Vanuatu Map South Pacific

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About Vanuatu - South Pacific, map, history, aviation, Vanuatu, people, country profile, aviation, climates, travel

Vanuatu Republic, formerly known as the New Hebrides, is an insular state in the southwest Pacific with about a decade of important islets and many smaller ones stretching between the equator and the Tropic of Capricorn. The majority of the Icelandic archipelago is made up of the peaks of mountains that rise from the sea-bottom.

Melanesi were the first humans to establish themselves in Vanuatu about 3000 years ago, and later, between the eleventh and fifteenth century, the Melanesian Empire began. The majority of the Ni-Vanuatu tribe still lives in small towns between the island. Vanuatu's weather is tropically marine. Recently, the outskirts of Vanuatu, where the biggest tourist activities and adventures are offered, have been opened up to tourists, but the number of tourists is still very low.

Discover Vanuatu with our full-featured map or learn more about travelling in Vanuatu on our bungalow page.

New Caledonia and Vanuatu hurdle of Hurricane Donna now more vulnerable (+maps)

Upded 9:45am Saturday NZT --- Heavy cyclone Donna is still a Class 3 tropic windstorm with center pressures up to 968hPa. Though Donna seems to have a little groovy bounce off to the northeast and the south as he wriggled past Vanuatu to the northwest of the islander.

Donna's wave-shaped trackings enabled the gale (for the time being) to avoid most of the population. From Saturday mornings onward, the NZT cyclone Donna was still a "severe" cyclone in Class 3. Recent forecasts by the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (US government) show that Donna could reach 210 km/h and gusty speeds of 260 km/h this coming Sunday before slowing down slowly next weeks.

It is very difficult to follow a cycle around small islets - almost like a gap in one while golfing. If it is a bigger country like Australia or the USA, then the gale has a much better shot at it. Donna remains a heavy cycle this week-end as turns to the south.

Noumea in New Caledonia now puts this somewhat more westerly track (west of Vanuatu) to a more immediate Donna strike. Trophic windstorm persecution around the South Pacific is probably the most tricky place in the world to do this. With Donna's moves, the overall lead was quite precise, but the pursuit over the past 24 hrs has given Vanuatu a much longer respite.

A very big high crosses New Zealand this week-end. In this phase, the emphasis must continue to be on New Caledonia and Vanuatu.