Franceville (present-day Port Vila) was a municipality located on Efate, or Sandwich Island.

It was established in 1889 in order to gain basic legal status, during the period when the New Hebrides was a neutral territory under the loose jurisdiction of the Anglo-French Joint Naval Commission.

[1] For the protection of the French and British citizens in New Hebrides, a joint naval commission was established under the Convention of 16 October 1887.

[2][3] On 9 August 1889, Franceville declared itself an independent commune under the leadership of elected mayor/president Ferdinand-Albert Chevillard,[4][5][6] and with its own red, white and blue flag with five stars.

[7][8] This community became one of the first self-governing nations in recorded history to practice universal suffrage without distinction of sex or race.