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<\/a>New Caledonia has a land area of 18,576 km2 (7,172 sq mi) divided into three provinces. The North<\/a> and South Provinces<\/a> are located on the New Caledonian mainland, while the Loyalty Islands Province is a series of islands off the mainland. Its population of 271,407 (October 2019 census) consists of a mix of the original inhabitants, Kanak people, who are the majority in the North Province and the Loyalty Islands Province and people of European descent (Caldoches<\/a> and Metropolitan French), Polynesian people (mostly Wallisians<\/a>), and Southeast Asian<\/a> people, as well as a few people of Pied-Noir<\/a> and North African<\/a> descent who are the majority in the South Province. The capital of the territory is Noum\u00e9a.<\/p>\n The earliest traces of human presence in New Caledonia date back to the Lapita<\/a> period c. 1600 BC to c. 500 AD. The Lapita were highly skilled navigators and agriculturists with influence over a large area of the Pacific.<\/p>\n British explorer Captain James Cook<\/a> was the first European to sight New Caledonia, on 4 September 1774, during his second voyage. He named it “New Caledonia”, as the northeast of the island reminded him of Scotland<\/a>. The west coast of Grande Terre was approached by the Comte de Lap\u00e9rouse<\/a> in 1788, shortly before his disappearance, and the Loyalty Islands were first visited between 1793 and 1796 when Mare, Lifou, Tiga, and Ouvea were mapped by William Raven<\/a>. The English whaler encountered the island named then Britania, and today known as Mar\u00e9 (Loyalty Is.), in November 1793. From 1796 until 1840, only a few sporadic contacts with the archipelago were recorded. About fifty American whalers (identified by Robert Langdon from their log books) have been recorded in the region (Grande Terre, Loyalty Is., Walpole and Hunter) between 1793 and 1887. Contacts with visiting ships became more frequent after 1840, because of their interest in sandalwood<\/a>.<\/p>\n As trade in sandalwood declined, it was replaced by a new business enterprise, “blackbirding<\/a>“, a euphemism for taking Melanesian or Western Pacific Islanders from New Caledonia, the Loyalty Islands, New Hebrides<\/a>, New Guinea, and the Solomon Islands into indentured or forced labor in the sugar cane plantations in Fiji<\/a> and Queensland<\/a> by various methods of trickery and deception. Blackbirding was practiced by both French and British-Australian traders, but in New Caledonia’s case, the trade in the early decades of the twentieth century involved relocating children from the Loyalty Islands to the Grand Terre for labour in plantation agriculture. New Caledonia’s primary experience with blackbirding revolved around a trade from the New Hebrides (now Vanuatu) to the Grand Terre for labour in plantation agriculture, mines, as well as guards over convicts and in some public works. The historian Dorothy Shineberg’s milestone study, The People Trade, discusses this ‘migration’. In the early years of the trade, coercion was used to lure Melanesian islanders onto ships. In later years indenture systems were developed; however, when it came to the French slave trade, which took place between its Melanesian colonies of the New Hebrides and New Caledonia, very few regulations were implemented. This represented a departure from the British experience, since increased regulations were developed to mitigate the abuses of blackbirding and ‘recruitment’ strategies on the coastlines.<\/p>\n The first missionaries from the London Missionary Society<\/a> and the Marist Brothers<\/a> arrived in the 1840s. In 1849, the crew of the American ship Cutter was killed and eaten by the Pouma clan. Cannibalism was widespread throughout New Caledonia.<\/p>\n On 24 September 1853, under orders from Emperor Napoleon III<\/a>, Admiral Febvrier Despointes took formal possession of New Caledonia.<\/p>\n Captain Louis-Marie-Fran\u00e7ois Tardy de Montravel<\/a> founded Port-de-France (Noum\u00e9a) on 25 June 1854. A few dozen free settlers settled on the west coast in the following years. New Caledonia became a penal colony in 1864, and from the 1860s until the end of the transportations in 1897, France sent about 22,000 criminals and political prisoners to New Caledonia. The Bulletin de la Soci\u00e9t\u00e9 g\u00e9n\u00e9rale des prisons for 1888 indicates that 10,428 convicts, including 2,329 freed ones, were on the island as of 1 May 1888, by far the largest number of convicts detained in French overseas penitentiaries. The convicts included many Communards<\/a>, arrested after the failed Paris Commune of 1871<\/a>, including Henri de Rochefort<\/a> and Louise Michel<\/a>.<\/p>\n Between 1873 and 1876, 4,200 political prisoners were “relegated” to New Caledonia. Only 40 of them settled in the colony; the rest returned to France after being granted amnesty in 1879 and 1880.<\/p>\n In 1864, nickel was discovered on the banks of the Diahot River<\/a>; with the establishment of the Soci\u00e9t\u00e9 Le Nickel<\/a> in 1876, mining began in earnest. To work the mines the French imported laborers from neighboring islands and from the New Hebrides, and later from Japan<\/a>, the Dutch East Indies<\/a>, and French Indochina<\/a>. The French government also attempted to encourage European immigration, without much success.<\/p>\n The indigenous population or Kanak people were excluded from the French economy and from mining work, and ultimately confined to reservations. This sparked a violent reaction in 1878, when High Chief Atal of La Foa<\/a> managed to unite many of the central tribes and launched a guerrilla war that killed 200 Frenchmen and 1,000 Kanaks. A second guerrilla war took place in 1917, with Catholic missionaries like Maurice Leenhardt<\/a> functioning as witnesses to the events of this war. Leenhardt would pen a number of ethnographic works on the Kanak of New Caledonia. No\u00ebl of Tiamou led the 1917 rebellion, which resulted in a number of orphaned children, one of whom was taken into the care of Protestant missionary Alphonse Rouel. This child, Wenceslas Thi, would become the father of Jean-Marie Tjibaou (1936\u20131989)<\/a>.<\/p>\n Europeans brought new diseases such as smallpox<\/a> and measles<\/a>, which caused the deaths of many natives. The Kanak population declined from around 60,000 in 1878 to 27,100 in 1921, and their numbers did not increase again until the 1930s.<\/p>\n In June 1940, after the fall of France<\/a>, the Conseil General of New Caledonia voted unanimously to support the Free French government<\/a>, and in September the pro-Vichy governor was forced to leave for Indochina. In March 1942, with the assistance of Australia, the territory became an important Allied base, and the main South Pacific Fleet base of the United States Navy<\/a> in the South Pacific moved to Noum\u00e9a in 1942\u20131943. The fleet that turned back the Japanese navy<\/a> in the Battle of the Coral Sea<\/a> in May 1942 was based at Noum\u00e9a. American troops stationed on New Caledonia numbered as many as 50,000, the equivalent of the contemporary population.<\/a><\/p>\n In 1946, New Caledonia became an overseas territory. By 1953, French citizenship had been granted to all New Caledonians, regardless of ethnicity.<\/p>\n The European and Polynesian populations gradually increased in the years leading to the nickel boom of 1969\u20131972, and the indigenous Kanak Melanesians became a minority, though they were still the largest ethnic group.<\/p>\n Between 1976 and 1988, conflicts between French government actions and the Kanak independence movement saw periods of serious violence and disorder. In 1983, a statute of “enlarged autonomy” for the territory proposed a five-year transition period and a referendum in 1989. In March 1984, the Kanak resistance, Front Ind\u00e9pendantiste, seized farms and the Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front (FLNKS)<\/a> formed a provisional government. In January 1985, the French Socialist government offered sovereignty to the Kanaks and legal protection for European settlers. The plan faltered as violence escalated. The government declared a state of emergency; however, regional elections went ahead, and the FLNKS won control of three out of four provinces. The centre-right government elected in France in March 1986 began eroding the arrangements established under the Socialists, redistributing lands mostly without consideration of native land claims, resulting in over two-thirds going to Europeans and less than a third to the Kanaks. By the end of 1987, roadblocks, gun battles and the destruction of property culminated in the Ouv\u00e9a cave hostage taking<\/a>, a dramatic hostage crisis on the eve of the presidential elections in France. Pro-independence militants on Ouv\u00e9a<\/a> killed four gendarmes and took 27 hostage. The military response resulted in nineteen Kanak deaths and another three deaths in custody.<\/p>\n The Matignon Agreements<\/a>, signed on 26 June 1988, ensured a decade of stability. The Noum\u00e9a Accord signed 5 May 1998, set the groundwork for a 20-year transition that gradually transfers competences to the local government.<\/p>\n Following the timeline set by the Noum\u00e9a Accord that stated a vote must take place by the end of 2018, the groundwork was laid for a referendum on full independence from France<\/a> at a meeting chaired by the French Prime Minister \u00c9douard Philippe<\/a> on 2 November 2017, to be held by November 2018. Voter list eligibility had been a subject of a long dispute, but the details have since been resolved. On 20 March 2018, the government announced a referendum that was held on 4 November 2018, with independence being rejected.<\/p>\n New Caledonia is part of Zealandia<\/a>, a fragment of the ancient Gondwana<\/a> super-continent. It is speculated that New Caledonia separated from Australia roughly 66 million years ago, subsequently drifting in a north-easterly direction, reaching its present position about 50 million years ago.<\/p>\n The mainland is divided in length by a central mountain range whose highest peaks are Mont Pani\u00e9<\/a> (1,629 m or 5,344 ft) in the north and Mont Humboldt (1,618 m or 5,308 ft) in the southeast. The east coast is covered by a lush vegetation. The west coast, with its large savannahs and plains suitable for farming, is a drier area. Many ore-rich massifs are found along this coast.<\/p>\n The Diahot River is the longest river of New Caledonia, flowing for some 100 kilometres (62 mi). It has a catchment area of 620 km2 (240 sq mi) and opens north-westward into the Baie d’Harcourt, flowing towards the northern point of the island along the western escarpment of the Mount Pani\u00e9. Most of the island is covered by wet evergreen forests, while savannahs dominate the lower elevations. The New Caledonian lagoon, with a total area of 24,000 square kilometres (9,300 sq mi) is one of the largest lagoons in the world. It is surrounded by the New Caledonia Barrier Reef.<\/a><\/p>\n New Caledonia has one of the largest economies in the South Pacific, with a GDP of US$9.89 billion in 2011. The nominal GDP per capita was US$38,921 (at market exchange rates) in 2011. It is higher than New Zealand’s, though there is significant inequality in income distribution, and long-standing structural imbalances between the economically dominant South Province and the less developed North Province and Loyalty Islands. The currency in use in New Caledonia is the CFP franc<\/a>, pegged to the euro at a rate of 1,000 CFP to 8.38 euros. It is issued by the Institut d\u2019\u00c9mission d’Outre-Mer.<\/p>\n Real GDP<\/a> grew by 3.8% in 2010 and 3.2% in 2011, boosted by rising worldwide nickel prices and an increase in domestic demand due to rising employment, as well as strong business investments. In 2011, exports of goods and services from New Caledonia amounted to 2.11 billion US dollars, 75.6% of which were mineral products and alloys (mainly nickel ore and ferronickel<\/a>). Imports of goods and services amounted to 5.22 billion US dollars. 22.1% of the imports of goods came from Metropolitan France and its overseas departments, 16.1% from other countries in the European Union, 14.6% from Singapore (essentially fuel), 9.6% from Australia, 4.5% from the United States, 4.2% from New Zealand, 2.0% from Japan, and 27.0% from other countries. The trade deficit in goods and services stood at 3.11 billion US dollars in 2011.<\/p>\n Financial support from France is substantial, representing more than 15% of the GDP, and contributes to the health of the economy. Tourism is underdeveloped, with 100,000 visitors a year, compared to 400,000 in the Cook Islands<\/a> and 200,000 in Vanuatu. Much of the land is unsuitable for agriculture, and food accounts for about 20% of imports. The construction sector accounts for roughly 12% of GDP, employing 9.9% of the salaried population in 2010. Manufacturing is largely confined to small-scale activities such as the transformation of foodstuffs, textiles and plastics.<\/p>\n New Caledonian soils contain about 25% of the world’s nickel resources. The late-2000s recession<\/a> has gravely affected the nickel industry, as the sector faced a significant drop in nickel prices (\u221231.0% year-on-year in 2009) for the second consecutive year. The fall in prices has led a number of producers to reduce or stop altogether their activity, resulting in a reduction of the global supply of nickel by 6% compared to 2008.<\/p>\n La Tontouta International Airport<\/a> is 50 km (31 mi) northwest of Noum\u00e9a, and connects New Caledonia with the airports of Paris, Tokyo, Sydney, Auckland, Brisbane, Melbourne, Osaka, Papeete, Fiji, Wallis, Port Vila, Seoul, and St. Denis. Most internal air services are operated by the international carrier Aircalin<\/a>.<\/p>\n Cruise ships dock at the Gare Maritime in Noum\u00e9a. The passenger-and-cargo boat Havannah sails to Port Vila<\/a>, Malicolo<\/a> and Santo<\/a> in Vanuatu once a month.<\/p>\n New Caledonia’s road network consists of:<\/p>\n Route territoriale 1, going from the exit from Noum\u00e9a to the N\u00e9hou\u00e9 river, north of Koumac<\/a>; Two flags are in use in New Caledonia, an overseas territory of France. Up to 2010, the only flag used to represent New Caledonia was the flag of France, a tricolor featuring three vertical bands coloured blue (hoist side), white, and red known to English speakers as the French Tricolour or simply the Tricolour.<\/p>\n However, in July 2010, the Congress of New Caledonia<\/a> voted in favor of a wish to fly the Kanak<\/a> flag of the independentist movement FLNKS<\/a> alongside the French tricolor. The wish, legally non-binding, proved controversial. A majority of Neo-Caledonian communes, but not all, now fly both flags, the rest flying only the Tricolour.<\/p>\n The FLNKS flag, first adopted by the party in 1980, is composed of three horizontal stripes of blue, red and green charged with a yellow disc of a diameter two-thirds the height of the flag centered at a position of one-third the width of the flag, measured from the hoist side. The disc is fibrated black and defaced with a vertical symbol, also black.<\/p>\nHistory:<\/h2>\n
Pre-French Times:<\/h3>\n
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<\/a>French Dependency:<\/h3>\n
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<\/a>French Overseas Territory:<\/h3>\n
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<\/a>Geography:<\/h2>\n
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<\/a>Economy:<\/h2>\n
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<\/a>Transportation:<\/h2>\n
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<\/a>
\nRoute territoriale 2, on Lifou Island<\/a> and from the Wanaham airport<\/a> to the south of W\u00e9<\/a>;
\nRoute territoriale 3, from the junction with the RT1 in Nandi up to Tiwaka<\/a>;
\nRoute territoriale 4, from the junction with the RT1 near Mu\u00e9o to the power plant.<\/p>\nFlag of New Caledonia:<\/h2>\n
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