Anglo-French Condominium

The New Hebrides were colonized by both the French and British in the 18th Century shortly after Captain James Cook visited the island. The two nations eventually signed an Anglo-French Condominium that lasted from 1906 until the New Hebrides gained their independence in 1980, founding the nation of Vanuatu.

The Condominium divided the New Hebrides into two separate communities — one English-speaking and one French-speaking. This divide continues even after independence, with schools either teaching in one language or the other, and between different political parties.

Under the Condominium the New Hebrides operated under two separate legal systems. The French citizens of the island were governed by French law, and British subjects by English law. Inhabitants of the New Hebrides could opt for one or the other legal system if they so chose, as could citizens of other countries.

This arrangement was criticised as cumbersome, described by one former British High Commissioner as 'the Pandemonium'.

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