Country · Oceania
Vanuatu
Republic of Vanuatu
Vanuatu is a country in Melanesia. About 293 000 people live there, in an area of 12 189 square kilometres. Its capital city is Port Vila.
Picture credit: Phillip Capper (CC BY 2.0) · Graham Crumb (CC BY-SA 3.0) · Phillip Capper (CC BY 2.0) · Gérard Janot (CC BY-SA 3.0) · Steffen Wurzel (CC BY-SA 3.0) · Wikimedia Commons
Where is Vanuatu?
Vanuatu lies in Melanesia, on the continent of Oceania.
It sits in the southern half of the world, roughly 1 781 km from the equator.
Its coastline is about 2 528 km long.
It has no land neighbours — every border it has is with the sea.
How big is Vanuatu?
Vanuatu covers 12 189 square kilometres.
That is about 4.7 times the size of Luxembourg.
Among the world's countries that makes it the 157th largest.
Spread everybody out evenly and you get about 24 people on every square kilometre.
That is emptier than the world average of roughly 60 people per square kilometre.
Who lives in Vanuatu?
About 293 000 people live in Vanuatu.
That is the 172nd biggest population in the world.
People here speak Bislama, English and French.
They pay with the Vanuatu vatu (Vt).
On average, people born here can expect to live about 61 years.
The land of Vanuatu
Its coast runs for about 2 528 km. Walking it end to end, at twenty kilometres a day, would take roughly 126 days.
It lies inside the tropics, which is the single biggest reason its weather is the way it is.
What makes Vanuatu different?
A dish the country is known for: Lap lap.
Websites from here often end in .vu.
Vanuatu and the rest of the world
Fewer than one person in every thousand on Earth lives in Vanuatu.
It takes up about 0.01 % of all the land that countries stand on.
Within Oceania the country ranks 6th of 14 by size, and 6th by population.
Nature and animals
Of the animals on this site, 2 live wild in Vanuatu: Chambered nautilus and Coconut crab. The highest mountain in the country is Mount Tabwemasana, at 1 879 metres. The longest river in the country is the Sarakata. The largest lake in the country is Lake Letas.
Photographs from Wikimedia Commons under free licences — every credit is on the page itself and in the picture credits.
How big is Vanuatu compared with the United States?
- The United States is about 769 times as big as Vanuatu: 9 372 610 km² against 12 189 km².
- The United Kingdom is about 20 times as big as Vanuatu: 242 900 km² against 12 189 km².
Questions children ask
What is the capital of Vanuatu?
The capital of Vanuatu is Port Vila. It is the city where the country's government works from.
How many people live in Vanuatu?
About 293 000 people live in Vanuatu, which makes it the 172nd most populated country in the world. (Source: World Bank, 2018.)
How big is Vanuatu?
Vanuatu covers 12 189 square kilometres, making it the 157th largest country in the world. That is about 4.7 times the size of Luxembourg.
What is the highest mountain in Vanuatu?
The highest mountain in Vanuatu is Mount Tabwemasana, 1 879 metres above sea level. It is the country's highest point.
What is the longest river in Vanuatu?
The longest river in Vanuatu is the Sarakata.
What is the largest lake in Vanuatu?
The largest lake in Vanuatu is Lake Letas. It covers about 19 km².
Which continent is Vanuatu in?
Vanuatu is in Oceania, in the part called Melanesia.
Where these numbers come from
Borders and outlines: Natural Earth. Names, capitals, areas, languages and currencies: ISO 3166 data (world-countries). Population: World Bank, 2018. Every derived figure on this page (ranks, density, distance from the equator) is calculated from those values.
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