Vanuatu Populated Places: Multilingual OSM Settlement Data

This geospatial dataset provides locations and attributes for populated places and residential zones across Vanuatu, exported from OpenStreetMap by the Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team (HOT) in March 2026. It categorizes settlements into five distinct types ranging from isolated dwellings to cities, including residential land use polygons. The data is available in four GIS-ready formats: SHP, GeoJSON, GeoPackage, and KML.

Use Cases

• Spatial distribution analysis of settlements using the 'place' classification column
• Linguistic mapping of Vanuatu toponyms using 'name:en', 'name:fr', and 'name:bis' fields
• Disaster response planning by identifying residential zones via the 'landuse' attribute

Strengths

• Includes native Bislama toponyms in the 'name:bis' field
• Available in four standard GIS formats including GeoPackage and KML
• Features specific settlement tags including 'isolated_dwelling' and 'hamlet'

Limitations

• Crowdsourced nature may result in inconsistent mapping of residential boundaries
• Population figures are often missing or outdated compared to official census data
• Geographic coverage is dependent on OpenStreetMap contributor activity

Provenance

Source

OpenStreetMap contributors via Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team (HOT)

Collection Method

Crowdsourced geospatial data collection and community mapping

Time Range

Up to March 2026

Freshness

Updated as of March 3, 2026.

Geography

Vanuatu