Vanuatu - Geography

The Republic of Vanuatu’s land area is made up of a group of islands in the south-west Pacific, lying south of Solomon Islands and east of the state of Queensland in Australia.

Area: 12,190 sq km

Main towns: Port Vila (capital, pop. 37,100 in 2006) on Efaté; Luganville (13,900) on Espíritu Santo; Norsup (3,000) on Malakula; Isangel (1,500) on Tanna.

Topography: Vanuatu is a Y-shaped archipelago, some 900km long. It forms a double chain of about 40 mountainous islands and 40 islets and rocks of volcanic and coral origin; about 65 of these are inhabited. Some islands (including Tanna, Lopévi and Ambrym) have active volcanoes. Many of the rocky islands are steeply mountainous, the highest peaks (on Espíritu Santo) rising to over 1,800m. Fresh water is plentiful.

Climate: Oceanic tropical, with south-east trade winds from May to October. The period from November to April is humid, with moderate rainfall. Cyclones may occur between November and April.

Environment: The most significant environmental issues are that a majority of the population does not have access to a safe and reliable supply of water (although it is improving), and deforestation.

Vegetation: The rocky islands are thickly forested, with narrow coastal plains where cultivation is possible. Forest covers about 37% of the land area.

Wildlife: Vanuatu is home to 11 species of bat, including the white flying-fox. It is also the easternmost habitation of the dugong, or sea-cow. Espíritu Santo has the richest bird population, with 55 species including the incubator bird which leaves its eggs to incubate in hot volcanic sand from which the young birds emerge fully fledged.

Transport: There are 1,070km of roads, 24% paved, most of which are on Efaté.

Ferries link the islands. Additionally, there are shipping services, run by a number of operators, to Australia, New Zealand and New Caledonia. The main ports are Port Vila and Luganville.

The chief airports are at Bauerfield, near Port Vila, and Pekoa on Espíritu Santo Island; there are some 30 smaller airfields.