Country Profiles » Vanuatu

Country Profile: Vanuatu

Country Resources

Topographic
SeriesPublisherScaleYearsSheets
Vanuatu 1:50,000 Scale Topographic Maps (VMS71)Government of the Republic of Vanuatu1:50,0001994 – 199513
Vanuatu 1:50,000 Scale Topographic Maps (X721)Government of the Republic of Vanuatu1:50,0002003 – 200362
Vanuatu 1:100,000 Scale Topographic MapsService Topographique / Survey Department1:100,0001979 – 19792

Thematic
SeriesPublisherScaleYearsSheets
The World 1:30,000,000 Scale Topographic Map Series 1145 (NGA)DMA1:30,000,0002

Global Census Archive: GIS Census Data

East View Geospatial has an ongoing effort to add GIS census data to our Global Census Archive program. Please contact us for the status and availability of New Caledonia census resources.


Global Resources

Topographic
SeriesPublisherScaleYearsSheets
Soviet Military City PlansVoenno-topograficheskoe upravlenie General’nogo shtaba (Soviet Union)Varies1944 – 20033017
Soviet Military 1:100,000 Scale Topographic MapsVoenno-topograficheskoe upravlenie General’nogo shtaba (Soviet Union)1:100,0001947 – 199924897
Soviet Military 1:200,000 Scale Topographic MapsVoenno-topograficheskoe upravlenie General’nogo shtaba (Soviet Union)1:200,0001949 – 200917799
Soviet Military 1:500,000 Scale Topographic MapsVoenno-topograficheskoe upravlenie General’nogo shtaba (Soviet Union)1:500,0001953 – 19983093

Nautical
SeriesPublisherScaleYearsSheets
NGA Nautical Charts POD Certified (All Scales)National Geospatial-Intelligence AgencyVaries1943 – 20134517

Aeronautical
SeriesPublisherScaleYearsSheets
Joint Operations Graphic (JOG) 1:250,000 – AeronauticalDefence Mapping Agency1:250,0001958 – 20074204
Tactical Pilotage Chart (TPC) 1:500,000 Scale – AeronauticalDefence Mapping Agency1:500,0001967 – 2006598
Operational Navigation Chart (ONC) 1:1,000,000 Scale – AeronauticalDefence Mapping Agency1:1,000,0001969 – 2001243
Jet Navigation Chart (JNC) 1:2,000,000 Scale – AeronauticalDefence Mapping Agency1:2,000,0001971 – 1999117
Global Navigation and Planning Chart (GNC) 1:5,000,000 Scale – AeronauticalDefence Mapping Agency1:5,000,0001981 – 199927

Geoscientific
SeriesPublisherScaleYearsSheets
Soviet Military 1:1,000,000 Scale Topographic MapsVoenno-topograficheskoe upravlenie General’nogo shtaba (Soviet Union)1:1,000,0001948 – 19941089

Note: East View Geospatial is continuously sourcing new resources that may not yet be listed in Global Explorer. Please contact us if you have geodata needs beyond what is listed above and we will be happy to discuss available off-the-shelf and custom solutions.


Historical Country Mapping Information

Jump to: Topographic | Nautical | Geological/Scientific | Imagery | Vegetation/Forestry | Atlas | Tourist/Reference

Topographic

The former French and British condominium of New Hebrides became the independent state Vanuatu in 1980. Modern topographic mapping of the group was first carried out by the French Institut Géographique National (IGN) who established two series in the 1960s and 1970s. A 29-sheet 1:50,000 scale map with 20 m contours and 15-sheet 1:100,000 scale series with 40 m contours were published, but both series were not revised after independence. The British Directorate of Overseas Surveys (DOS) compiled 1:2,500 scale urban mapping of Port Vila and Luganville in the mid-1970s.

After 1980 the Vanuatu Department of Lands and Surveys (VDLS) took over responsibility for the mapping of Vanuatu. They revised the single-sheet 1:1,000,000 scale map of the islands and used overseas aid programs to establish a cadastral mapping capability in Port Vila. This program included urban mapping at 1:2,500, 1:5,000 and 1:10,000 scales for land registration. In the late 1980s new aerial coverage was flown, and Australian aid programs assisted topographic mapping. A new 1:50,000 scale map was started from 1993 using the Vanuatu Map Grid on the UTM projection, WGS 84. This map has different sheet lines from the earlier French 1:50,000 scale mapping.

Soviet military topographic mapping of Vanuatu exists at the following scale: 1:1,000,000 (5 sheets, complete coverage, published in 1973). This product is available in print, digital raster and digital vector GIS formats from East View Geospatial.

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Nautical

A two-sheet bathymetric map of the area was compiled by ORSTOM. The South Pacific Applied Geoscience Commission (SOPAC) has also compiled bathymetric charting of the seas around Vanuatu, while the British Hydrographic Office (HO) publishes nautical charting of the seas around the islands.

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Geological/Scientific

Geological mapping of the islands was undertaken by the British Directorate of Overseas Surveys (DOS) (now Ordnance Survey International (OSI)) in the 1970s, in conjunction with the British Geological Survey (BGS), resulting in a full-color 11-sheet 1:100,000 scale geological map. Some limited revision has taken place, including new mapping of the island of Efate and a single-sheet 1:1,000,000 scale map of Vanuatu.

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Imagery

In 1992 two uncontrolled color photomaps were published for Port Vila and Luganville, updating French urban mapping published a decade earlier.

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Vegetation/Forestry

Recent environmental inventorying of Vanuatu has been funded through Australian aid projects and has led to the establishment of a natural resources GIS based in the Vanuatu Forestry Unit.

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Atlas

The Institut Français de Recherche Scientifique pour le Développement en Coopération (ORSTOM) compiled an important thematic atlas of the islands in the 1970s which remains the most useful resource mapping of Vanuatu. This seven-volume work maps soil, relief, geology and vegetation for all major islands at 1:100,000 and 1:250,000 scales, with a separate French and English accompanying text.

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Tourist/Reference

Australian publishers Hema issues a general tourist map of the islands.

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Content copyright © 2014 De Gruyter for e-version of World Mapping Today, 2nd Edition