Flag of Vanuatu
Location of Vanuatu on the globe

Vanuatu

VU

Oceania

Vanuatu is home to 2 documented ethnic groups in Oceania — led by Ni Vanuatu (~98%), Vanuatu Other (~2%). This page blends their phenotype and demographic data into one weighted reference: skin tone, facial features, hair texture and build, drawn from published census and ancestry sources.

Demographic Composition

Composition weights are derived from self-identification in published census and demographic surveys. Each row links to the source ethnic-group atlas page.

Ethnic groupWeightSource
Ni VanuatuNi Vanuatu98.4%Vanuatu 2020 Census; Ni-Vanuatu (~98.4%, ~310,000+ of ~315,000+ total). The Indigenous Melanesian source populations across Vanuatu's approximately 130+ ethno-linguistic groups. Vanuatu has the highest density of languages per capita globally (~130 languages for ~315,000 population)
Vanuatu OtherVanuatu Other1.6%Vanuatu 2020 Census residual; includes Australian-Vanuatu, French-Vanuatu (the historic 1906-1980 Anglo-French Condominium-period community), Chinese-Vanuatu, plus other smaller groups

Vanuatu Phenotype Profile

Vanuatu has a strongly Ni-Vanuatu demographic profile (~98.4%). The country has the highest density of languages per capita globally with ~130 documented Indigenous languages.

A descriptive view, not a claim about individuals

This page shows a weighted aggregate of phenotype observations across the Vanuatu population, based on demographic composition from published census and ancestry sources. Phenotypes within any country are far more varied than the aggregate suggests; this is a descriptive reference, not a deterministic claim about any individual. For source-level detail on individual ethnic groups, see the constituent atlas pages linked below.

Methodology Notes

Composition weights derived from Vanuatu 2020 Census.

See full project methodology →

Primary Sources

  1. 1.Vanuatu National Statistics Office. National Population and Housing Census 2020. Port Vila: VNSO; 2021.
  2. 2.Lindstrom L. Knowledge and Power in a South Pacific Society. Smithsonian; 1990.
  3. 3.Skoglund P, Posth C, Sirak K, et al. Genomic insights into the peopling of the Southwest Pacific. Nature. 2016;538(7626):510-513.
  4. 4.MacClancy J. To Kill a Bird with Two Stones: A Short History of Vanuatu. Vanuatu Cultural Centre; 1980.
  5. 5.Tabani M. The Carnival of Custom: Land Dives, Millenarian Parades and Other Spectacular Ritualizations in Vanuatu. Oceania. 2010;80(3):309-328.

Other countries in Oceania

Aggregate phenotype references for neighbouring Oceania nations, weighted by demographic composition.