Vanuatu (2004) | World (2002) | |
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Administrative divisions | 6 provinces; Malampa, Penama, Sanma, Shefa, Tafea, Torba | 268 nations, dependent areas, other, and miscellaneous entries |
Age structure | 0-14 years: 34.1% (male 35,281; female 33,785)
15-64 years: 62.4% (male 64,669; female 61,829) 65 years and over: 3.5% (male 3,740; female 3,305) (2004 est.) |
0-14 years: 29.2% (male 932,581,592; female 885,688,851)
15-64 years: 63.7% (male 2,009,997,089; female 1,964,938,201) 65 years and over: 7.1% (male 193,549,180; female 247,067,032) (2002 est.) |
Agriculture - products | copra, coconuts, cocoa, coffee, taro, yams, coconuts, fruits, vegetables; fish, beef | - |
Airports | 30 (2003 est.) | - |
Airports - with paved runways | total: 3
2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 1524 to 2437 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 1 (2004 est.) |
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Airports - with unpaved runways | total: 27
914 to 1,523 m: 10 under 914 m: 17 (2004 est.) |
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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 |
total: 510.072 million sq km
land: 148.94 million sq km water: 361.132 million sq km note: 70.8% of the world's surface is water, 29.2% is land |
Area - comparative | slightly larger than Connecticut | land area about 16 times the size of the US |
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. | Globally, the 20th century was marked by: (a) two devastating world wars; (b) the Great Depression of the 1930s; (c) the end of vast colonial empires; (d) rapid advances in science and technology, from the first airplane flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina (US) to the landing on the moon; (e) the Cold War between the Western alliance and the Warsaw Pact nations; (f) a sharp rise in living standards in North America, Europe, and Japan; (g) increased concerns about the environment, including loss of forests, shortages of energy and water, the decline in biological diversity, and air pollution; (h) the onset of the AIDS epidemic; and (i) the ultimate emergence of the US as the only world superpower. The planet's population continues to explode: from 1 billion in 1820, to 2 billion in 1930, 3 billion in 1960, 4 billion in 1974, 5 billion in 1988, and 6 billion in 2000. For the 21st century, the continued exponential growth in science and technology raises both hopes (e.g., advances in medicine) and fears (e.g., development of even more lethal weapons of war). |
Birth rate | 23.67 births/1,000 population (2004 est.) | 21.16 births/1,000 population (2002 est.) |
Budget | revenues: $94.4 million
expenditures: $99.8 million, including capital expenditures of $30.4 million (1996 est.) |
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Capital | Port-Vila (Efate) | - |
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 | two large areas of polar climates separated by two rather narrow temperate zones form a wide equatorial band of tropical to subtropical climates |
Coastline | 2,528 km | 356,000 km |
Constitution | 30 July 1980 | - |
Country name | conventional long form: Republic of Vanuatu
conventional short form: Vanuatu former: New Hebrides |
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Currency | vatu (VUV) | - |
Death rate | 8.02 deaths/1,000 population (2004 est.) | 8.93 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.) |
Debt - external | $65.8 million (2001 est.) | $2 trillion for less developed countries (2001 est.) |
Diplomatic representation from the US | the US does not have an embassy in Vanuatu; the ambassador to Papua New Guinea is accredited to Vanuatu | - |
Diplomatic representation in the US | Vanuatu does not have an embassy in the US; it does, however, have a Permanent Mission to the UN | - |
Disputes - international | Matthew and Hunter Islands east of New Caledonia claimed by Vanuatu and France | - |
Economic aid - recipient | $45.8 million (1995) | official development assistance (ODA) $50 billion (2001 est.) |
Economy - overview | This South Pacific island economy is based primarily on small-scale agriculture, which provides a living for 65% of the population. Fishing, offshore financial services, and tourism, with about 50,000 visitors in 1997, are other mainstays of the economy. Mineral deposits are negligible; the country has no known petroleum deposits. A small light industry sector caters to the local market. Tax revenues come mainly from import duties. Economic development is hindered by dependence on relatively few commodity exports, vulnerability to natural disasters, and long distances from main markets and between constituent islands. A severe earthquake in November 1999 followed by a tsunami, caused extensive damage to the northern island of Pentecote and left thousands homeless. Another powerful earthquake in January 2002 caused extensive damage in the capital, Port-Vila, and surrounding areas, and also was followed by a tsunami. GDP growth rose less than 3% on average in the 1990s. In response to foreign concerns, the government has promised to tighten regulation of its offshore financial center. In mid-2002 the government stepped up efforts to boost tourism. Agriculture, especially livestock farming, is a second target for growth. Australia and New Zealand are the main suppliers of tourists and foreign aid. Growth expanded moderately in 2003. | Growth in global output (gross world product, GWP) fell from 4.8% in 2000 to 2.2% in 2001. The causes: slowdowns in the US economy (21% of GWP) and in the 15 EU economies (20% of GWP); continued stagnation in the Japanese economy (7.3% of GWP); and spillover effects in the less developed regions of the world. China, the second largest economy in the world (12% of GWP), proved an exception, continuing its rapid annual growth, officially announced as 7.3% but estimated by many observers as perhaps two percentage points lower. Russia (2.6% of GWP), with 5.2% growth, continued to make uneven progress, its GDP per capita still only one-third that of the leading industrial nations. The other 14 successor nations of the USSR and the other old Warsaw Pact nations again experienced widely divergent growth rates; the three Baltic nations were strong performers, in the 5% range of growth. The developing nations also varied in their growth results, with many countries facing population increases that eat up gains in output. Externally, the nation-state, as a bedrock economic-political institution, is steadily losing control over international flows of people, goods, funds, and technology. Internally, the central government often finds its control over resources slipping as separatist regional movements - typically based on ethnicity - gain momentum, e.g., in many of the successor states of the former Soviet Union, in the former Yugoslavia, in India, in Indonesia, and in Canada. In Western Europe, governments face the difficult political problem of channeling resources away from welfare programs in order to increase investment and strengthen incentives to seek employment. The addition of 80 million people each year to an already overcrowded globe is exacerbating the problems of pollution, desertification, underemployment, epidemics, and famine. Because of their own internal problems and priorities, the industrialized countries devote insufficient resources to deal effectively with the poorer areas of the world, which, at least from the economic point of view, are becoming further marginalized. The introduction of the euro as the common currency of much of Western Europe in January 1999, while paving the way for an integrated economic powerhouse, poses economic risks because of varying levels of income and cultural and political differences among the participating nations. The terrorist attacks on the US on 11 September 2001 accentuate a further growing risk to global prosperity, illustrated, for example, by the reallocation of resources away from investment to anti-terrorist programs. (For specific economic developments in each country of the world in 2001, see the individual country entries.) |
Electricity - consumption | 40.42 million kWh (2001) | - |
Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (2001) | - |
Electricity - imports | 0 kWh (2001) | - |
Electricity - production | 43.46 million kWh (2001) | - |
Electricity - production by source | - | fossil fuel: NA%
hydro: NA% nuclear: NA% other: NA% |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m
highest point: Tabwemasana 1,877 m |
lowest point: Bentley Subglacial Trench -2,540 m
note: in the oceanic realm, Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench is the lowest point, lying -10,924 m below the surface of the Pacific Ocean highest point: Mount Everest 8,850 m (1999 est.) |
Environment - current issues | a majority of the population does not have access to a potable and reliable supply of water; deforestation | large areas subject to overpopulation, industrial disasters, pollution (air, water, acid rain, toxic substances), loss of vegetation (overgrazing, deforestation, desertification), loss of wildlife, soil degradation, soil depletion, erosion |
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 |
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Ethnic groups | indigenous Melanesian 98%, French, Vietnamese, Chinese, other Pacific Islanders | - |
Exchange rates | vatu per US dollar - 122.189 (2003), 139.198 (2002), 145.312 (2001), 137.643 (2000), 129.075 (1999) | - |
Executive branch | chief of state: President Kalkot Matas KELEKELE (since 16 August 2004)
head of government: Prime Minister Ham LINI (since 11 December 2004); Deputy Prime Minister Sato KILMAN (since 11 December 2004); Prime Minister Serge VOHOR ousted in no-confidence vote on 11 December 2004 cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the prime minister, responsible to Parliament elections: president elected for a five-year term by an electoral college consisting of Parliament and the presidents of the regional councils; election for president last held 16 August 2004 (next to be held in 2009); following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or majority coalition is usually elected prime minister by Parliament from among its members; election for prime minister last held 29 July 2004 (next to be held following general elections in 2008) election results: Kalkot Matas KELEKELE elected president, with 49 votes out of 56, after several ballots on 16 August 2004 |
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Exports | NA (2001) | $6.3 trillion f.o.b. (2001 est.) |
Exports - commodities | copra, beef, cocoa, timber, kava, coffee | the whole range of industrial and agricultural goods and services |
Exports - partners | India 32.8%, Thailand 25.5%, Indonesia 9.6%, Japan 7.6%, Australia 4%, Poland 4% (2003) | in value, about 75% of exports from the developed countries |
Fiscal year | calendar year | - |
Flag description | two equal horizontal bands of red (top) and green with a black isosceles triangle (based on the hoist side) all separated by a black-edged yellow stripe in the shape of a horizontal Y (the two points of the Y face the hoist side and enclose the triangle); centered in the triangle is a boar's tusk encircling two crossed namele leaves, all in yellow | - |
GDP | purchasing power parity - $563 million (2002 est.) | GWP (gross world product) - purchasing power parity - $47 trillion (2001 est.) |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 26%
industry: 12% services: 62% (2000 est.) |
agriculture: 4%
industry: 32% services: 64% (2001 est.) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $2,900 (2002 est.) | purchasing power parity - $7,600 (2001 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | -0.3% (2002 est.) | 2.2% (2001 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 16 00 S, 167 00 E | - |
Geography - note | a Y-shaped chain of four main islands and 80 smaller islands; several of the islands have active volcanoes | the world is now thought to be about 4.55 billion years old, just about one-third of the 13-billion-year age estimated for the universe |
Highways | total: 1,070 km
paved: 256 km unpaved: 814 km (1999 est.) |
total: NA km
paved: NA km unpaved: NA km |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: NA
highest 10%: NA |
lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA% |
Imports | NA (2001) | $6.3 trillion f.o.b. (2001 est.) |
Imports - commodities | machinery and equipment, foodstuffs, fuels | the whole range of industrial and agricultural goods and services |
Imports - partners | Australia 15.3%, Japan 10.6%, Singapore 7.4%, New Zealand 6%, Fiji 5.1% (2003) | in value, about 75% of imports into the developed countries |
Independence | 30 July 1980 (from France and UK) | - |
Industrial production growth rate | 1% (1997 est.) | 6% (2000 est.) |
Industries | food and fish freezing, wood processing, meat canning | dominated by the onrush of technology, especially in computers, robotics, telecommunications, and medicines and medical equipment; most of these advances take place in OECD nations; only a small portion of non-OECD countries have succeeded in rapidly adjusting to these technological forces; the accelerated development of new industrial (and agricultural) technology is complicating already grim environmental problems |
Infant mortality rate | total: 56.63 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 59.25 deaths/1,000 live births female: 53.89 deaths/1,000 live births (2004 est.) |
51.55 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 2% (2002 est.) | developed countries 1% to 4% typically; developing countries 5% to 60% typically (2001 est.); national inflation rates vary widely in individual cases, from declining prices in Japan to hyperinflation in several Third World countries |
International organization participation | ACCT, ACP, AsDB, C, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, IOC, ITU, MIGA, NAM, PIF, Sparteca, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WMO, WTrO (observer) | - |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | - | 10,350 (2000 est.) |
Irrigated land | NA sq km | 2,714,320 sq km (1998 est.) |
Judicial branch | Supreme Court (chief justice is appointed by the president after consultation with the prime minister and the leader of the opposition, three other justices are appointed by the president on the advice of the Judicial Service Commission) | - |
Labor force | NA | NA |
Labor force - by occupation | agriculture 65%, industry 5%, services 30% (2000 est.) | agriculture NA%, industry NA%, services NA% |
Land boundaries | 0 km | the land boundaries in the world total 250,472 km (not counting shared boundaries twice) |
Land use | arable land: 2.46%
permanent crops: 7.38% other: 90.16% (2001) |
arable land: 10.58%
permanent crops: 1% other: 88.42% (1998 est.) |
Languages | three official languages: English, French, pidgin (known as Bislama or Bichelama), plus more than 100 local languages | Chinese, Mandarin 14.37%, Hindi 6.02%, English 5.61%, Spanish 5.59%, Bengali 3.4%, Portuguese 2.63%, Russian 2.75%, Japanese 2.06%, German, Standard 1.64%, Korean 1.28%, French 1.27% (2000 est.)
note: percents are for "first language" speakers only |
Legal system | unified system being created from former dual French and British systems | all members of the UN plus Switzerland are parties to the statute that established the International Court of Justice (ICJ) or World Court |
Legislative branch | unicameral Parliament (52 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms)
elections: last held 6 July 2004 (next to be held 2008) election results: percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - UMP 8, VP 8, NUP 10, VRP 4, MPP 3, VGP 3, other and independent 16; note - political party associations are fluid note: the National Council of Chiefs advises on matters of culture and language |
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Life expectancy at birth | total population: 62.1 years
male: 60.64 years female: 63.63 years (2004 est.) |
total population: 63.94 years
male: 62.28 years female: 65.67 years (2002 est.) |
Literacy | definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 53% male: 57% female: 48% (1979 est.) |
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 77% male: 83% female: 71% (1995 est.) |
Location | Oceania, group of islands in the South Pacific Ocean, about three-quarters of the way from Hawaii to Australia | - |
Map references | Oceania | Physical Map of the World, Political Map of the World, Standard Time Zones of the World |
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 |
a variety of situations exist, but in general, most countries make the following claims: contiguous zone - 24 NM; continental shelf - 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation, or 200 NM or to the edge of the continental margin; exclusive fishing zone - 200 NM; exclusive economic zone - 200 NM; territorial sea - 12 NM; boundary situations with neighboring states prevent many countries from extending their fishing or economic zones to a full 200 NM; 43 nations and other areas that are landlocked include Afghanistan, Andorra, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bhutan, Bolivia, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Central African Republic, Chad, Czech Republic, Ethiopia, Holy See (Vatican City), Hungary, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lesotho, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malawi, Mali, Moldova, Mongolia, Nepal, Niger, Paraguay, Rwanda, San Marino, Slovakia, Swaziland, Switzerland, Tajikistan, The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Uzbekistan, West Bank, Zambia, Zimbabwe; two of these, Liechtenstein and Uzbekistan, are doubly landlocked |
Merchant marine | total: 51 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 1,192,474 GRT/1,560,828 DWT
by type: bulk 28, cargo 2, combination bulk 3, container 2, liquefied gas 2, multi-functional large load carrier 1, refrigerated cargo 6, roll on/roll off 2, vehicle carrier 5 foreign-owned: Australia 2, Canada 1, Estonia 1, Germany 1, Japan 25, Monaco 4, New Zealand 2, Panama 1, Poland 7, Switzerland 3, United Kingdom 5, United States 2 registered in other countries: 1 (2004 est.) |
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Military branches | no regular military forces; Vanuatu Police Force (VPF; including the paramilitary Mobile Force or VMF) | - |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | NA | aggregate real expenditure on arms worldwide in 1999 remained at approximately the 1998 level, about three-quarters of a trillion dollars (1999 est.) |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | NA | roughly 2% of gross world product (1999 est.) |
National holiday | Independence Day, 30 July (1980) | - |
Nationality | noun: Ni-Vanuatu (singular and plural)
adjective: Ni-Vanuatu |
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Natural hazards | tropical cyclones or typhoons (January to April); volcanism causes minor earthquakes; tsunamis | large areas subject to severe weather (tropical cyclones), natural disasters (earthquakes, landslides, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions) |
Natural resources | manganese, hardwood forests, fish | the rapid depletion of nonrenewable mineral resources, the depletion of forest areas and wetlands, the extinction of animal and plant species, and the deterioration in air and water quality (especially in Eastern Europe, the former USSR, and China) pose serious long-term problems that governments and peoples are only beginning to address |
Net migration rate | 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2004 est.) | - |
Political parties and leaders | Jon Frum Movement [Song KEASPAI]; Melanesian Progressive Party or MPP [Barak SOPE]; National United Party or NUP [NA]; Union of Moderate Parties or UMP [Serge VOHOR]; Vanua'aku Pati (Our Land Party) or VP [Edward NATAPEI]; Vanuatu Republican Party or VRP [Maxime Carlot KORMAN]; Greens (Vanuatu) [Moana CARCASSES] | - |
Political pressure groups and leaders | NA | - |
Population | 202,609 (July 2004 est.) | 6,233,821,945 (July 2002 est.) |
Population below poverty line | NA | - |
Population growth rate | 1.57% (2004 est.) | 1.23% (2002 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Forari, Port-Vila, Santo (Espiritu Santo) | Chiba, Houston, Kawasaki, Kobe, Marseille, Mina' al Ahmadi (Kuwait), New Orleans, New York, Rotterdam, Yokohama |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 2, FM 2, shortwave 1 (2002) | AM NA, FM NA, shortwave NA |
Radios | - | NA |
Railways | - | total: 1,201,337 km includes about 190,000 to 195,000 km of electrified routes of which 147,760 km are in Europe, 24,509 km in the Far East, 11,050 km in Africa, 4,223 km in South America, and 4,160 km in North America; note - fastest speed in daily service is 300 km/hr attained by France's Societe Nationale des Chemins-de-Fer Francais (SNCF) Le Train a Grande Vitesse (TGV) - Atlantique line
broad gauge: 251,153 km standard gauge: 710,754 km narrow gauge: 239,430 km |
Religions | Presbyterian 36.7%, Anglican 15%, Roman Catholic 15%, indigenous beliefs 7.6%, Seventh-Day Adventist 6.2%, Church of Christ 3.8%, other 15.7% (including Jon Frum Cargo cult) | Christians 32.88% (of which Roman Catholics 17.39%, Protestants 5.62%, Orthodox 3.54%, Anglicans 1.31%), Muslims 19.54%, Hindus 13.34%, Buddhists 5.92%, Sikhs 0.38%, Jews 0.24%, other religions 12.6%, non-religious 12.63%, atheists 2.47% (2000 est.) |
Sex ratio | at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 1.13 male(s)/female total population: 1.05 male(s)/female (2004 est.) |
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.02 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.78 male(s)/female total population: 1.01 male(s)/female (2002 est.) |
Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal | - |
Telephone system | general assessment: NA
domestic: NA international: country code - 678; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Pacific Ocean) |
general assessment: NA
domestic: NA international: NA |
Telephones - main lines in use | 6,500 (2003) | NA |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 7,800 (2003) | NA |
Television broadcast stations | 1 (2002) | NA |
Terrain | mostly mountainous islands of volcanic origin; narrow coastal plains | the greatest ocean depth is the Mariana Trench at 10,924 m in the Pacific Ocean |
Total fertility rate | 2.87 children born/woman (2004 est.) | 2.7 children born/woman (2002 est.) |
Unemployment rate | NA | 30% combined unemployment and underemployment in many non-industrialized countries; developed countries typically 4%-12% unemployment (2001 est.) |