In 1606, Portuguese explorer Pedro de Quiros, sailing for Spain, became the first European to reach the islands of Vanuatu. In 1906, France and Great Britain took a share of the island chain in a joint ownership agreement and named the archipelago the New Hebrides. Independence for Vanuatu was achieved in 1980.
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Pelagodoxa henryana - The Marquesas palm is a critically endangered species considered extinct in the wild. It was once found in the dense humid rainforest of the Marquesas Islands, the Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu. The Marquesas palm has succumb to feral pigs eating the young seedlings and to habitat loss through human encroachment. The slender trunk reaches 10 meters in height and has a diameter of 10 centimeters. This tree is considered the rarest palm tree in the world.
