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Asia and Oceania
Vanuatu |
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Country information
Geography
Vanuatu comprises a Y shaped chain of 83 islands in the South Pacific, stretching 1176 km in a north-south direction between the Equator and the Tropic of Capricorn. The islands have two main geological origins, coral formation and volcanic activity. The country covers an area of about 860,000 sq kms, although only 12,336 sq km of that is land, much of which is covered by natural rainforest vegetation. The capital, Port Vila, on Efate island, is situated some 2250 kms north east of Sydney. The only other significant urban centre, Luganville, is on the country’s largest island of Espiritu Santo.
Vanuatu is located on the Pacific 'Ring of Fire' and is subject to over 2000 seismic events per year, most of which only register on seismic equipment. There are 9 active volcanoes in Vanuatu. Since Mount Manaro became active in November 2005, Vanuatu has recorded more than 40 earthquakes of magnitudes between 4.0 and 7.3 across the archipelago.
The climate varies from wet tropical in the north to subtropical in the south. Rainfall varies from 4000mm pa in the north to 2000mm pa in the south. On average Vanuatu experiences 2 cyclones per season (November – April), with most parts of the country suffering significant wind damage regardless of where the eye of the storm passes.
