View source for Provinces of Vanuatu

{{short description|none}} <!-- "none" is preferred when the title is sufficiently descriptive; see [[WP:SDNONE]] -->
{{Politics of Vanuatu}}
'''[[Vanuatu]]''' has been divided into six [[province]]s since 1994. The names in English of all provinces are derived from the initial letters of their constituent islands:

{| class="wikitable sortable" 
|-
!#
! Province !! [[Capital (political)|Capital]] !! Main islands !! Land Area<br />(km<sup>2</sup>) !! Population<br />[[Census]] 2020 <ref name=VNSO group=Statistics>{{Citation
| publisher = Vanuatu Bureau of Statistics.
| last1 = Hakkert | first1 = Ralph
| last2 = Pontifex | first2 = Scott
| title = Vanuatu 2020 National Population and Housing Census.
| url=https://vbos.gov.vu/sites/default/files/2020_Vanuatu_National_Population_and_Housing_Census_-_Analytical_report_Volume_2.pdf
| access-date = 18 February 2025}}
</ref>

|-
|1
|{{flag|Malampa}}||[[Lakatoro]]||[[Ambrym]], [[Malakula]], [[Paama]]||align="right" |2,779||align="right" |42,499

|-
|2
|{{flag|Penama}}||[[Saratamata]]||[[Pentecost Island]], [[Ambae]], [[Maéwo]]||align="right" |1,198||align="right" |35,607

|-
|3
|{{flag|Sanma}}||[[Luganville]]||[[Espiritu Santo|Santo]], [[Malo Island|Malo]]||align="right" |4,248||align="right" |60,884

|-
|4
|{{flag|Shefa}}||[[Port Vila]]||[[Efate]], [[Shepherd Islands]], [[Epi (island)|Epi]]||align="right" |1,455||align="right" |103,987

|-
|5
|{{flag|Tafea}}||[[Isangel]]||[[Tanna (island)|Tanna]], [[Aniwa Island|Aniwa]], [[Futuna Island, Vanuatu|Futuna]], [[Erromango]], [[Anatom]]||align="right" |1,628||align="right" |45,714

|-
|6
|{{flag|Torba}}||[[Sola, Vanuatu|Sola]]||[[Banks Islands|Banks]] and [[Torres Islands]]||align="right" |882||align="right" |11,330

|-style="background: #DDDDDD;" class="sortbottom"
|
|'''{{flag|Vanuatu}}'''||'''[[Port Vila]]'''||'''&nbsp;'''|| align="right" |'''12,190'''|| align="right" |'''300,019'''

|}

[[Image:Vanuatu Provinces.JPG|thumb|Provinces of Vanuatu]]

== Municipalities ==

The provinces are in turn divided into municipalities <!--(usually consisting of an individual island)not true, nine islands have more than one municipality--> headed by a council and a mayor elected from among the members of the council.

In [[Tafea Province]], for example, are the following municipalities (council areas):<ref>{{Cite web| title=SP Response to Cyclone Pam {{!}} Vanuatu, Tafea Province 02-04-2015 Update | url=https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/SP_ResponseCyclonePamVanuatu.pdf | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160917153153/http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/SP_ResponseCyclonePamVanuatu.pdf | archive-date=2016-09-17}}</ref>
*North Erromango
*South Erromango
*North Tanna
*West Tanna
*Middle Bush Tanna
*Whitesands
*South West Tanna
*South Tanna

The islands of Aniwa, Futuna and Aneityum appear to consist of one municipality each.

== Island regions (historical) ==
From 1985 to 1994 it was divided into eleven island regions:{{Citation needed|date=August 2020}}

{| class="wikitable sortable" 
|- bgcolor="#CCCCCC"
!''Island<br />Region'' ||[[Capital (political)|Capital]]||part of<br />current<br />Province||Land Area<br />(km<sup>2</sup>) || Population<br />[[Census]] 1999<br />or estimate

|-
|[[Ambae|Ambae & ]][[Maéwo]]||[[Longana]]||[[Penama Province|Penama]]||align="right" |708||align="right" |14,646

|-
|[[Ambrym]]||[[Eas, Vanuatu|Eas]]||[[Malampa Province|Malampa]]||align="right" |678||align="right" |7,787

|-
|[[Banks Islands, Vanuatu|Banks &]][[Torres Islands|Torres]]||[[Sola, Vanuatu|Sola]]||[[Torba Province|Torba]]||align="right" |882||align="right" |7,757

|-
|[[Éfaté]]||[[Port Vila]]||[[Shefa Province|Shefa]]||align="right" |915||align="right" |50,000

|-
|[[Epi (island)|Epi]]||[[Ringdove, Epi|Ringdove]]||[[Shefa Province|Shefa]]||align="right" |451||align="right" |3,000

|-
|[[Malakula]]||[[Lakatoro]]||[[Malampa Province|Malampa]]||align="right" |2,043||align="right" |23,361

|-
|[[Paama]]||[[Liro, Vanuatu|Liro]]||[[Malampa Province|Malampa]]||align="right" |58||align="right" |1,557

|-
|[[Pentecost Island|Pentecost]]||[[Loltong]]||[[Penama Province|Penama]]||align="right" |490||align="right" |12,000

|-
|[[Santo, Vanuatu|Santo &]][[Malo Island|Malo]]||[[Luganville]]||[[Sanma Province|Sanma]]||align="right" |4,248||align="right" |36,084

|-
|[[Shepherd Islands]]||[[Morua Shepehrd Islands|Morua]]||[[Shefa Province|Shefa]]||align="right" |89||align="right" |1,439

|-
|[[Taféa]]||[[Isangel]]||[[Tafea Province|Tafea]]||align="right" |1,628||align="right" |29,047

|-style="background: #DDDDDD;" class="sortbottom"
|[[Vanuatu|New Hebrides]]||[[Port Vila]]||&nbsp;||align="right" |12,189||align="right" |186,678

|}

== Districts (historical) ==
During the Condominium era, specifically from 1968 to 1984 the group was divided into four administrative districts:{{Citation needed|date=August 2020}}

{| class="wikitable sortable" 
|- bgcolor="#CCCCCC"
!''District'' ||[[Capital (political)|Capital]]||Main Islands||Current<br />Provinces||Land Area<br />(km<sup>2</sup>) || Population<br />[[Census]] 1999

|-
|[[Southern District (New Hebrides)|Southern&nbsp;District]]<br />(Tanna)||[[Lénakel]]||[[Tanna (island)|Tanna]], [[Aniwa Island|Aniwa]], [[Futuna Island, Vanuatu|Futuna]], [[Erromango]], [[Anatom]]||[[Tafea Province|Tafea]]||align="right" |1,628||align="right" |29,047

|-
|[[Central District 1 (New Hebrides)|Central&nbsp;District&nbsp;1]]<br />(Efaté)||[[Port Vila]]||[[Efate]], [[Epi (island)|Epi]], [[Shepherd Islands]]||[[Shefa Province|Shefa]]||align="right" |1,455||align="right" |54,439

|-
|[[Central District 2 (New Hebrides)|Central&nbsp;District&nbsp;2]]<br />(Malékoula)||[[Lamap]]||[[Ambrym]], [[Malakula]], [[Paama]], [[Pentecost Island|Pentecôte]]||[[Malampa Province|Malampa]], [[Penama Province|Penama]]&nbsp;(part)||align="right" |3,269||align="right" |44,705

|-
|[[Northern District (New Hebrides)|Northern&nbsp;District]]<br />(Santo)||[[Luganville]]||[[Espiritu Santo|Santo]], [[Malo Island|Malo]], [[Banks Islands|Banks]] and [[Torres Islands]], [[Aoba Island|Aoba]], [[Maewo]]||[[Sanma Province|Sanma]], [[Torba Province|Torba]], [[Penama Province|Penama]]&nbsp;(part)||align="right" |5,838||align="right" |58,487

|-style="background: #DDDDDD;" class="sortbottom"
|[[Vanuatu]]||[[Port Vila]]||&nbsp;||&nbsp;||align="right" |12,189||align="right" |186,678

|}

== Districts (1950) ==
In the 1950s, districts appeared to denote the finest administrative level, finer than the current municipalities or council areas, but above the village level. The island of Tanna was subdivided into 12 such districts, in 1952:<ref>[https://horizon.documentation.ird.fr/exl-doc/pleins_textes/divers15-08/13114.pdf Jean Guiart: Un siècle et demi de contacts culturels à Tanna Nouvelles-Hebrides, Paris 1956, 460 pages]</ref>
*District Sud (ou de Kwamera)
*District de Green PointDistrict Sud-Ouest
*District de Lenakel
*District Nord-Ouest
*District de Green Hill et de Launalang
*District du Centre Nord
*District du Centre Brousse
*District de Loanvialu
*District de Waesisi
*District de White Sands

==See also==
*[[ISO 3166-2:VU]]

==References==
<references group="Statistics"/>
<References/>

==External links==
* {{statoids|id=uvu|title=Provinces of Vanuatu}}

{{Vanuatu topics}}
{{Provinces and islands of Vanuatu}}
{{Articles on first-level administrative divisions of Oceanian countries}}

[[Category:Provinces of Vanuatu| ]]
[[Category:Subdivisions of Vanuatu]]
[[Category:Lists of administrative divisions|Vanuatu, Provinces]]
[[Category:Administrative divisions in Oceania|Vanuatu 1]]
[[Category:First-level administrative divisions by country|Provinces, Vanuatu]]
[[Category:Vanuatu geography-related lists]]