Geography
 Known
in Condominium days as
“New Hebrides”, this island group was rechristened
“Vanuatu”, on July 30th, 1980, the day it achieved
political independence and became a Republic, with an
elected Parliament along the lines of the Westminster
system and a Council of Chiefs to mark its ties with
custom and tradition. The dual English and French
influence inherited from the Condominium enhances the
country's cultural diversity and provides a good basis
for economic development and tourism.
The country is made up of some 80 islands in the shape
of a “Y” on a north-westerly slant. The northernmost
islands, the Torres group, are about 900 km from
Aneityum at the southern tip with the whole group
covering a land mass of 12,189 km2 and an ocean area of
450,000 km2. Vanuatu consists of a young chain of rugged
volcanic islands, rising high out of the sea and
mountainous. Being located right on the Pacific Rim of
Fire, on the subduction zone of two tectonic plates,
Vanuatu is often subject to earthquakes.
Volcanoes
Indeed the seismic monitoring stations register tremors
almost continuously, but only the major ones can be felt
on land. There are several permanently active volcanoes
and you can actually observe voIcanic eruptions on the
islands of Tanna, Ambrym and Lopevi. There are others,
less active, such as those on Ambae or Gaua. Two
underwater volcanoes were identified recently to the
east of Epi, and you can sometimes detect the boiling of
the sea when flying low.
Vanuatu Vanuatu also offers a variety of pools and lakes
(such as Lake Manaro on Ambae which is an old crater
surrounded by rainforest, Duck Lake on Efate, the
underground lake in the Siviri cave, fresh water pools
of iridescent blue known locally as “blIt is probably
safe to assume that the first arrivals came from
South-East Asia.
There is growing evidence that people migrating from
Asia towards the South Pacific came through the islands
of Melanesia in the very early days up until now.
Vanuatu was a central point for these migratory
movements.
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