nd remove minefields

Refugees and internally displaced persons:
IDPs: 3,000 (forced population transfers by government from
villages near Tajikistan border) (2004)

Illicit drugs:
transit country for Afghan narcotics bound for Russian and, to a
lesser extent, Western European markets; limited illicit cultivation
of cannabis and small amounts of opium poppy for domestic
consumption; poppy cultivation almost wiped out by government crop
eradication program; transit point for heroin precursor chemicals
bound for Afghanistan

This page was last updated on 20 October, 2005

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@Vanuatu

Introduction Vanuatu

Background:
The British and French, who settled the New Hebrides in the 19th
century, agreed in 1906 to an Anglo-French Condominium, which
administered the islands until independence in 1980.

Geography Vanuatu

Location:
Oceania, group 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: 2.46%
permanent crops: 7.38%
other: 90.16% (2001)

Irrigated land:
NA

Natural hazards:
tropical cyclones or typhoons (January to April); volcanism causes
minor earthquakes; tsunamis

Environment - current issues:
a majority of the population does not have access to a reliable
supply of potable water; deforestation

Environment - international agreements:
party to: A