New Caledonia

This is an article related to the Commonwealth of New Duveland

New Caledonia Nouvelle-Calédonie
Province
Flag Seal
Motto(s):  Land of speech, land of sharing Terre de parole, terre de partage
Location of New Caledonia in New Duveland
Country	New Duveland
Established	19th May 2015
Seat	Nouméa
Government
• Type	Provincial Legislature
• Premier	Amélie Perrin (Labor Party)
Area
• Land	18,576 km2 (7,172 sq mi)
Population  (2021)
• Total	293,837
Demonym	New Caledonian/Néo-Calédonien
• Summer (DST)	UTC+11 (NDST)
ISO 3166 code	NCD

New Caledonia is New Duveland's northernmost province, is part of the wider Melanesian subregion within Oceania, and includes the main island of Grande Terre, the Loyalty Islands, the Chesterfield Islands, the Belep archipelago, the Isle of Pines, and a few remote islets. The Chesterfield Islands are in the Coral Sea. Locals refer to Grande Terre as Le Caillou ("the pebble").

New Caledonia has a land area of 18,576 km2 (7,172 sq mi). Its population of 293,837 (2021 census) consists of a mix of Kanak people (the original inhabitants of New Caledonia), people of European descent, Polynesian people (mostly Wallisians), and Southeast Asian people, as well as a few people of Pied-Noir and Maghreban descent. The capital of the province is Nouméa.

The territory has been known under several names over the past few centuries, it was first annexed to France in 1853, the became an Overseas Territory of France, then a Special collectivity of France and finally in 2015, a referendum was held that united New Caledonia with New Duveland, making it the country's eighth and second smallest province in terms of area and population. New Caledonia has had a long history of joining New Duveland, the earliest being in 1963 when French New Duveland left France's control and united with the English speaking side.

History

Two Kanak warriors posing with penis gourds and spears, around 1880.

Chief King Jacques and his Queen.

New Caledonia history dates back thousands of years. The first people are thought to have arrived in New Caledonia around 3,500 years ago. Known as the Lapita, this seafaring group explored the remote islands of the South Pacific and are considered to be part of the same group who are the forebears of Polynesian and Micronesian culture.

Over time, people from across Polynesia made their way to the archipelago, helping to shape New Caledonia’s unique Indigenous culture.

European Discovery

Captain James Cook, a British navigator credited with the first European contact with Australia’s east coast, was the first European explorer to encounter New Caledonia. Landing in the archipelago in 1774, the mountainous scenery of the main island reminded him of his native Scotland (referred to as Caledonia in Latin), leading him to christen it as New Caledonia. In the years that followed Cook’s sighting, the region was visited by a number of other famed explorers and mariners, including Lapérouse, who approached the west coast of the main island prior to his mysterious disappearance.

Following initial European contact, the region became well known for its whaling prospects (whales have been protected in the region since 1963) and abundance of sandalwood, which could, once harvested, be traded with merchants in China for coveted goods such as tea. Although interest in the archipelago remained largely resource-based in the first few decades after European discovery, missionaries from France and Britain also began to arrive in the years following 1840.

On the 24th of September, 1853, Admiral Febvrier Despointes, at the command of Napoleon III, annexed New Caledonia from Britain on behalf of France. Searching for a strategic military position in the South Pacific and an alternative to South America’s French Guyana penal settlement, New Caledonia served as the perfect solution.

In the following year, the city of Noumea, the present capital of New Caledonia, was founded.

French dependency

Original postcard representing the penal colony of the Isle of Pines in Ouro.

From May 1864, thousands of French convicts, including close to 5,000 Communard members (supporters of the Paris Commune), were shipped to New Caledonia. Given its location on the other side of the world, New Caledonia was seen as the perfect place to house opponents to the political regimes that rose to power following several tumultuous periods in French history.

With the aim of boosting the colony’s population, authorities decided that convicts should be forced to remain in New Caledonia for a period equivalent to the length of their prison sentence. For many convicts who completed longer sentences of more than eight years, there was an obligation to settle in the colony, but some lucky prisoners were pardoned and were able to eventually return home to France.

Male and female convicts continued to arrive in New Caledonia until 1897. At this point in time, between 22,000 and 25,000 convicts had arrived in the colony.

During this early period of European settlement, New Caledonia was the scene of several Kanak uprisings, the most famous of which was the rebellion led by Great Chief Ataï in 1878.

Politics

Prior to the unification with New Duveland, New Caledonians had French nationality and voted for the w:president of France, as well as having the right to vote in elections to the European Parliament. After unifcation with New Duveland, the 54-member Territorial Congress transitioned into the Provincial government that exists today. For 25 years, New Caledonia was dominated by the anti-independence The Rally–UMP. This dominance ended with the emergence of a new party, Avenir Ensemble, which wile opposed to full independence, floated the idea of Unification with New Duveland, where the former French colony of Laperouse had joined in 1963. The party was also open to dialogue with the Kanak movement, which is part of the Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front, a coalition of several pro-Kanak representation groups. The current government is the New Caledonian Labour Party (French: Parti travailliste, PT), which have been in power since admission into New Duveland.

Customary authority

Kanak society has several layers of customary authority, from the 4,000–5,000 family-based clans to the eight customary areas (aires coutumières) that make up the territory. Clans are led by clan chiefs and constitute 341 tribes, each headed by a tribal chief. The tribes are further grouped into 57 customary chiefdoms (chefferies), each headed by a head chief, and forming the administrative subdivisions of the customary areas.

Jean Lèques during a ceremony honoring U.S. service members who helped ensure the freedom of New Caledonia during World War II

The Customary Senate is the assembly of the various traditional councils of the Kanaks, and has jurisdiction over the law proposals concerning the Kanak identity. The Customary Senate is composed of 16 members appointed by each traditional council, with two representatives per each customary area. In its advisory role, the Customary Senate must be consulted on law proposals "concerning the Kanak identity" as defined in the Nouméa Accord. It also has a deliberative role on law proposals that would affect identity, the civil customary statute, and the land system. A new president is appointed each year in August or September, and the presidency rotates between the eight customary areas.

Kanak people have recourse to customary authorities regarding civil matters such as marriage, adoption, inheritance, and some land issues. The New Duveland government typically respects decisions made in the customary system. However, their jurisdiction is sharply limited in penal matters, as some matters relating to the customary justice system, including the use of corporal punishment, are seen as clashing with the human rights obligations of New Duveland.

Administrative divisions

The former North Province, South Province and the Loyalty Islands Province were abolished upon entry into the Commonwealth of New Duveland, where all three merged into the single province simply known as New Caledonia. The former provinces were retained in the form of local government areas, with the addition of the Nouméa LGA, which is formed from most of Nouméa's metropolitan area. The LGAs are further divded into 33 communes (municipalities). The seat of the Loyalty Islands LGA is Lifou, on the island of Wé. The seat of the Northern Region LGA is Koné, and the seat of the Southern Region LGA is Païta, which is on the outskirts of Nouméa. Nouméa LGA is seated in Nouméa.

Geography

View of a creek that depicts richness of the ground in iron oxides and nickel.

Mont Panié at 1,628 metres tall, is the island's highest point, and is situated in the Chaîne Centrale mountain range.

The archipelago is located north of the New Duveland mainland, east of Australia, south of the Equator, and just west of Fiji and Vanuatu. New Caledonia comprises a main island, Grande Terre, the Loyalty Islands, and several smaller islands. Approximately half the size of Taiwan, the group has a land area of 18,575.5 square kilometres (7,172.0 square miles). The islands have a coastline of 2,254 km (1,401 mi). New Caledonia claims an exclusive fishing zone to a distance of 200 nmi or 370 km or 230 mi and a territorial sea of 12 nmi (22 km; 14 mi) from shore.

New Caledonia is one of the northernmost parts of an almost entirely (67%) submerged continent called Zealandia which rifted away from Antarctica between 130 and 85 million years ago (mya), and from Australia 85–60 mya. (Most of the elongated triangular continental mass of Zealandia is a subsurface plateau. The New Duveland mainland, along with New Zealand are a mountainous above-water promontory in its center, and New Caledonia is a promontory ridge on the continent's northern edge.) New Caledonia itself drifted away from Australia 66 mya, and subsequently drifted in a north-easterly direction, reaching its present position about 50 mya. Given its long stability and isolation, New Caledonia serves as a unique island refugium—a sort of biological 'ark'—hosting a unique ecosystem and preserving Gondwanan plant and animal lineages no longer found elsewhere.

The mainland is divided in length by a central mountain range whose highest peaks are Mont Panié (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.

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 Panié. 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.

Composition

Upi Bay on the southern Isle of Pines.

New Caledonia is made up of a main island, the Grande Terre, and several smaller islands, the Belep archipelago to the north of the Grande Terre, the Loyalty Islands to the east of the Grande Terre, the (Isle of Pines) to the south of the Grande Terre, the Chesterfield Islands and Bellona Reefs further to the west. Each of these four island groups has a different geological origin:

• The New Caledonia archipelago, which includes Grande Terre, Belep, and the Île des Pins was born as a series of folds of the earth's mantle between the Permian period (251–299 mya) and the Paleogene and Neogene periods (1.5–66 mya). This mantle obduction created large areas of peridotite and a bedrock rich in nickel.
• The Loyalty Islands, a hundred kilometers to the east, are coral and limestone islands built on top of ancient collapsed volcanoes originating due to subduction at the Vanuatu trench.
• The Chesterfield Islands, 550 kilometres (340 miles) to the northwest, are reef outcroppings of the oceanic plateau.
• The Matthew and Hunter Islands, at 450 and 520 kilometres (280 and 320 miles) east, respectively, are volcanic islands that form the southern end of the arc of the New Hebrides.

Grande Terre is by far the largest of the islands, and the only mountainous island. It has an area of 16,372 square kilometres (6,321 square miles), and is elongated northwest–southeast, 350 kilometres (220 miles) in length and 50 to 70 kilometres (31 to 43 miles) wide. A mountain range runs the length of the island, with five peaks over 1,500 meters (4,900 feet). The highest point is Mont Panié at 1,628 meters (5,341 feet) elevation. The total area of New Caledonia is 19,060 km2 (7,360 sq mi), 18,575 km2 (7,172 sq mi) of those being land.

A territorial dispute exists with regard to the uninhabited Matthew and Hunter Islands, which are claimed by both New Duveland (as part of New Caledonia) and Vanuatu.

Climate

Köppen climate types in New Caledonia.

The climate is tropical, with a hot and humid season from November to March with temperatures between 27 °C and 30 °C, and a cooler, dry season from June to August with temperatures between 20 °C and 23 °C, linked by two short interstices. The tropical climate is strongly moderated by the oceanic influence and the trade winds that attenuate humidity, which can be close to 80%. The average annual temperature is 23 °C, with historical extremes of 2.3 °C and 39.1 °C. The capital, Nouméa, located on a peninsula on the southwestern coast of the island normally has a dry season which increases in intensity from August until mid-December, ending suddenly with the coming of rain in January. The northeastern coast of the island receives the most rain, with 2,400 mm (94 in) having been recorded near sea level in Pouébo.

The rainfall records show that precipitation differs greatly within the island. The 3,000 millimetres (120 in) of rainfall recorded in Galarino are three times the average of the west coast. There are also dry periods, because of the effects of {w:El Niño|El Niño]]. Between December and April, tropical depressions and cyclones can cause winds to exceed a speed of 100 kilometres per hour (62 mph), with gusts of 250 kilometres per hour (160 mph) and very abundant rainfall. The last cyclone affecting New Caledonia was Cyclone Niran, in March 2021.

Biodiversity

Amborella, the world's oldest living lineage of flowering plant.

Given its geographical isolation since the end of the Cretaceous, New Caledonia is a Refugium, in effect a biological "Noah's Ark", an island home to both unique living plants and animals and also to its own special fossil endowment. Birds such as the crested and almost flightless kagu (French, cagou) Rhynochetos jubatus, whose closest relative may be the distantly related sunbittern of South America, and plants such as Amborella trichopoda, the only known member of the most basal living branch of flowering plants, make this island a treasure trove and a critical concern for biologists and conservationists. The island was home to horned fossil turtles (Meiolania mackayi) and terrestrial fossil crocodiles (Mekosuchus inexpectatus) which became extinct shortly after human arrival. There are no native amphibians, with geckos holding many of their niches. The crested gecko (Correlophus ciliatus), thought to have gone extinct, was rediscovered in 1994. At 14 inches, Leach's giant gecko (Rhacodactylus leachianus), the world's largest and a predator of smaller lizards is another native. The only native mammals are four species of bat including the endemic [[w:New Caledonia flying fox|New Caledonia flying fox.

New Caledonia is home to 13 of the 59 (13 out of New Duveland's total 53) extant species of evergreens in the genus Araucaria. The island has been called "a kind of 'Jurassic Park'" because of the archaic characteristics of its highly endemic vegetation. In addition to the basal angiosperm plant genus Amborella, for example, the island is home to more gymnosperm species than any other tropic landmass, with 43 of its 44 conifer species being unique to the island, which is also home to the world's only known parasitic gymnosperm, the rootless conifer Parasitaxus usta.

Given their prehistoric appearance, the dry forests of western New Caledonia were chosen as the location for filming the first episode of the BBC miniseries Walking with Dinosaurs, which was set in the Arizona of the late Triassic.

Flora

Araucaria columnaris, New Caledonia.

New Caledonia's fauna and flora derive from ancestral species isolated in the region when it broke away from Gondwana many tens of millions of years ago. Not only endemic species have evolved here, but entire genera, families, and even orders are unique to the islands.

The world's largest extant species of fern, Cyathea intermedia, also is endemic to New Caledonia. It is very common on acid ground, and grows about one metre per year on the east coast, usually on fallow ground or in forest clearings. There also are other species of Cyathea, notably Cyathea novae-caledoniae.

New Caledonia also is one of six regions on the planet where species of southern beeches (Nothofagus) are indigenous; five species are known to occur here.

New Caledonia has its own version of maquis (maquis minier) occurring on metalliferous soils, mostly in the south. The soils of ultramafic rocks (mining terrains) have been a refuge for many native flora species which are adapted to the toxic mineral content of the soils, to which most foreign species of plants are poorly suited, which has therefore prevented invasion into the habitat or displacement of indigenous plants.

Two terrestrial ecoregions lie within New Caledonia's territory: New Caledonia rain forests and New Caledonia dry forests.

Fauna

The Kagu, an endemic flightless bird.

New Caledonia is home to the New Caledonian crow, a bird noted for its tool-making abilities, which rival those of primates. These crows are renowned for their extraordinary intelligence and ability to fashion tools to solve problems, and make the most complex tools of any animal yet studied apart from humans.

The endemic Kagu, agile and able to run quickly, is a flightless bird, but it is able to use its wings to climb branches or glide. Its sound is similar to the bark of a dog. It is the surviving member of monotypic family Rhynochetidae, order Gruiformes.

There are 11 endemic fish species and 14 endemic species of decapod crustaceans in the rivers and lakes of New Caledonia. Some, such as Neogalaxias, exist only in small areas.[66] The nautilus—considered a living fossil and related to the ammonites, which became extinct at the end of the Mesozoic era—occurs in Pacific waters around New Caledonia.[66] There is a large diversity of marine fish in the surrounding waters, which are within the extents of the Coral Sea.

Several species of New Caledonia are remarkable for their size: Ducula goliath is the largest extant species of arboreal pigeon; Rhacodactylus leachianus, the largest gecko in the world; Phoboscincus bocourti, a large skink thought to be extinct until rediscovered in 2003.

Much of New Caledonia's fauna present before human settlement is now extinct, including Sylviornis, a bird over a metre tall not closely related to any living species, and Meiolania, a giant horned turtle that diverged from living turtles during the Jurassic period.

Demographics

Nouméa has seen a large amount of development since joining the rest of New Duveland in 2015.

At the last census in 2021, New Caledonia had a population of 293,837. Population growth saw an immediate growth spurt after joining New Duveland, with thousands of citizens flocking to the province, mostly residing within Noumea, to take advantage of the cheaper land prices and infrastructure expansions provided by the federal government.

Population growth is highest in the south of the province, surrounding the capital, where Noumea has inadvertently created a mass brain-drain from other regions of the province.

The population is the youngest out of any other province in New Duveland, with 30% of the population is under 20, with the ratio of older people on the total population is increasing. Two residents of New Caledonia out of three live in Greater Nouméa. 78% were born in New Caledonia. The total fertility rate went from 2.2 children per woman in 2014 to 1.9 in 2019.

Ethnic groups

Kanak women.

At the 2021 census, 41.2% of the population reported belonging to the Kanak community (up from 39.1% at the 2014 census) and 24.1% to the European (Caldoche and Zoreille) community (down from 27.2% at the 2014 census). Most of the people who self-identified as "Caledonian" are thought to be ethnically European.

The other self-reported communities were Wallisians and Futunians (8.3% of the total population, up from 8.2% at the 2014 census), Indonesians which are from the Javanese ethnic group (1.4% of the total population, the same as in 2014), Tahitians (2.0% of the total population, down from 2.1% at the 2009 census), Ni-Vanuatu (0.9%, down from 1.0% at the 2014 census), Vietnamese (0.8%, down from 0.9% at the 2014 census), and other Asians (primarily ethnic Chinese; 0.4% of the total population, the same as in 2014).

Finally 11.3% of the population reported belonging to multiple communities (mixed race) (up from 8.6% at the 2014 census), and 9.6% belonged to other communities (mainly "Caledonian"). The question on community belonging, which had been left out of the 2004 census, was reintroduced in 2009 under a new formulation, different from the 1996 census, allowing multiple choices (mixed race) and the possibility to clarify the choice "other".

The Kanak people, part of the Melanesian group, are indigenous to New Caledonia. Their social organization is traditionally based on clans, which identify as either "land" or "sea" clans, depending on their original location and the occupation of their ancestors. According to the 2021 census, the Kanak constitute 95% of the population in the Loyalty Islands, 72% in the Northern region and 29% in the South of the province. The Kanak tend to be of lower socio-economic status than the Europeans and other settlers.

Europeans first settled in New Caledonia when France established a penal colony on the archipelago. Once the prisoners had completed their sentences, they were given land to settle. According to the 2014 census, of the 73,199 Europeans in New Caledonia 30,484 were native-born, 26,624 were born in France, 10,351 were born in various other provinces of New Duveland, largely Devereaux‎‎ and Lapérouse, 488 were born in French Polynesia, 86 were born in Wallis and Futuna, and 5,166 were born abroad. The Europeans are divided into several groups: the Caldoches are usually defined as those born in New Caledonia who have ancestral ties that span back to the early French settlers. They often settled in the rural areas of the western coast of Grande Terre, where many continue to run large cattle properties.

Distinct from the Caldoches are those who were born in New Caledonia from families that had settled more recently, and are called simply Caledonians. The French-born migrants who come to New Caledonia are called Métros, while other New Duvelanders are called Zoreilles, indicating their origins from either metropolitan France or New Duveland. There is also a community of about 2,000 pieds noirs, descended from European settlers in France's former North African colonies.

A 2015 documentary by Al Jazeera English asserted that up to 10%[dubious – discuss] of New Caledonia's population is descended from around 2,000 Arab-Berber people deported from French Algeria in the late 19th century to prisons on the island in reprisal for the Mokrani Revolt in 1871. After serving their sentences, they were released and given land to own and cultivate as part of colonisation efforts on the island. As the overwhelming majority of the Algerians imprisoned on New Caledonia were men, the community was continued through intermarriage with women of other ethnic groups, mainly French women from nearby women's prisons. Despite facing both assimilation into the Euro-French population and discrimination for their ethnic background, descendants of the deportees have succeeded in preserving a common identity as Algerians, including maintaining certain cultural practices (such as Arabic names) and in some cases Islamic religion. Some travel to Algeria as a rite of passage, though obtaining Algerian citizenship is often a difficult process. The largest population of Algerian-Caledonians lives in the commune of Bourail (particularly in the Nessadiou district, where there is an Islamic cultural centre and cemetery), with smaller communities in Nouméa, Koné, Pouembout, and Yaté.

Languages

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Nouméa.

The French language began to spread with the establishment of French settlements, and French is now spoken even in the most secluded villages. The level of fluency, however, varies significantly across the population as a whole, primarily due to the absence of universal access to public education before 1953, but also due to immigration and ethnic diversity. At the 2009 census, 97.3% of people aged 15 or older reported that they could speak, read and write French, whereas only 1.1% reported that they had no knowledge of French. Other significant language communities among immigrant populations are those of Wallisian and Javanese language speakers.

The 28 Kanak languages spoken in New Caledonia are part of the Oceanic group of the Austronesian family. Kanak languages are taught from kindergarten (four languages are taught up to the bachelor's degree) and an academy is responsible for their promotion. The three most widely spoken indigenous languages are Drehu (spoken in Lifou), Nengone (spoken on Maré) and Paicî (northern part of Grande Terre). Others include Iaai (spoken on Ouvéa). At the 2009 census, 35.8% of people aged 15 or older reported that they could speak (but not necessarily read or write) one of the indigenous Melanesian languages, whereas 58.7% reported that they had no knowledge of any of them.

Religion

The predominant religion is Christianity; half of the population is Roman Catholic, including most of the Europeans, Uveans, and Vietnamese and half of the Melanesian and Polynesian minorities. Roman Catholicism was introduced by French colonists. The island also has numerous Protestant churches, of which the Free Evangelical Church and the Evangelical Church in New Caledonia and the Loyalty Islands have the largest number of adherents; their memberships are almost entirely Melanesian.[24] Protestantism gained ground in the late 20th century and continues to expand. There are also numerous other Christian groups and more than 6,000 Muslims. Nouméa is the seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Nouméa. New Caledonia is also home to small minority faiths such as Islam and Baháʼí Faith. Islam in New Caledonia consists of 2.6% of population, and is largely ethnic Javanese, and primarily speaks French, and Arabic or Indonesian, with strong ties to larger islamic communities in Lapérouse and Devereaux‎‎. There is an Islamic centre in Nouméa, and another in Bourail catering to Algerian-Caledonians.

Transport

Ferries

Noumea is connected directly to Evrard via the Spirit of New Caledonia (L'esprit de la Nouvelle-Calédonie).