structural:expansion, structural:reformatting
Independence (1980–present)

The New Hebrides, now renamed Vanuatu, achieved independence as planned on 30 July 1980 under Prime Minister Walter Lini, with a ceremonial President replacing the Resident Commissioners. The Anglo-French forces withdrew in August, and Lini called in troops from Papua New Guinea, sparking the brief ' Coconut War ' against Jimmy Stevens 's Vemarana separatists. The PNG forces quickly quelled the Vemarana revolt and Stevens surrendered on 1 September; he was later jailed. Lini remained in office until 1991, running an Anglophone-dominated government and winning both the 1983 and 1987 elections.

In foreign affairs, Lini joined the Non Aligned Movement, opposed Apartheid in South Africa and all forms of colonialism, established links with Libya and Cuba, and opposed the French presence in New Caledonia and their nuclear testing in French Polynesia. Opposition to Lini's tight grip on power grew and in 1987, after he had suffered a stroke whilst on a visit to the United States, a section of the Vanua'aku Pati (VP) under Barak Sopé broke off to form a new party (the Melanesian Progressive Party, MPP), and an attempt was made by President Ati George Sokomanu to unseat Lini. This failed, and Lini became increasingly distrustful of his VP colleagues, firing anyone he deemed to be disloyal.

One such person, Donald Kalpokas, subsequently declared himself to be VP leader, splitting the party in two. On 6 September 1991 a vote of no confidence removed Lini from power; Kalpokas became prime minister, and Lini formed a new party, the National United Party (NUP). Meanwhile, the economy had entered a downturn, with foreign investors and foreign aid put off by Lini's flirtation with Communist states and tourist numbers down due to the political turmoil, compounded by a crash in the price of copra, Vanuatu's main export. As a result, the Francophone Union of Moderate Parties (UMP) won the 1991 election, but not with enough seats to form a majority. A coalition was thus formed with Lini's NUP, with the UMP's Maxime Carlot Korman becoming prime minister.

Since the 1991 general election, Vanuatuan politics have been unstable with a series of fractious coalition governments and the use of no confidence votes resulting in frequent changes of prime ministers. The democratic system as a whole has been maintained and Vanuatu remains a peaceful and reasonably prosperous state. Throughout most of the 1990s the UMP were in power, the prime ministership switching between UMP rivals Korman and Serge Vohor, and the UMP instituting a more free market approach to the economy, cutting the public sector, improving opportunities for Francophone Ni-Vanuatu and renewing ties with France. The government struggled with splits in their NUP coalition partner and a series of strikes within the Civil Service in 1993–1994, the latter dealt with by a wave of firings. Financial scandals dogged both Korman and Vohor, with the latter implicated in a scheme to sell Vanuatu passports to foreigners.

In 1996, Vohor and President Jean-Marie Léyé were briefly abducted by the Vanuatu Mobile Force over a pay dispute and later released unharmed. A riot occurred in Port Vila in 1998 when savers attempted to withdraw funds from the Vanuatu National Provident Fund following allegations of financial impropriety, prompting the government to declare a brief state of emergency. A Comprehensive Reform Program was enacted in the 1998 with the aim of improving economic performance and cracking down on government corruption. At the 1998 Vanuatuan general election the UMP were unseated by the VP under Donald Kalpokas. He lasted only a year, resigning when threatened with a no confidence vote, replaced by Barak Sopé of the MPP in 1999, himself unseated in a no confidence vote in 2001. Despite the political uncertainty Vanuatu's economy continued to grow in this period, fuelled by high demand for Vanuatu beef, tourism, remittances from foreign workers, and large aid packages from the Asian Development Bank (in 1997) and the US Millennium Challenge fund (in 2005). Vanuatu was removed from the OECD list of 'uncooperative tax havens' in 2003 and joined the World Trade Organization in 2011.

Edward Natapei of the VP became prime minister in 2001 and went on to win the 2002 Vanuatuan general election. The 2004 Vanuatuan general election saw Vohor and the UMP return to power. He lost much support over a secret deal to recognise Taiwan in the China-Taiwan dispute and was unseated in a confidence vote less than five months after taking office, being replaced by Ham Lini. Lini switched back recognition to the People's Republic of China, and the PRC remains a major aid donor to the Vanuatu government. In 2007, violent clashes broke out in Port Vila between migrants from Tanna and Ambrym, in which two people died. Lini lost the 2008 Vanuatuan general election, with Natapei returning to power as Vanuatu politics entered a period of turmoil. There were frequent attempts by the opposition to unseat Natapei via the use of no confidence votes – though unsuccessful, he was briefly removed on a procedural technicality in November 2009, an action that was then overturned by the Chief Justice. Sato Kilman of the People's Progressive Party (PPP) ousted Natapei in another no confidence vote in December 2010. He was removed in the same manner by Vohor's UMP in April 2011. This was invalidated on a technical point and he returned as PM. The Chief Justice then overturned his victory. Natapei returned to power for ten days, until Parliament voted in Kilman again. Kilman managed to remain in office for two years, before being ousted in March 2013.

The new government was the first time the Green Confederation was in power, and the new prime minister, Moana Carcasses Kalosil, was the first non-Ni-Vanuatu to hold the position (Kalosil is of mixed French-Tahitian ancestry and a naturalised Vanuatu citizen). Kalosil instituted a review of the sale of diplomatic passports and publicly declared his support for the West Papua independence movement, a move supported by former PMs Kilman and Carlot Korman. Kalosil was ousted in another confidence vote in 2014, with the VP returning under Joe Natuman, who himself was ousted the following year in a confidence vote led by Kilman. Meanwhile, the country was devastated by Cyclone Pam in 2015, which resulted in 16 deaths and enormous destruction.

A corruption investigation in 2015 resulted in the conviction of numerous MPs in Kilman's government for bribery, including former PM Moana Carcasses Kalosil. His authority was severely weakened, and Kilman lost the 2016 Vanuatuan general election to Charlot Salwai 's Reunification Movement for Change (RMC). Salwai in turn lost the 2020 Vanuatuan general election amidst allegations of perjury, bringing back in the VP under Bob Loughman as the country dealt with the aftermath of Cyclone Harold and the global COVID-19 pandemic. Vanuatu was one of the last places on Earth to suffer a coronavirus outbreak, recording its first case of COVID-19 in November 2020.

In October 2023, Vanuatu aimed itself at being the first Pacific country to eliminate cervical cancer.