Provinces of Vanuatu

[Map obtained from http://www.survivorfever.net/images9/VanuatuProvincialMap.jpg ]

[Data obtained from http://www.statoids.com/uvu.html ]

International standard ISO 3166-2 was published on December 15, 1998. It superseded ISO/DIS 3166-2 (draft international standard). For Vanuatu, the draft standard showed eleven provinces. However, in 1994 the country was reorganized. The final standard shows the six new provinces, with their new codes. Change 2 to FIPS PUB 10-4, dated March 1, 1999, also shows this reorganization.

Province

HASC

ISO

FIPS

Population

Area(km.²)

Area(mi.²)

Capital

Malampa

VU.ML

MAP

NH16

36,100

2,779

1,073

Lakatoro

Pénama

VU.PM

PAM

NH17

28,960

1,198

463

Longana

Sanma

VU.SN

SAM

NH13

32,340

4,248

1,640

Luganville

Shéfa

VU.SE

SEE

NH18

45,280

1,455

562

Port Vila

Taféa

VU.TF

TAE

NH15

27,530

1,628

629

Isangel

Torba

VU.TR

TOB

NH07

7,870

882

341

Sola

6 provinces

178,080

12,190

4,708

 
  • HASC: Hierarchical administrative subdivision codes.
  • ISO: District codes from ISO 3166-2. For full identification in a global
    context, prefix "    VU-" to the code (ex: VU-SAM represents Sanma).
  • FIPS: Codes from FIPS PUB 10-4, a U.S. government standard.
  • Population: 2000 estimate. (Populations, areas, and capitals were
    provided by Karem Abdalla.)

Change history:

1906-02-27: New Hebrides became a condominium, or joint colony, of England and France.
The 1951 edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica World Atlas shows New Hebrides divided into fourteen islands. It's not clear whether these are considered administrative divisions.

Island

Population

Ambrym

4,537

Aoba

5,000

Api

3,009

Efate

5,497

Erromango

444

Espiritu Santo

4,000

Gaua

 

Maewo

 

Malekula

6,680

Paama

2,629

Pentecost

4,500

Tana

5,837

Tonoa

 

Vanua Lava

 

14 islands

47,892
  • Population: 1946 estimates of
    native population. Total is from
    1946 census of non-natives.

The 1964 edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica World Atlas says that there are four districts, without mentioning any names. Geographic Report No. 16, Office of the Geographer, Department of State, 1971-10-27, contains a map dated 1970-11, showing New Hebrides divided into four districts (List A). Accompanying text says that they were subdivided into 13 local councils as of 1966. The Rand McNally New International Atlas (1969 and 1980 editions) shows a set of four districts with different names (List B), but with the same territory, except for the placement of Épi Island. Épi is in Malékoula on List A but in Central No. 1 on List B. FIPS PUB 10, as early as 1973, lists four districts with the same names as List B. I postulate that the districts changed from List A to List B in ~1968, but that it took a few years before the Office of the Geographer changed the map.

List A

List B

FIPS

Capital

Became

Efaté

Central No. 1

NH01

Port-Vila (Vila)

Éfaté, Épi, Shepherd

Malékoula

Central No. 2

NH02

Lamap

Ambrym, Malakula, Paama, Pentecôte

Santo

Northern

NH03

Luganville

Aoba/Maéwo, Banks/Torres, Santo/Malo

Tanna

Southern

NH04

Lenakel

Taféa
  • List A: district name according to Geographic Report No. 16.
  • List B: district name according to New International Atlas.
  • FIPS: code according to FIPS PUB 10
  • Became: island councils formed from this district (according to List B)

1980-07-30: New Hebrides became independent and took the name Vanuatu.

~1985: Districts of Vanuatu eliminated and replaced by eleven island councils. The new division is shown on the CIA map dated 1989-09, and in a FIPS code update dated 1991-01-17, and in the 1990 edition of the Rand McNally International Atlas.

Council

Prov

Population

Area(Km.²)

Ambrym

VU.ML

7,170

663

Aoba/Maéwo

VU.PM

10,902

653

Banks/Torres

VU.TR

5,985

820

Éfaté

VU.SE

30,422

1,076

Épi

VU.SE

3,611

455

Malakula

VU.ML

19,298

2,060

Paama

VU.ML

1,695

33

Pentecôte

VU.PM

11,336

439

Santo/Malo

VU.SN

23,984

3,892

Shepherd

VU.SE

3,965

86

Taféa

VU.TF

22,376

1,701

11 councils

 

140,744

11,878
  • Prov: Code for the province formed in 1994
    from this council, keyed to the table above.
  • Population: 1989-05-16 census.
  • Area: You may note that the areas of the
    old provinces don't quite agree with the
    new ones. Sources don't usually explain
    how their areas were measured. One
    source may include inland water, or tiny
    islands neglected by another. The country
    may have recomputed its cadastral records.

1994: Vanuatu reorganized from eleven island councils to six provinces. Each new province was formed by merging one or more island councils. The new province names are acronyms for the former councils that were merged to make them. For example, MALAMPA is the union of MALakula, AMbrym, and PAama.