New Caledonia

Location:

Oceania, islands in the South Pacific Ocean, east of Australia

Border Countries:

Terrain:

coastal plains with interior mountains

Geography:

consists of the main island of New Caledonia (one of the largest in the Pacific Ocean), the archipelago of Iles Loyaute, and numerous small, sparsely populated islands and atolls

Capital:

Noumea

About New Caledonia

Settled by both Britain and France during the first half of the 19th century, the island was made a French possession in 1853. It served as a penal colony for four decades after 1864. Agitation for independence during the 1980s and early 1990s ended in the 1998 Noumea Accord, which over a period of 15 to 20 years will transfer an increasing amount of governing responsibility from France to New Caledonia. The agreement also commits France to conduct as many as three referenda between 2013 and 2018, to decide whether New Caledonia should assume full sovereignty and independence.

Population:

224,824 (July 2008 est.)

Language:

French (official), 33 Melanesian-Polynesian dialects

Religion:

Roman Catholic 60%, Protestant 30%, other 10%

Phone Service:

NA

Currency:

Comptoirs Francais du Pacifique franc (XPF)

Climate:

tropical; modified by southeast trade winds; hot, humid

Natural Hazards:

cyclones, most frequent from November to March