National report for the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) : Republic of Vanuatu

Abstract

Vanuatu is a group of islands in the Southwest Pacific with a total of 12 million square kilometers, which is spread across 107 islands of which 66 contain permanent population. Twelve percent of the rural population lives on small islands of very high population densities of 0.1 and 2.1 hectare per person. Thirty percent live on the larger islands at a much lower density of 18 hectare per person while the rest live in the urban centers. The capital is Port Vila, which is situated on the island of Efate some 2500 kilometers northeast of Sydney. The British and French jointly governed Vanuatu until independence in 1980.