Post with my own eyes...but as to whether mail is actually delivered to/collected from these postal facilities, I am not sure. I doubt it, but am happy to be proved wrong! --220.238.248.145 07:53, 29 August 2006 (UTC)

When I visited in 2004 and swam underwater to look at the mailbox (its not really a post office, just a mailbox) there were a half dozen Japanese tourists in the water too and they each had waterproof postcards which they had filled out - the cards are sold in town. The box was empty except for the cards inserted by the people around me - combined with the statements of locals and expats to me that mail put there really does get collected, I believe they do collect mail from there, BUT, anything other then waterproof stock will not be deliverable and will disintegrate rapidly underwater. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.183.161.15 (talk) 03:33, 31 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Coat of Arms

For god's sake, can anyone upload a bit more hi-res picture of Vanuatu's coat of arms? This one is too blurry. --FlavrSavr 01:14, 8 December 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Deletion of Trivia Section

Do others think it's appropriate for this page to have a trivia section at all? Further, is it appropriate for the only entry to be on Survivor: Vanuatu? I don't think it's appropriate to characterise a country by one season of a TV show that was filmed there. Your thoughts? Ben Harris-Roxas 13:23, 3 July 2006 (UTC)

  • Trivia is trivial, it really shouldn't be there.--Peta 01:48, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
    • So take it out.--Cúchullain t/c 02:04, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
      • I[1] think it's ok: other information has been added

[edit] SANTO 2006 expedition, Vanuatu

More than 100 participants from 15 countries are currently documenting the fauna and flora of a large rugged island in the South Pacific-- Espiritu Santo in Vanuatu (see www.santo2006.org). Because of Santo's isolated location, it has been been largely unexplored and maintains a very high level of biodiversity. Scientists expect to find many new species of flora and fauna. Follow the journey of exploration and discovery of the marine component of the expedition at the SANTO 2006 blog: [2] . Already 875 species of decapod crustaceans have been recorded within the first three weeks.

[edit] Proposed WikiProject

In my ongoing efforts to try to include every country on the planet included in the scope of a WikiProject, I have proposed a new project on Melanesia at Wikipedia:WikiProject Council/Proposals#Melanesia whose scope would include Vanuatu. Any interested parties are more than welcome to add their names there, so we can see if there is enough interest to start such a project. Thank you for your attention. Badbilltucker 17:16, 20 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Spiders?

Is it true that there are many spiders and of various types? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 216.86.113.16 (talk) 08:18, 9 January 2007 (UTC). I think you're in the wrong place to talk about spidersDoggie015 03:01, 12 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Legal system

The legal system is based on British common law.

I thought that they used a mix of British common law (for English speakers) and French civil law (for French speakers)? I was told that one of the consequences is that they're looking for a digitized version of a 1980 French Civil Code and other codes, because the printed versions they use are in bad shape... David.Monniaux 19:14, 29 March 2007 (UTC)

Shouldn't it be "English Common Law" rather than British? There is a contradiction between the entries on Vanuatu and the New Hebrides in this respect.

194.46.245.146 10:47, 10 June 2007 (UTC)

I read an article recently about the use of British and French law in contemporary Vanuatu, but now I can't find it... Anyway, the author was saying that most ni-Vanuatu judges are knowledgeable only in British law, which severely limits the scope for applying French law. Theoretically, though, yes, French civil law is part of the ni-Vanuatu legal system, on an equal basis with British common law. Aridd (talk) 11:24, 10 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Naghol ceremony

Can anybody add info on the Naghol ceremony, where the locals do a sort of Bungee jumping? Many thanks -- Chris 73 | Talk 08:11, 6 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Prince Philip (Duke of Edinburgh) a God?

I've read it in news articles before, although they were only passing references, but now the BBC has a full article on the reverence with which Prince Philip is held by some of Vanuatu's population (on the island of Tanna, the village of Yaohnanen). These villagers see Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh as a Divine spirit, associated with an ancient story about the son of a mountain spirit venturing across the seas to look for a powerful woman to marry (the belief bolstered perhaps as Prince Philip married Queen Elizabeth, Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms). This seems rather notable, especially considering the coverage it is receiving in the British press because of the celebrations planned by the Vanuatan's to mark Prince Philip's 86th birthday on the 10/6/07. Anyone have any major objections to this being mention in the article? If no convincing arguments are made I'll look towards adding it over the next few days.

BBC Article can be found here - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/6734469.stm

Google for "Prince Philip Vanuatu" (lists several British newspaper articles on the subject) - http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=Prince+Philip+Vanuatu&meta=

Malbolge 02:08, 10 June 2007 (UTC)

We have an article on that at Prince Philip Movement.--Cúchullain t/c 05:20, 10 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Don't worry about CO2!

A paragraph about what the global climate change may bring for Vanuatu could be a nice addition to the article. 81.0.68.145 22:06, 4 July 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Vanuatu#Europeans on the scene

This statement: Due to diseases introduced by the new European populations, the native population fell to a mere 45,000 in 1935. is useless without a reference as to what the population was before. It probably needs a citation too. --SVTCobra 22:52, 1 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Vanuatu Scouting

Can someone render "Be Prepared", the Scout Motto, into Bislama? Thanks! Chris 07:00, 8 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Tjuban mask ceremony: Orangutans???

The series "Tribal life" on the Travel Channel gives a fascinating view of remotest Vanuatu, including a ceremony in which the men dress up in an elaborate costume that covers them with reddish-orange foliage, and wear elaborate elongated wooden masks. The form of the masks and the appearance of orange hair reminds me greatly of orangutans, which is intriguing because as far as I know orangutans are unknown to Vanuatu in known history. One part of the ritual is for men wearing the masks to run toward women at the beach and steal the fish they've caught. I wonder whether orangutans lived on the island long ago or if the custom was brought with people who travelled from the west. There's very little if anything of use about Tjuban masks on the Web, so anyone with good sources handy should be encouraged to contribute whatever they can. Wnt (talk) 23:13, 20 January 2008 (UTC)