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Community Lifelines Programme - Water and Sanitation |
Member Country Briefing Papers Prepared for 3WWF Consultation
| The Fiji Islands comprise of over 300 islands, 109 of which are permanently inhabited.The majority of these islands lie between longitudes 176o 50’E and 178o W and latitudes 160 S and 200 S. The two main islands, Viti Levu and Vanua Levu support the majority of the total population of 775,0771 with a sizeable percentage being in the urban centers of Suva (167, 975), Lautoka (43,274), Labasa (24,095) and Nadi (30,884). |
| The Independent State of Samoa with its capital lies in the Central South Pacific Ocean. The Island state has got two main islands, Savaii and Upolu, in addition to a number of very small ones. Apia, the capital of Samoa and centre of government and commerce, as well as the international airport are located on the island of Upolu. The population figure for Samoa is currently approximated at 175,000 according to the latest census report. |
| The Cook Islands comprises 15 islands of which 12 are inhabited. The total land area is 240 square kilometers dispersed over an exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of 1.8 million square kilometers in the Southern Pacific Ocean. The Cook Islands may be divided into two main geographical regions: Southern Group islands and Northern Group islands. All islands outside Rarotonga (capital of the Cook Islands) are referred to as the Outer Islands. Rarotonga and the Southern Group islands are generally younger volcanic islands, while the Northern Group is low lying coral atolls. |
| The Kingdom of Tonga is a Polynesian country, which is located in the South West Pacific between Fiji, Samoa, Niue and New Zealand. The Kingdom comprises some 176 islands of which 35 are inhabited. The islands are recognized as either volcanic or uplifted limestone on thick sediments of volcanic origin. The Tonga islands are geographically arranged into four main island groups: namely, Tongatapu, Ha’apai, Vava’u and the Niuas (Figure 1). |
| Tuvalu has a total land area of approximately 26 square kilometers and made up of nine coral atolls, located in the South West Pacific; west of the dateline and to the south of the equator. The islands are scattered of 1.3 million square kilometres of the Pacific Ocean.The climate is pleasantly tropical, if monotonous, they’re being no marked wet or dry or hot and cold seasons could experience strong westerly winds during the period from October to March. The temperature is consistently uniform, high humidity and high rainfall. |
| Niue is located in the South West Pacific ocean at the approxima tely co-ordination of 19 deg south and 170 deg west. The Island is an elevated coral outcrop with a coral reef fringing precipitous and broken coastline. In general, information it takes the shape of two terraces, the lower coastal being about 28 metres above sea level. The upper terrace, which forms the bulk of the Island, is about 69 meters above sea level. It is also believed to be the largest coral atoll in the world with a land area of about 259sq. km and 13 villages spread around the coast. |
| The Water resources in the Solomon Islands is controlled by government but owned by the Landowners. In its attempt to protect and manage this important resource, the government is trying to come up with legislation to make this resource a state matter. But due to the complexity of the issue, the government is yet to come up with that legislation. Currently, there is limited water legislation's to effectively protect and manage this resource in the country. These few legislations cover only areas between the urban centers. |
| In general, water is abundant in Papua New Guinea. The high average rainfall ranging from 2000mm to 6000mm ranked PNG to be one of the wettest nations in the world. A few lowland areas are drier with annual rainfall of less than 1000mm. In contrast large areas of upland regions have average annual rainfall in excess of 4000mm and in some locations can rise to 10,000mm per year. Some islands in the New Guinea Islands Region, the Papuan islands in the Milne Bay Province and the Papuan Coast, however experienced water shortage problems during the prolonged dry periods but more pronounced during El Nino induced dry spells. |
| The Republic of Nauru is an isolated, uplifted limestone island located 41 km south of the equator at 0o 32' S. latitude and 166o 56' E. longitude. The total land area of Nauru is only 22 km2 (2,200 ha). The island is surrounded by a fringing coral reef between 120 and 300 metres wide. The reef drops away sharply on the seaward edge, at an angle of about 40o, to a depth of about 4000 metres. The land area consists of a narrow coastal plain or "Bottomside", ranging from 100 to 300m wide, which encircles a limestone escarpment rising some 30 m to a central plateau, known locally as "Topside". |
| New-Caledonia is a french territory of South Pacific. It is made up of the main land, "the Great Land" which is 400 km long and 50 km wide. East of the Great Land, there is the Loyalty archipelago, made up of raised limestone islands: Maré, Lifou, Ouvea and Tiga. South of the Great Land, there is the Pines Island and north, the Belep Islands. Nouméa, situated in the south of the Great Land, is the administrative, political and economical city of the country. |
| The Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) consists of about 607 islands dispersed over a million square miles in the Western Pacific Ocean. The FSM spans approximately 2,000 miles from east to west and 900 miles from north to south and two time zones. A location map is shown at the beginning. The FSM comprises a total land of 270.5 square miles and as well as a lagoon area of 2777 square miles within an east-west chain of islands known as the Carolinian archipelago. |
| The archipelago of Vanuatu has about 74 populated islands with a total land area of 12,270 km2, 81% of the 187,000 population (1999est) live in the rural areas, mainly in subsistence and small holder farming with the remaining 19% of the population living in the two main urban areas of Port Vila on Efate and Luganville on Santo. The average population growth rate is 2.6% per annum whilst the urban growth rate is estimated to be 4.2% per annum. The high urban growth is resulting in the rapid development of fringing settlements not serviced by proper roads, electricity, water and sanitation. |
| Kiribati has been independent since the year 1979. The majority of the population on the outer islands live in subsistence based economy. Development activities in the past have concentrated in urban centres, especially in South Tarawa, with the consequence of a steady drift of people from the outer islands to urban centres. The 2000 Census indicated a national population of 84,460, more than 92% of which live in the Gilbert Group. Total population growth rate has been 2.1% between 1978 and 1985, 2.24% between 1985 and 1990 and 1.4 % between 1990 and 1995 and 1.7 % between 1995 and 2000. The most disturbing factor is the annual growth rate on South Tarawa which is 5 % based on the 2000 census result. |
| The U.S. Territory of American Samoa has a total land area of 77 square miles and is comprised of seven islands, namely Tutuila, Aunuu, the Manua Group of Islands (Tau, Ofu and Olosega), and the coral atolls of Swains and Rose Islands. The islands are located in the South Pacific Ocean at approximately 14 degrees South latitude and 170 degrees West longitude. These islands are about 2,300 nautical miles southwest of Hawaii, 1,200 miles northwest of Tahiti, 1,600 miles northeast of New Zealand, and about 80 miles east of Western Samoa. |
| In September 1999, East Timor experienced an outbreak of violence following the popular vote for independence. During this time, three quarters of the population fled their homes and most of the country’s public buildings and infrastructure, thousands of private homes and businesses were damaged or destroyed. The widespread destruction included looting, burning and damage to town and village water supply and sanitation facilities throughout the country. |
Note: East Timor is NOT a member but participated in the 3WWF
| The Maldives archipelago that lies in the Indian Ocean is approximately 600 kilometres Southwest of Sri Lanka. The 1190 islands occupy a geographical area of some 90,000 square kilometres and a total land of some 300 square kilometres. The islands are flat, low-lying and very small. Of the 1190 islands, only 202 islands are permanentlyinhabited. |
Note: Maldives is NOT a member but participated in the 3WWF
| The Marshall Islands population is 60,000 plus. 30,000 plus on Majuro Atoll, 20,000 plus on Ebeye Kwajalcin Atoll and 10,000 on Outer Islands. Water Resources include rain, groundwater, desalination and R.Os. Major water utility available on Majuro Atoll - NWSC and on Ebeye Kwajalcin Atoll - KAJUR |
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Page last modified on Thursday 06 of October, 2005 [20:35:14 UTC] by sanjeshni .
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