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Vanuatu with a difference
Many of the islands of Vanuatu have been inhabited for thousands of years, the oldest archaeological evidence dates back to 2000 BC. Vanuatu is one of the most culturally diverse countries on earth, with a population of approximately 217,750, 113 distinct languages and innumerable dialects. This amazing diversity is a result of 4,000 years of sporadic immigration from many Pacific countries. Although most settlers arrived from Melanesia, the larger built, lighter skinned Polynesians also settled in the islands. In 1605, the Portuguese explorer Pedro Fernández de Quirós became the first European to reach the islands, believing it to be part of Terra Australis.
