Editing Geography of Vanuatu

{{Short description|none}} <!-- "none" is preferred when the title is sufficiently descriptive; see [[WP:SDNONE]] -->
{{More citations needed|date=January 2021}}
{{Infobox country geography
| name               = Vanuatu
| map                = Satellite_image_of_Vanuatu_in_October_1998.jpg
| continent          = 
| region             = [[Pacific Ocean]]
| coordinates        = {{Coord|16|00|S|167|00|E|type:country}}
| area ranking       = 157th
| km area            = 12,189
| percent land       = 100
| km coastline       = 2,528
| exclusive economic zone = {{convert|663,251|km2|mi2|abbr=on}}
| borders            = None
| geographic center  =
| highest point      = [[Mount Tabwemasana]] <br> {{convert|1877|m}}
| lowest point       = [[Pacific Ocean]] <br> {{convert|0|m}}
| longest river      = 
| largest lake       = 
}}

[[Image:Nh-map.png|right|260px|Map of Vanuatu]]

[[Vanuatu]] (formerly called the [[New Hebrides]]) is a nation and group of islands in the South [[Pacific Ocean]]. It is composed of over 80 islands with {{convert|2528|km|mi}} of coastline and a total surface area of {{convert|12189|km2|mi2}}. It's a small country with a total size of {{convert|12,189|km2|mi2|abbr=on}}. Due to the spread out islands it has the 39th largest [[Exclusive Economic Zone]] of {{convert|663,251|km2|mi2|abbr=on}}.

Vanuatu's [[geographic coordinates]] are {{Coord|16|00|S|167|00|E|type:country}}. It is part of [[Oceania]]. Its immediate neighbours include the [[Solomon Islands]] and [[New Caledonia]], and [[Australia]] is the closest continent.

== Terrain ==
Vanuatu is a mountainous [[archipelago]] of volcanic origin with narrow [[coastal plain]]s.

The highest of all the mountains is [[Mount Tabwemasana]] at {{convert|1877|m|ft}}. Its tropical climate is moderated by southeast [[trade winds]], and its natural resources include, [[hardwood]] forests, and fish. As of 2011, 1.64% of its land area is arable, 10.25% is devoted to crops, and a further 88.11% to other land usage.

Natural disasters include tropical [[cyclone]]s or [[typhoon]]s from January to April and volcanic activity which sometimes causes minor earthquakes.  Tsunamis are also a hazard.

A majority of the population does not have access to a [[Drinking water|potable]] and reliable supply of water. [[Deforestation]] is another major concern on the islands.

Vanuatu is party to a number of international agreements, including agreements on Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, [[Biodiversity]], Climate Change, [[Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol]], [[Desertification]], Endangered Species, [[United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea|Law of the Sea]], Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, and [[Tropical Timber 94]].

Closely tied to the Law of the Sea, Vanuatu lays maritime claim to 24 nautical miles (nm) of contiguous zone, 12&nbsp;nm of territorial sea, and 200&nbsp;nm of continental shelf and exclusive economic zone.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/vanuatu/|title=Australia - Oceania :: Vanuatu — The World Factbook - Central Intelligence Agency|website=www.cia.gov|access-date=2019-04-05}}</ref>

<gallery>
Eratap,_Efate,_Vanuatu,_13_April_2008.jpg|A beach on Efate
A_stream_on_Efate,_Vanuatu.jpg|A stream on Efate
</gallery>

== Climate ==
Vanuatu has a [[tropical climate]], more specifically a [[tropical rainforest climate]] (Af in the [[Köppen climate classification]]), with noticeably wetter and drier months and hot, humid conditions year-round.. As the [[trade winds]] are almost permanent and [[tropical cyclones]] are not rare in Port Vila and Vanuatu, the climate is not equatorial but a maritime trade-wind tropical climate.<ref>"Climatologie" by Pierre Estienne and Alain Godard, Éditions Armand Colin ({{ISBN|2-200-31042-0}}), "CHAPITRE XVI 1. Les climats équatoriaux et subéquatoriaux 2. Les climats tropicaux 3. Les climats d'alizé 4. Les climats de montagne LES CLIMATS DE LA ZONE INTERTROPICALE : LES VARIÉTÉS", pages 314, 315 and 322.</ref>

Vanuatu can be affected by tropical cyclones. [[Cyclone Pam]] was one of the worst cyclones to ever hit Vanuatu,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.unicef.org.nz/vanuatu|title=Vanuatu – Cyclone Pam Emergency Appeal|work=Unicef NZ|access-date=16 March 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150403093543/https://www.unicef.org.nz/vanuatu|archive-date=3 April 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|work=World Food Programme|publisher=ReliefWeb|date=14 March 2015|access-date=15 March 2015|title=Emergency – Cyclone Pam, Vanuatu|url=http://reliefweb.int/report/vanuatu/emergency-cyclone-pam-vanuatu}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|publisher=British Broadcasting Company|date=17 March 2015|access-date=17 March 2015|title=Cyclone Pam: Vanuatu islanders forced to drink saltwater|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-31917913}}</ref> and had been described as a worst-case scenario for the country,<ref>{{cite web|author=Steve Almasy and Jethro Mullen|publisher=CNN|date=15 March 2015|access-date=15 March 2015|title=Aid workers scramble to help Cyclone Pam victims in Vanuatu |url=http://www.cnn.com/2015/03/15/asia/cyclone-pam-vanuatu/}}</ref> with the estimated cost of damage being in the hundreds of millions.<ref>{{cite web|publisher=Prevention Web|date=15 May 2015|access-date=2 July 2015|title=UNESCO supports recovery of Vanuatu's culture sector following Tropical Cyclone Pam|url=http://www.preventionweb.net/english/professional/news/v.php?id=44408|archive-date=2 October 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151002054935/http://www.preventionweb.net/english/professional/news/v.php?id=44408|url-status=dead}}</ref> In 2020, [[Cyclone Harold]] caused severe damage to Vanuatu and other Pacific nations.<ref>{{cite news |title=Vanuatu braces for strengthening tropical cyclone Harold |url=https://www.sbs.com.au/news/vanuatu-braces-for-strengthening-tropical-cyclone-harold |access-date=April 6, 2020 |work=SBS News |publisher=SBS |date=April 6, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Cappucci |first1=Matthew |title=Tropical Cyclone Harold rakes Fiji after slamming Vanuatu at Category 5 strength |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2020/04/07/tropical-cyclone-harold-rakes-fiji-after-slamming-vanuatu-category-5-strength/ |access-date=April 7, 2020 |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=April 7, 2020 |location=Washington, D.C.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://twitter.com/sandravanuatu/status/1247125206029615105|title=#CycloneHarold #TCHarold #Vanuatu @UNICEFPacific declares that 100,000 people have been impacted, a third of the country's population, the majority of whom are children. Widespread network outages is hindering news from affected areas.|last=Vanuatu|first= ) in|date=April 6, 2020|website=@sandravanuatu|language=en|access-date=April 7, 2020}}</ref><ref name="CasualtiesReportedVanuatu">{{cite news |title=Casualties reported in Vanuatu following TC Harold |url=https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/413853/casualties-reported-in-vanuatu-following-tc-harold |access-date=April 10, 2020 |work=[[RNZ]] |publisher=Radio New Zealand |date=April 9, 2020}}</ref>

{{Weather box
|location = [[Port Vila, Vanuatu|Port Vila]] (Köppen Af)
|metric first = Yes
|single line = Yes
|collapsed = Yes 
|width = auto 
|Jan record high C = 35.0
|Feb record high C = 33.9
|Mar record high C = 33.5
|Apr record high C = 32.5
|May record high C = 31.1
|Jun record high C = 32.0
|Jul record high C = 34.3
|Aug record high C = 32.0
|Sep record high C = 31.5
|Oct record high C = 31.2
|Nov record high C = 33.0
|Dec record high C = 35.6
|year record high C = 35.6
|Jan high C = 31.3
|Feb high C = 31.2
|Mar high C = 30.8
|Apr high C = 29.9
|May high C = 28.8
|Jun high C = 27.4
|Jul high C = 26.4
|Aug high C = 27.0
|Sep high C = 27.7
|Oct high C = 28.5
|Nov high C = 29.2
|Dec high C = 30.7
|year high C = 29.1
|Jan mean C = 26.4
|Feb mean C = 26.5
|Mar mean C = 26.3
|Apr mean C = 25.3
|May mean C = 24.1
|Jun mean C = 23.0
|Jul mean C = 22.1
|Aug mean C = 22.0
|Sep mean C = 22.7
|Oct mean C = 23.4
|Nov mean C = 24.6
|Dec mean C = 25.7
|year mean C = 24.3
|Jan low C = 22.5
|Feb low C = 23.0
|Mar low C = 22.6
|Apr low C = 22.0
|May low C = 20.2
|Jun low C = 19.8
|Jul low C = 18.2
|Aug low C = 18.0
|Sep low C = 18.4
|Oct low C = 19.6
|Nov low C = 20.7
|Dec low C = 21.7
|year low C = 20.5
|Jan record low C = 15.8
|Feb record low C = 15.0
|Mar record low C = 16.3
|Apr record low C = 14.5
|May record low C = 13.4
|Jun record low C = 10.0
|Jul record low C = 8.5
|Aug record low C = 10.0
|Sep record low C = 9.9
|Oct record low C = 11.0
|Nov record low C = 12.6
|Dec record low C = 15.2
|year record low C = 8.5
|rain colour = green
|Jan rain mm = 316.1
|Feb rain mm = 273.7
|Mar rain mm = 320.9
|Apr rain mm = 255.2
|May rain mm = 210.3
|Jun rain mm = 180.0
|Jul rain mm = 94.4
|Aug rain mm = 87.4
|Sep rain mm = 87.3
|Oct rain mm = 134.1
|Nov rain mm = 192.3
|Dec rain mm = 187.2
|unit rain days = 1.0 mm
|Jan rain days = 15.4
|Feb rain days = 16.6
|Mar rain days = 18.5
|Apr rain days = 17.1
|May rain days = 12.9
|Jun rain days = 11.3
|Jul rain days = 10.3
|Aug rain days = 9.8
|Sep rain days = 8.1
|Oct rain days = 8.4
|Nov rain days = 12.1
|Dec rain days = 13.2
|Jan humidity = 84
|Feb humidity = 85
|Mar humidity = 86
|Apr humidity = 87
|May humidity = 85
|Jun humidity = 85
|Jul humidity = 83
|Aug humidity = 82
|Sep humidity = 80
|Oct humidity = 81
|Nov humidity = 82
|Dec humidity = 83
|year humidity = 84
| Jan dew point C =24
| Feb dew point C =24
| Mar dew point C =24
| Apr dew point C =23
| May dew point C =21
| Jun dew point C =21
| Jul dew point C =20
| Aug dew point C =20
| Sep dew point C =20
| Oct dew point C =21
| Nov dew point C =22
| Dec dew point C =23
|Jan sun = 220.1
|Feb sun = 155.4
|Mar sun = 198.4
|Apr sun = 165.0
|May sun = 170.5
|Jun sun = 162.0
|Jul sun = 148.8
|Aug sun = 167.4
|Sep sun = 174.0
|Oct sun = 198.4
|Nov sun = 180.0
|Dec sun = 195.3
|year sun = 
|Jand sun = 7.1
|Febd sun = 5.5
|Mard sun = 6.4
|Aprd sun = 5.5
|Mayd sun = 5.5
|Jund sun = 5.4
|Juld sun = 4.8
|Augd sun = 5.4
|Sepd sun = 5.8
|Octd sun = 6.4
|Novd sun = 6.0
|Decd sun = 6.3
|yeard sun = 5.8
|source 1 = [[Deutscher Wetterdienst]]<ref name = PortVDWD>{{cite web
| url = http://www.dwd.de/DWD/klima/beratung/ak/ak_915570_kt.pdf
| title = Klimatafel von Vila (Int. Flugh.) / Insel Efaté / Vanuatu (Neue Hebriden)
| work = Baseline climate means (1961-1990) from stations all over the world
| publisher = Deutscher Wetterdienst
| language = de
| access-date = 22 November 2016
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170510172337/http://www.dwd.de/DWD/klima/beratung/ak/ak_915570_kt.pdf
| archive-date = 10 May 2017
| url-status = dead
|date=March 2014}}</ref>

|source 2 =[https://www.timeanddate.com/weather/vanuatu/port-vila/climate Time and Date] (dewpoints, between 2005-2015)<ref>{{cite web
|url = https://www.timeanddate.com/weather/vanuatu/port-vila/climate
|title = Climate & Weather Averages at Bauerfield Efate weather station (91557)
|publisher = Time and Date
|access-date = 6 February 2022}}</ref>

}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

{{Vanuatu topics}}
{{Geography of Oceania}}
{{CIA World Factbook}}

[[Category:Geography of Vanuatu| ]]