Identification. "Ngunese" is the name for the inhabitants of the island of Nguna, Vanuatu (formerly the New Hebrides).
Location. Nguna is in the central region of Vanuatu, lying approximately 7 kilometers off the north coast of the major island of Efate, where the country's national capital, Port Vila (Vila), is located, at about 17°30′ S, 168° E. Nguna is a volcanic island with several prominent cones, although they are all inactive and grass-covered. The central part of the island is hilly, with a narrow fringe of coastal plain on the south shore and a smaller one on the north end. The climate is tropical, with distinct dry and hot (September-April) and rainy and cool (May-August) seasons. Neither electricity nor running water is available on the island, the latter representing a Serious problem in times of drought, there being but one or two fresh springs to supply drinking water.
Demography. With measurements of approximately 5 by 10 kilometers, Nguna supports an ethnically homogeneous Melanesian population of close to 2,000 people, a figure which has almost doubled over the last decade.
Linguistic Affiliation. Most Ngunese are trilingual. They learn either English or French at school and acquire the nation's lingua franca, Bislama, through traveling to or working in other parts of the country or through listening to the national radio station and visitors from other islands. Their first language, however, is Ngunese, which is actually one of Several dialects spoken in central Vanuatu and collectively referred to as "the Efate dialects." The language itself has not as yet been unambiguously named, being variously known as Nguna, Efate, North Efate, or Sesake, and classified in the Central Vanuatu Subgroup of Austronesian languages.