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.
Copyright © 2014 East View Geospatial, Inc.