oup of islands in the South Pacific Ocean, about
three-quarters of the way from Hawaii to Australia

Geographic coordinates:

16 00 S, 167 00 E

Map references:

Oceania

Area:

total: 12,200 sq km
land: 12,200 sq km
water: 0 sq km
note: includes more than 80 islands, about 65 of which are inhabited

Area - comparative:

slightly larger than Connecticut

Land boundaries:

0 km

Coastline:

2,528 km

Maritime claims:

measured from claimed archipelagic baselines
territorial sea: 12 nm
contiguous zone: 24 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
continental shelf: 200 nm or to the edge of the continental margin

Climate:

tropical; moderated by southeast trade winds from May to October;
moderate rainfall from November to April; may be affected by
cyclones from December to April

Terrain:

mostly mountainous islands of volcanic origin; narrow coastal plains

Elevation extremes:

lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m
highest point: Tabwemasana 1,877 m

Natural resources:

manganese, hardwood forests, fish

Land use:

arable land: 1.64%
permanent crops: 6.97%
other: 91.39% (2005)

Irrigated land:

NA

Natural hazards:

tropical cyclones or typhoons (January to April); volcanic eruption
on Aoba (Ambae) island began 27 November 2005, volcanism also causes
minor earthquakes; tsunamis

Environment - current issues:

most of the population does not have access to a reliable supply of
potable water; deforestation

Environment - international agreements:

party to: Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Biodiversity, Climate
Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered
Species, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection,
Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 94
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Geography - note:

a Y-shaped chain of four main islands and 80 smaller islands;
several of the islands have active volcanoes

People
Vanuatu

Population:

215,446 (July 2008 est.)

Age structure:

0-14 years: 31.3% (male 34,441/female 33,000)
15-64 years: 64.8% (male 71,159/female 68,435)
65 years and over: 3.9% (male 4,352/female 4,059) (2008 est.)

Median age:

total: 23.8 years
male: 23.8 years
female: 23.8 years (2008 est.)

Population growth rate:

1.434% (2008 est.)

Birth rate:

21.95 births/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Death rate:

7.61 deaths/1,000 population (200