"We Stand With God" in Vanuatu Quiz

Answer: Pacific

The Australasian ecozone includes Australia, New Zealand, New Guinea, Vanuatu, New Caledonia and the Solomon Islands. An ecozone is an area of the Earth's surface where plants and animals developed in relative isolation over long periods of time, leading to species clustering. Ecozones are usually separated by features such as oceans, mountains or deserts that prevent migration of animals and plants from one area to another.

Answer: English, French and Bislama

From the early 19th century British and French interests in the islands were intermingled. In 1906 they agreed to administer the islands jointly, and did so until independence in 1980. Bislama is a pidgin language which combines a Melanesian grammar with a predominantly English vocabulary.

While English and French are the main languages of education and government, Bislama is the language of everyday use, as it is the only language that can be spoken and understood by the majority of the Ni-Vanuatu people. Vanuatu has one of the world's most varied language structures: there are currently 113 indigenous languages spoken, with an average of 2,000 speakers per language.

Answer: Australia and Pacific

Being near the boundary of the Australia and Pacific plates, Vanuatu is part of the "Ring of Fire", the zone around the rim of the Pacific Ocean which includes most of the world's active volcanoes, and which experiences many earthquakes. The islands of Vanuatu are volcanic in origin, as might be expected from their location, with surrounding coral reefs. Seismic activity periodically causes minor earthquakes on a number of the islands. Vanuatu has 11 volcanoes which have erupted during the 20th and early 21st centuries.

Severe earthquakes are a relatively frequent event, and have serious economic consequences for the country. An earthquake in 1999, and a subsequent tsunami, caused major damage to the island of Pentecoste, and left several thousand people homeless. Another earthquake in 2002, also followed by a tsunami, destroyed large portions of Port Vila, the nation's capital. A magnitude 7.6 shock that hit on 7 October 2009 was reclassified as a foreshock when it was followed by one of magnitude 7.8 15 minutes later; a further 5 shocks over 6.0 and 12 shocks over 5.0 occurred during the next 12 hours.

Answer: December through April

The dry season runs roughly from May through October, and the rainy season from November through April. Rainfall averages about 236 cm (93 in) per year, but is higher in places, up to 400cm (160 in) for some northern islands. Cyclones occur most frequently between December and April.

The cooler months are April through September. Maximum daily temperatures average 20 Celsius (68 Fahrenheit) in winter and 32 Celsius (90 Fahrenheit) in summer.

Answer: Pigs are a traditional symbol of wealth and status in Vanuatu.

Pigs arrived in the islands with the first Melanesian settlers, and are the only mammal to populate the island simultaneously with humans. There are no indigenous large mammals. Pig ownership came to be a sign of status, wealth and power. Pig killing became an important ritual, a way of showing social standing and proclaiming political power. Elaborate boar-raising strategies were developed in order to produce the highly-prized circular tusks as shown on the flag.

Vanuatu's flag has two horizontal bands (red on top, green on the bottom) and a black triangle on the edge by which it is hoisted, with the regions separated by yellow stripes. The boar's tusk and namele fern are in the black triangle. The red represents the blood of boars and men, the green the richness of the islands, the black the Ni-Vanuatu people, and the yellow the light of the Gospel (Vanuatu is about 90% Christian).

The coat of arms of Vanuatu also features a boar's tusk and two ferns, in front of which a Melanesian warrior stands, holding a spear, on top of a scroll that reads "Long God yumi stanap". This national motto translates into English as "In God we stand".

Answer: Giant East African land snail

The giant East African land snail is a large, air-breathing land snail which is considered one of the worst invasive species in the world. Native to Kenya and Tanzania, they thrive in warm, humid climates, and eat a wide range of plant material, including fruit and vegetables. Being simultaneous hermaphrodites (each snail possesses both male and female sexual organs), they can breed rapidly; each snail may lay 5-6 batches of around 200 eggs a year. Maturity is reached after about six months, and average life expectancy is around 10 years.

The brown tree snake is an introduced pest in Guam, and the cane toad and carp are Australian ecological issues.

Answer: H1N1 virus

Despite being legally protected in many countries, dugongs continue to be hunted for meat and oil (and, in some areas, for traditional cultural reasons). Motorised fishing vessels easily injure or kill dugongs in collision, and runoff from farms and industry can destroy their feeding beds. Because they have a long life span and a slow reproduction rate, dugongs are sensitive to these environmental pressures.

Other threats include storms, parasites, and their natural predators- sharks, killer whales and saltwater crocodiles.

Answer: Fishing

With population increase, the common practice of fishing for one's dinner has created intense pressure on the more popular species, and has led to serious depletion of near-shore fish, especially near coastal villages. Tourists only add to the pressure.

Answer: Logging to produce Christmas trees for export

Vanuatu's major exports include copra, kava, beef, cocoa, and timber; increased production of these has involved a number of practices which have had a severe negative impact on the environment. Vanuatu's islands were originally well vegetated, but human activity has led to increasingly widespread deforestation.

This, in turn, has led to increased soil erosion, and the danger of landslides.

Answer: Low rainfall means there is a constant state of drought.

Fresh water is a problematic resource for many Western Pacific countries, often made more scarce by one or more of: warfare, logging, mining, tourism, erosion and sedimentation. In the case of Vanuatu, the problem is exacerbated by the fact that the islands are small and volcanic. Small surface area means lowered capacity to collect rainwater into lakes and rivers. Porous volcanic soil also tends to absorb a large amount of the rain that falls on it, reducing the amount of surface runoff.