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Geography of Vanuatu

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Map of Vanuatu
Map of Vanuatu

Vanuatu, known as the New Hebrides from 1774 until 1980, is a nation and group of around 80 mountainous islands in the South Pacific Ocean. It is part of Oceania. There are several active volcanoes among the islands, the most well-known one being Mount Yasur on Tanna. It has a tropical rainforest climate, and tropical cyclones occur between December and April. As of 2024 the population is around 318,000. The economy is mainly reliant on subsistence agriculture and tourism.

Vanuatu is party to a number of international agreements relating to the environment.

Location and description

Vanuatu's geographic coordinates are 16°00′S167°00′E / 16.000°S 167.000°E / -16.000; 167.000. The archipelago is part of Oceania.[1] Its immediate neighbours include the Solomon Islands and New Caledonia, and Australia is the closest continent.

It is composed of over 80 islands, of which around 65 are inhabited. It has 2,528 kilometres (1,571 mi) of coastline and a total surface area of 12,189 km2 (4,706 mi2). Due to the spread-out islands, it has the 39th largest exclusive economic zone of 663,251 km2 (256,083 mi2) (200 nautical miles[1]).

Geology and terrain

A beach on Efate
A stream on Efate

The island arc of Vanuatu occur at the boundary of the Pacific and Indo-Australian plates. The oceanic crust of the latter is pushing eastwards under the former, which leads to volcanic activity and earthquakes, and some parts of the islands are being raised up to 2 cm (0.79 in) per year, exposing raised coral reefs.[2]

Vanuatu is a mountainous archipelago of volcanic origin with narrow coastal plains. The highest of all the mountains is Mount Tabwemasana at 1,877 metres (6,158 ft).[1] Active volcanoes include Mount Yasur (361 m (1,184 ft)) on Tanna, the most active one, as well as potentially active ones such as Aoba, Ambrym, Epi, Gaua, Kuwae (a submarine volcano), Lopevi, Suretamatai, and Traitor's Head. There are also underwater volcanoes.[1] Volcanic activity on and around the islands sometimes causes minor earthquakes, and tsunamis are also a hazard.[1]

Between 1903 and 1905, one of the first major geological works of the region was produced by Australian geologist Sir Douglas Mawson.[3] After spending from April to September 1903 exploring the islands with W.T. Quaife, Mawson produced a report which included the first geological maps of the island of Efate and of the south-west part of Santo.[2] Mawson's detailed report, "The Geology of the New Hebrides", was published in the Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales in December 1905.[4] Mawson made reference to previous geological and geographical observations made by Commodore Goodenough and local missionaries, as well as English, French, and German workers on the islands. He described the raised coral reefs on the island of Santo and included cross-section drawings of the reefs and Steep Gully in at Havannah Harbour on Efate. He also sailed past and made mention of all of the other islands, and described seeing volcanic activity and experiencing earthquakes. He was unable to land on Tanna and see Yasur first-hand, but derived notes from a local missionary about it.[2] He also took photographs of geological features as well as taking extensive notes on the expedition, which are held in the Polar Collection of the South Australian Museum in Adelaide.[2]

Más tarde, el paleontólogo Frederick Chapman menciona la colección de especímenes de foraminíferos de Mawson recolectados en las Nuevas Hébridas, y ambos publicaron un artículo sobre el alga calcárea Halimeda en el prestigioso Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society en 1906. [ 2 ]

Las personas y la economía

Vanuatu es una república parlamentaria . En 2024, la población de Vanuatu era de aproximadamente 318.007 habitantes, de los cuales el 99% eran ni-vanuatuenses , con mayor proporción de mujeres que de hombres. La edad media es de 24,6 años. Existen más de 100 lenguas indígenas; las oficiales son el bislama , una lengua criolla basada en el inglés , el inglés y el francés . [ 1 ]

Alrededor del 26% de la población está urbanizada, y la mayoría vive en dos ciudades: Port Vila en Efate (53.000 habitantes) y Luganville en Espiritu Santo . La tasa de alfabetización en 2024 se estimó en un 88%. [ 1 ]

Los recursos naturales de las islas incluyen manganeso , bosques de madera dura y peces. [ 1 ] A partir de 2022El 1,6% de su superficie terrestre era cultivable, y las tierras agrícolas comprendían el 15,3% del uso del suelo. Alrededor del 10,3% de esta se dedicaba a cultivos permanentes. Los bosques cubren alrededor del 36,3% de las islas. [ 1 ] Los cultivos incluyen cocos , naranjas, ñames , repollos, taro , plátanos, chiles, castañas, batatas y yuca . [ 1 ]

La economía depende en gran medida de la agricultura de subsistencia y el turismo, sectores que se han visto gravemente afectados por la pandemia de COVID-19 y el ciclón tropical Harold en 2020. Recibe ayuda de Australia para infraestructura vial . [ 1 ]

Las preocupaciones ambientales incluyen la contaminación del agua , el suministro limitado de agua potable en las zonas rurales, el saneamiento inadecuado y la deforestación . [ 1 ]

acuerdos internacionales

Vanuatu es parte de varios acuerdos internacionales, entre ellos: [ 1 ]

Estrechamente vinculado al Derecho del Mar, Vanuatu reclama derechos marítimos sobre 24 millas náuticas (nm) de zona contigua, 12  nm de mar territorial y 200  nm de plataforma continental y zona económica exclusiva. [ 1 ]

Clima

Vanuatu tiene un clima tropical , más específicamente un clima de selva tropical (Af en la clasificación climática de Köppen ), con meses notablemente más húmedos y más secos, y condiciones cálidas y húmedas durante todo el año. Dado que los vientos alisios del sureste son casi permanentes y los ciclones tropicales no son raros en Port Vila y Vanuatu, el clima no es ecuatorial, sino un clima tropical marítimo de vientos alisios. [ 5 ] Las precipitaciones son moderadas de diciembre a abril. [ 1 ]

ciclones tropicales

Vanuatu puede verse afectado por ciclones tropicales de diciembre a abril. [ 1 ]

En marzo de 2015, el ciclón Pam fue uno de los peores ciclones que jamás hayan azotado Vanuatu, [ 6 ] [ 7 ] [ 8 ] y se describió como el peor escenario posible para el país, [ 9 ] con un costo estimado de daños de cientos de millones. [ 10 ]

En abril de 2020, el ciclón Harold causó graves daños a Vanuatu y otras naciones del Pacífico. [ 11 ] [ 12 ] [ 13 ] [ 14 ]

Forests

REDD+ reference level and monitoring

Under the UNFCCCREDD+ framework, Vanuatu has submitted a national forest reference level (FRL) package. On the UNFCCC REDD+ Web Platform, the country's 2023 submission is listed as having an assessed reference level, while a national strategy, safeguards information and a national forest monitoring system are all listed as "not reported".[17]

The first assessed FRL, submitted in 2023 and technically assessed in 2024, covered three REDD+ activities at national scale: reducing emissions from deforestation, reducing emissions from forest degradation, and enhancement of forest carbon stocks. Using a 2008-2017 reference period, the original and modified submissions both reported an FRL of 732,441 t CO2 eq per year.[18] The technical assessment states that it included above-ground biomass, below-ground biomass and dead organic matter, excluded soil organic carbon, reported CO2 only, and used a forest definition of at least 0.5 hectares, 10 percent canopy cover and trees at least 5 metres tall or capable of reaching that height in situ.[18]

References

  1. 12345678910111213141516"The World Factbook". CIA. 1 August 2025. Archived from the original on 2 August 2025. Retrieved 2 August 2025.
  2. 12345J. B. Jago; M. D. Pharaoh; C. L. Wilson-Roberts (1 April 2005). "Douglas Mawson's First Major Geological Expedition: The New Hebrides, 1903". Earth Sciences History. 24 (1): 93–111. doi:10.17704/eshi.24.1.f771465730u1w938.
  3. ↑"A synopsis of Mawson's life". Douglas Mawson. South Australian Museum. Retrieved 31 July 2025.
  4. ↑Mawson, Douglas (20 December 1905). "The geology of the New Hebrides". Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales. 30: 400–485. doi:10.5962/bhl.part.12911. ISSN 0370-047X. Retrieved 27 June 2025– via Smithsonian Institution.
  5. ↑"Climatologie" by Pierre Estienne and Alain Godard, Éditions Armand Colin (ISBN 2-200-31042-0), "CHAPITRE XVI 1. Les climats équatoriaux et subéquatoriaux 2. Les climats tropicaux 3. Les climats d'alizé 4. Les climats de montagne LES CLIMATS DE LA ZONE INTERTROPICALE : LES VARIÉTÉS", pages 314, 315 and 322.
  6. ↑"Vanuatu – Cyclone Pam Emergency Appeal". Unicef NZ. Archived from the original on 3 April 2015. Retrieved 16 March 2015.
  7. ↑"Emergency – Cyclone Pam, Vanuatu". World Food Programme. ReliefWeb. 14 March 2015. Retrieved 15 March 2015.
  8. ↑"Cyclone Pam: Vanuatu islanders forced to drink saltwater". British Broadcasting Company. 17 March 2015. Retrieved 17 March 2015.
  9. ↑Steve Almasy and Jethro Mullen (15 March 2015). "Aid workers scramble to help Cyclone Pam victims in Vanuatu". CNN. Retrieved 15 March 2015.
  10. ↑"UNESCO supports recovery of Vanuatu's culture sector following Tropical Cyclone Pam". Prevention Web. 15 May 2015. Archived from the original on 2 October 2015. Retrieved 2 July 2015.
  11. ↑"Vanuatu braces for strengthening tropical cyclone Harold". SBS News. SBS. 6 April 2020. Retrieved 6 April 2020.
  12. ↑Cappucci, Matthew (7 April 2020). "Tropical Cyclone Harold rakes Fiji after slamming Vanuatu at Category 5 strength". The Washington Post. Washington, D.C. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
  13. ↑Vanuatu, ) in (6 April 2020). "#CycloneHarold #TCHarold #Vanuatu @UNICEFPacific declares that 100,000 people have been impacted, a third of the country's population, the majority of whom are children. Widespread network outages is hindering news from affected areas". @sandravanuatu. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
  14. ↑"Casualties reported in Vanuatu following TC Harold". RNZ. Radio New Zealand. 9 April 2020. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
  15. ↑"Klimatafel von Vila (Int. Flugh.) / Insel Efaté / Vanuatu (Neue Hebriden)"(PDF). Baseline climate means (1961-1990) from stations all over the world (in German). Deutscher Wetterdienst. March 2014. Archived from the original(PDF) on 10 May 2017. Retrieved 22 November 2016.
  16. ↑"Climate & Weather Averages at Bauerfield Efate weather station (91557)". Time and Date. Retrieved 6 February 2022.
  17. ↑"Vanuatu (VUT) - Submissions provided by Country". REDD+ Web Platform. United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
  18. 12Report on the technical assessment of the proposed forest reference level of Vanuatu submitted in 2023(PDF) (Report). United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). 22 August 2024. FCCC/TAR/2023/VUT.

Public Domain This article incorporates public domain material from The World Factbook (2025 ed.). CIA.