Geography of Vanuatu

Where is the country of Vanuatu located on world map? According to COUNTRYAAH.COM, Vanuatu is an independent nation located in Melanesia. Vanuatu celebrates its independence day on July 30th of each year. This day marks the official declaration of independence from France and the United Kingdom in 1980. The formal name of Vanuatu is the Republic of Vanuatu, which translates to “Republic” in English. The country’s symbols include the flag, which features a red background with a black isosceles triangle on the left side; the national emblem, which consists of a boar’s tusk and two crossed arrows inside a circle; and the national anthem, entitled “Yumi, Yumi, Yumi” (We, We, We). See historyaah for Vanuatu history.

Nature

Terrain shapes and bedrock

The Vanuatu archipelago and the deep-sea tomb The New Hebrides tomb west of the islands originated in the collision between two large oceanic crustal plates. This has provided a geological environment with earthquakes, active volcanoes, hot springs and geysers. On the two largest islands there are remnants of older bedrock, but most of the islands are built up by younger rocks such as lava and coral lime. The islands are high (Espíritu Santo reaches Tabwemasana 1,879 m above sea level) and has a topography of mountains, plateaus and coastal lands.

• AbbreviationFinder: Offer a full list of commonly used abbreviations, acronyms, and initialisms related to the state of Vanuatu.

Climate

Vanuatu has a maritime tropical climate with two seasons, one hot and humid during November – April and one cool and dry during May – October. The Southeast Passage is the prevailing wind. The annual rainfall amounts to about 2,000 mm in the southern islands and 4,000 mm in the north. The average temperature is 22–27 °C in the middle islands. Tropical cyclones can wreak havoc. On March 13, 2015, Vanuatu was hit by the tropical cyclone Pam, which, with wind speeds of 270 km/h (75 m/s), destroyed large parts of the country’s population. In the capital Port Vila, it is estimated that about 90 percent of the buildings were damaged..

Plant-and animal life

The natural vegetation is rainforest and in the southern islands some dry forest with open grasslands in the highlands. At the coasts there are, among other things, mangrove vegetation and casuarina trees (genus Casuariʹna). Rainforests are rich in ferns and, especially in the highlands, orchids. A species of the sandalwood genus (Saʹntalum) was formerly common but is now unusual after overexploitation. There are about 870 species of veneerogams, of which about 150 are endemic. Some rainforests have been cleared and replaced with cultivations of, among other things. coffee, sugar cane, cocoa and cotton.

The fauna is poor with only twelve species of mammals, all bats or rodents. In Vanuatu, 76 species of birds breed, including pigeons, honey eaters, salangans and parrots palmlori (Charmoʹsyna palmaʹrum, endemic) and rainbow laurel (Trichogloʹssus haematoʹdus). There are 20 species of reptiles but no amphibians. Vanuatu is surrounded by a continuous coral reef, but the individual islands do not have prominent beach reefs.

Nature conservation

Vanuatu has no nature protected areas.

History

Governed since 1906 by an Anglo-French condominium with the name of New Hebrides, Vanuatu achieved independence within the Commonwealth in 1980. The country’s political life was initially dominated by the left-wing Anglophone nationalist party Vanuaaku Pati. Since the 1991 elections, won by the Union of moderate, French-speaking parties, the two formations have alternated in power. Traditional tax haven, until 2003 Vanuatu was on the OECD blacklist, among the countries that did not cooperate in countering the activities of terrorism and organized crime. Foreign aid represents a fundamental element for the progress of the country; to traditional lenders (Great Britain, France, New Zeland, Australia) was joined by the presence of Beijing and Washington.