The reason why the French community is present on the archipelago today, is that before the English navigator James Cook named it New Hebrides in 1773, it was discovered beforehand by Louis Antoine de Bougainville a French navigator, in 1768. Which concluded between the years 1830’s to 1890’s by the arrival of the British protestants from Australia and French Catholics from New Caledonia on the islands of Vanuatu (both European colonies). During the 1880’s and 1890’s, the two « mother » countries signed the Anglo-French condominium which allowed them to co-control the colony; the French minority was then formed of 3500 French.

Both nationalities then built their own institutions that only increased their implicit rivalry, the population was then forced to choose which side they supported.

At the Independence of the New Hebrides on the 30th of July 1980 (lead by the English political party Vanuaaku Pati’s leader Walter Lini) the French community feared that the internal conflict between the British and the French government might cause them to lose all their properties, therefore some of them were forced to leave the archipelago.

Despite the creation of the first French political party UMP (Union of Moderate Party) years later, the French population is still a minority compared to the community of English speakers, with the rate of school attendance as an example, 70% of the students are in English schools and 28% in French schools, instead of 50% at the beginning.

However, after the passage of cyclone Pam in early 2015, France had showed their support both financially and physically, helping the inhabitants of Vanuatu go through the aftermath.

In 2017, the Vanuatu French embassy has registered 1887 French.