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Vanuatu, in the dark

26 things are true about Vanuatu that most people who live there could not tell you. Here they are, with the year each was measured and who measured it. Some of them will not be what you expected.

What is measured here

Electricity access — 65.5%

Share of people with access to electricity at home. Lower than 82% of countries. Measured 2024.

Internet use — 22.4%

Share of people who have used the internet in the last three months. Lower than 91% of countries. Measured 2015.

Urban population — 22.3%

Share of people living in areas classed as urban. Lower than 96% of countries. Measured 2025.

Children per woman — 3.57

Births per woman over a lifetime, at current rates. Higher than 78% of countries. Measured 2024.

Life expectancy — 71.7 yrs

How long a person born now would live at current mortality rates. Lower than 62% of countries. Measured 2024.

Forest cover — 36.3%

Land under trees taller than five metres, as a share of all land area. Higher than 61% of countries. Measured 2023.

CO₂ per person — 0.9 t

Carbon dioxide from fuel and industry, divided by population. Land use and forests are not counted. Lower than 72% of countries. Measured 2024.

Aged 65 and over — 4.4%

Share of the whole population aged 65 and above. Lower than 71% of countries. Measured 2025.

Aged under 15 — 38%

Share of the whole population aged 0 to 14. Higher than 82% of countries. Measured 2025.

Women in parliament — 1.9%

Seats held by women in the lower or single chamber of the national parliament. Lower than 98% of countries. Measured 2025.

Mobile subscriptions — 89 per 100

Active mobile phone subscriptions per 100 people. Over 100 means more lines than people. Lower than 75% of countries. Measured 2023.

Renewable energy — 25%

Renewable sources as a share of all final energy used, including heating and transport, not just electricity. Higher than 51% of countries. Measured 2022.

People per km² — 26

Population divided by land area. A square kilometre is about 140 football pitches. Lower than 82% of countries. Measured 2023.

Income per person — 4525 int. $

GDP per person in international dollars, which buy the same basket of goods in every country. Lower than 84% of countries. Measured 2025.

Health spending per person — 143 US$

All health spending, public and private, divided by population, in US dollars. Lower than 70% of countries. Measured 2023.

Born abroad — 1%

People born in another country, as a share of everyone living here. Lower than 80% of countries. Measured 2024.

Infant mortality — 14.4 per 1,000

Deaths before age one per 1,000 live births. Higher than 54% of countries. Measured 2024.

Protected land and sea — 0.1%

Nationally designated protected areas, land and sea together, as a share of total territory. Lower than 97% of countries. Measured 2025.

Air pollution (PM2.5) — 7 µg/m³

Average yearly exposure to PM2.5, particles small enough to reach the lungs. The WHO guideline is 5. Lower than 91% of countries. Measured 2023.

Doctors per 1,000 — 0.16

Medical doctors, general and specialist, per 1,000 people. Lower than 89% of countries. Measured 2019.

Home broadband — 1.2 per 100

Fixed broadband subscriptions per 100 people. One line usually serves a whole household. Lower than 79% of countries. Measured 2024.

Women in work — 53.3%

Women aged 15 and over in the labour force, as a share of all women that age. Lower than 51% of countries. Measured 2025.

Money sent home — 17.2% of GDP

Personal transfers received from people living and working abroad, as a share of GDP. Higher than 91% of countries. Measured 2022.

Tourist arrivals — 82,400

Overnight visitors arriving from abroad in one year. One person visiting twice counts twice. Lower than 89% of countries. Measured 2020.

Population growth — 2.23% a year

Yearly change in population, from births, deaths and migration together. Higher than 81% of countries. Measured 2025.

Adults who smoke — 24.9%

Adults aged 15 and over who currently use any tobacco product. Higher than 71% of countries. Measured 2024.

safe sanitation, university enrolment, spent on research have never been measured here. Not zero — unmeasured, which is its own kind of dark.

The world's attention, 2026-09-24

The world wrote about Vanuatu less than 90% of countries in the last day, and what it wrote was warmer than average (tone 1.69). Aggregate counts only — no headlines, no links, no text from the feed.

Where the dark hides things

The game scatters its findings across real towns. In Vanuatu those are Luganville.

Walk it

Uncertainity is a short, experimental browser game — free, no sign-up, a few minutes. It gives you the country you are actually in, as a dark map of its real coastline, and nothing exists until you have been near it. Each day six of the numbers above are hidden in its towns — a different six tomorrow — and a seventh comes from how the world's attention fell on the place today.

New episodes arrive from time to time rather than on a schedule: geography, current affairs, whatever turns out to be worth walking through. Subscribe and you get one email when one lands, and nothing else.

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