Port Vila ( ; ), or simply Vila (), is the

capital Capital and its variations may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** Capital region, a metropolitan region containing the capital ** List of national capitals * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Econom ...

Vanuatu Vanuatu ( or ; ), 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 east of northern Australia, northeast of New Caledonia, east o ...

and its largest city. It is on the island of Efate, in

Shefa Province Shefa is one of the six provinces of Vanuatu, located in the center of the country and including the islands of Epi (island), Epi and Efate and the Shepherd Islands. The province's name is derived from the initial letters of SHepherd and EFAte. It ...

. The population was 49,034 as of the 2020 census. In 2020, the population of Port Vila formed 16.3% of the country's population. Located on the east coast of the island of Efate, Port Vila is the economic and commercial centre of Vanuatu. The mayor is Jenny Regenvanu of the

Land and Justice Party The Land and Justice Party (; GJP)Marie Louise Milne, of the Green Confederation, until the seat was vacated in January 2025.

Name

Locally, the town is most commonly referred to simply as "Vila", whether in French or

Bislama Bislama ( ; ; also known by its earlier French name, ) is an English-based creole language. It is the national language of Vanuatu, and one of the three official languages of the country, the other ones being English and French. Bislama is the ...

or in English (not like English "villa"). The name of the area is ''Efil'' in the native South Efate language and ''Ifira'' in neighbouring

Mele-Fila language Mele-Fila (Ifira-Mele) is a Polynesian language spoken in Mele (island), Mele and Ifira on the island of Efate in Vanuatu. In spite of their differences, Mele and Fila are two dialects of the same language and are mutually intelligible. French a ...

. ''Vila'' is a variant of these names. Ifira is a small island in Vila harbour where many traditional landowners reside.

History

Melanesian people Melanesians are the predominant and indigenous inhabitants of Melanesia, in an area stretching from New Guinea to the Fiji Islands. Most speak one of the many languages of the Austronesian language family (especially ones in the Oceanic bran ...

have occupied the Port Vila area for thousands of years. In the autumn of 2004, an archaeological expedition known as ''

Teouma Teouma is a major archaeological site from Teouma Bay on the island of Éfaté in Vanuatu. The site contains the oldest known cemetery within the Pacific Islands, and has been important in the gathering of information relating to the Lapita peop ...

'' discovered a burial site of 25 tombs containing three dozen skeletons of members of the

Lapita The Lapita culture is the name given to a Neolithic Austronesian people and their distinct material culture, who settled Island Melanesia via a seaborne migration at around 1600 to 500 BCE. The Lapita people are believed to have originated fro ...

culture. Pieces of ceramics found at the site were dated to the 13th century BC. Efate Island was charted in 1774 by

James Cook Captain (Royal Navy), Captain James Cook (7 November 1728 – 14 February 1779) was a British Royal Navy officer, explorer, and cartographer famous for his three voyages of exploration to the Pacific and Southern Oceans, conducted between 176 ...

, who named it Sandwich Island. Cook's expedition did not land but noted the presence of good harbours and land suitable for European settlement. In the late 19th century, when the islands were known as the

New Hebrides New Hebrides, officially the New Hebrides Condominium () and named after the Hebrides in Scotland, was the colonial name for the island group in the South Pacific Ocean that is now Vanuatu. Native people had inhabited the islands for three th ...

, the British initially had the dominant European presence. However, by the 1890s, the economic balance had begun favouring the French, who established large plantations. French citizen Ferdinand Chevillard began buying and clearing land around Port Vila to be converted into the largest French plantation on the island. Instead, it was converted into the municipality of

Franceville Franceville is one of the four largest cities in Gabon, with a population of 110,568 at the 2013 census. It lies on the Mpassa River and at the end of the Trans-Gabon Railway and the N3 road. It grew from a village named Masuku. Overview P ...

, which declared independence on 9 August 1889, though this only lasted until June of the following year. After 1887, the territory was jointly administered by the French and the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

. This was formalized in 1906 as an Anglo-French

Condominium A condominium (or condo for short) is an ownership regime in which a building (or group of buildings) is divided into multiple units that are either each separately owned, or owned in common with exclusive rights of occupation by individual own ...

. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Port Vila was an American and Australian airbase. In 1987,

Cyclone Uma In meteorology, a cyclone () is a large air mass that rotates around a strong center of low atmospheric pressure, counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere as viewed from above (opposite to an antic ...

severely damaged the city. A powerful earthquake on 3 January 2002 caused minor damage in the capital and surrounding areas. The city suffered massive damage from a category 5 cyclone named

Cyclone Pam Severe Tropical Cyclone Pam was the second List of the most intense tropical cyclones, most intense tropical cyclone of the South Pacific Ocean in terms of sustained winds and is regarded as one of the worst natural disasters in the history of ...

on 13 March 2015, whose eye wall passed just to the east of Port Vila. On 17 December 2024, a magnitude 7.3 earthquake reportedly damaged almost every single house in Port Vila, resulting in 16 fatalities. The

United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) is a United Nations (UN) body established in December 1991 by the General Assembly to strengthen the international response to complex emergencies and natural disaster ...

estimated that 116,000 people had been directly affected by the earthquake, equivalent to a third of Vanuatu's population.

Geography

Climate

Port Vila has a

tropical climate Tropical climate is the first of the five major climate groups in the Köppen climate classification identified with the letter A. Tropical climates are defined by a monthly average temperature of or higher in the coolest month, featuring hot te ...

, more specifically a

tropical rainforest climate A tropical rainforest climate or equatorial climate is a tropical climate sub-type usually found within 10 to 15 degrees latitude of the equator. There are some other areas at higher latitudes, such as the coast of southeast Florida, United States ...

, with noticeably wetter and drier months. As the trade winds are almost permanent and cyclones are not rare in Port Vila, the climate is not equatorial but maritime trade-wind tropical climate. Rainfall averages about per year, and the wettest month is March. The driest month is September. There are 153 wet days in an average year. The area also has south-east

trade winds The trade winds or easterlies are permanent east-to-west prevailing winds that flow in the Earth's equatorial region. The trade winds blow mainly from the northeast in the Northern Hemisphere and from the southeast in the Southern Hemisphere ...

. Temperatures do not vary much throughout the year, and the record high is . The coolest month, July, has an average high of , and an average low of . The hottest month, February, has an average high of and an average low of . The record low for Port Vila is .

Humidity Humidity is the concentration of water vapor present in the air. Water vapor, the gaseous state of water, is generally invisible to the human eye. Humidity indicates the likelihood for precipitation (meteorology), precipitation, dew, or fog t ...

is often high.

Economy and transport

Port Vila is Vanuatu's most important

harbour A harbor (American English), or harbour (Commonwealth English; see American and British English spelling differences#-our, -or, spelling differences), is a sheltered body of water where ships, boats, and barges can be Mooring, moored. The t ...

and the center of the country's trade. The international airport, Bauerfield International (VLI), is also located in the city.

Air Vanuatu Air Vanuatu is an airline with its head office in Air Vanuatu House, Port Vila, Vanuatu. It is Vanuatu's national flag carrier, formerly operating to Australia, New Zealand, New Caledonia and points in the Oceania, South Pacific. Its main base is ...

has its head office in Vanuatu House in Port Vila. Major industries in the city remain agriculture and fishing. Tourism is also becoming important, especially from

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

and

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. There were over 80,000 visitors in 1997. Vanuatu is a

tax haven A tax haven is a term, often used pejoratively, to describe a place with very low tax rates for Domicile (law), non-domiciled investors, even if the official rates may be higher. In some older definitions, a tax haven also offers Bank secrecy, ...

, and offshore financing in Port Vila is an important part of the economy. Vanuatu is still dependent on

foreign aid In international relations, aid (also known as international aid, overseas aid, foreign aid, economic aid or foreign assistance) is – from the perspective of governments – a voluntary transfer of resources from one country to another. The ...

, most of which comes from Australia and New Zealand, although in recent years, assistance has also come from

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. One example was New Zealand paying to train doctors selected from the local community, then paying part of their wages during the first year after qualification. Australia has paid consultants to work in Port Vila Central Hospital. 35.7% of exports leave from Port Vila, and 86.9% of imports arrive in Port Vila.

Population

Demographics

The population is around 45,000; predominately

Melanesia Melanesia (, ) is a subregion of Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It extends from New Guinea in the west to the Fiji Islands in the east, and includes the Arafura Sea. The region includes the four independent countries of Fiji, Vanu ...

n, with small

Polynesia Polynesia ( , ) is a subregion of Oceania, made up of more than 1,000 islands scattered over the central and southern Pacific Ocean. The indigenous people who inhabit the islands of Polynesia are called Polynesians. They have many things in ...

n, Asian, Australian and European populations, mainly French and British.

Languages

Port Vila is home to many languages, reflecting the country's high linguistic diversity. The capital city's daily

lingua franca A lingua franca (; ; for plurals see ), also known as a bridge language, common language, trade language, auxiliary language, link language or language of wider communication (LWC), is a Natural language, language systematically used to make co ...

, but English and French are also widely spoken. Among Vanuatu's 100

indigenous languages An indigenous language, or autochthonous language, is a language that is native to a region and spoken by its indigenous peoples. Indigenous languages are not necessarily national languages but they can be; for example, Aymara is both an indigeno ...

, many are spoken in the capital, as people from rural areas come to live in the city, either temporarily or permanently.

Religion

Christianity is the predominant religion across Vanuatu, followed by more than 90% of the population. The largest denomination is the

Presbyterian Church in Vanuatu The Presbyterian Church of Vanuatu (), or the Presbitirin Jyos Blong Vanuatu in Bislama, is the largest Christian denomination in Vanuatu. History It was created by missionaries of the London Missionary Society in the mid-1800s. In 1838 Rev Joh ...

, followed by one-third of the population. Roman Catholicism and the Church of Melanesia are also common, each about 15%. Cathédrale du Sacré-Cœur is a modern Roman Catholic cathedral in Port Vila. The seat of the Diocese of Port Vila, the church is dedicated to the

Sacred Heart of Jesus The Most Sacred Heart of Jesus () is one of the most widely practised and well-known Catholic devotions, wherein the heart of Jesus Christ is viewed as a symbol of "God's boundless and passionate love for mankind". This devotion to Christ is p ...

. On October 5, 2020,

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Restorationism, restorationist Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, denomination and the ...

announced plans to construct a temple in the city, and the

Baháʼí Faith The Baháʼí Faith is a religion founded in the 19th century that teaches the Baháʼí Faith and the unity of religion, essential worth of all religions and Baháʼí Faith and the unity of humanity, the unity of all people. Established by ...

community is also established in Port Vila.

Culture and education

Highlights of the city

The capital of Vanuatu has various sights to offer. There are several memorials, e.g., opposite the Parliament, where two traditional totem poles and a monument representing a pig's tusk can be seen. The Presbyterian Church of Port Vila is an impressive and sightworthy building opposite the Independence Park. A colourful wall painting can be seen on the administration building opposite the market hall. Another noteworthy wall painting is on the façade of the post office. The City Hall of Port Vila is an oblong and sightworthy building on a hill in the city centre.

Vanuatu Cultural Centre

The Vanuatu Cultural Centre, hosting the Vanuatu National Museum, is located at the Saralana Park in front of the National Parliament, close to the National Library and the Malvatumauri (Vanuatu National Council of Chiefs). This institution is an important place to preserve and promote the different aspects of the local culture. Traditional artifacts from several islands are on display in the museum. The centre also hosts the National Audiovisual Archives, the most critical fund of documents from the late 19th century until today.

World Heritage

Port Vila was the location in August 1999 for the "2nd World Heritage Global Strategy Meeting for the Pacific Islands Region" held by

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

. One of the major topics related to Vanuatu and the Pacific region was the question of the suitability of underwater heritage for inscription on the

World Heritage List World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural heritag ...

Education

Port Vila is one location of the

University of the South Pacific The University of the South Pacific (USP) is a public research university with locations spread throughout a dozen countries in Oceania. Established in 1968, the university is organised as an intergovernmental organisation and is owned by the gov ...

, an educational institution co-owned by twelve Pacific countries. The Vanuatu campus is the only law school in the university and teaches languages. Upper secondary (sixth form/senior high school) institutions include: * Port Vila International School * Central Secondary School * Epauto Adventist Senior Secondary School * Lycee de Montmartre * Lycée Français J. M. G. Le Clézio (French international school) * Malapoa College (Formerly known as British Secondary School) * Onesua Presbyterian College * NTCU Port Vila Christian College Junior secondary (seventh form to tenth form) institutions include: * Port Vila International School * Central Secondary School * Malapoa College (Formerly known as British Secondary School) * NTCU Port Vila Christian College * Seaside Community Secondary School * Sorovanga Self-Support Community School * Suango Mele Junior Secondary School * Ulei Junior Secondary School * Vila North Secondary School

Institutions

Municipality

The municipality of Port Vila is divided into four wards and administered by a council of 14 members. The four wards are: # Malapoa-Tagabe: Western and far northern neighborhoods # Anabrou-Melcofe-Tassiriki: Northern and Eastern neighborhoods # Centre: Nambawan and Seaside neighborhoods # South: Nambatu, Nambatri, and Elluk neighborhoods Malapoa-Tagabe and South are allotted three representatives each to the council, while Anabrou-Melcofe-Tassiriki and Centre have four. The municipality handles primary education, primary health care, regional planning, road maintenance and construction, trash collection, cemeteries, parks and open spaces, and tourism promotion. There are also

informal settlements Informal housing or informal settlement can include any form of housing, shelter, or settlement (or lack thereof) which is illegal, falls outside of government control or regulation, or is not afforded protection by the state. As such, the info ...

such as Blacksands, which are effectively Vila suburbs but outside the municipality. Living conditions in some of these neighbourhoods are deplorable. Lack of service provision and insecure land tenure are major problems. Blacksands was

squatted Squatting is the action of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied area of land or a building (usually residential) that the squatter does not own, rent or otherwise have lawful permission to use. The United Nations estimated in 2003 that there wer ...

in the 1960s. The most recent municipal council election was held in

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

Constituency

Port Vila is one of the eighteen

constituencies An electoral (congressional, legislative, etc.) district, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a geographical portion of a political unit, such as a country, state or province, city, or administrative region, created to provi ...

in Vanuatu and elects six Members of Parliament. Following the 2016 general election, its representatives are:

Transportation

Port Vila is served by

Bauerfield International Airport Bauerfield International Airport () is an airport located in Port Vila, Vanuatu. The airport is relatively small in size, but its runway has the capability and length to accept jets up to the Airbus A330. It served as the hub for Vanuatu's flag ...

, with service on many passenger and cargo airlines, including several foreign ones.

Twin towns – sister cities

Port Vila is twinned with: *

Bora-Bora Bora Bora (French language, French: ''Bora-Bora''; Tahitian language, Tahitian: ''Pora Pora'') is an island group in the Leeward Islands (Society Islands), Leeward Islands in the Pacific Ocean, South Pacific. The Leeward Islands comprise the we ...

, French Polynesia *

Dumbéa Dumbéa (; ) is a commune in the suburbs of Nouméa in the South Province of New Caledonia, an overseas territory of France in the Pacific Ocean. The population of the commune was 35,873 according to the 2019 census. From 1904 to 1940 the town ...

, New Caledonia *

Foshan Foshan (, ; Chinese: 佛山) is a prefecture-level city in central Guangdong Province, China. The entire prefecture covers and had a population of 9,498,863 as of the 2020 census. The city is part of the western side of the Pearl River Delta m ...

, China *

Lifou Lifou () is a communes of France, commune of France in the Loyalty Islands Province of New Caledonia, Pacific Ocean. Geography Lifou is made up of Lifou Island, the largest and most heavily populated of the Loyalty Islands, its smaller neighbou ...

, New Caledonia *

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

, China *

Yinchuan Yinchuan is the capital of the Ningxia, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, China, and was the capital of the Tangut people, Tangut-led Western Xia, Western Xia dynasty. It has an area of and a total population of 2,859,074 according to the 2020 C ...

, China

References

External links

* {{Authority control Capitals in Oceania Populated places in Vanuatu Vila Squatting in Vanuatu Populated places established in the 1880s