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New Caledonia
French special collectivity in the southwest Pacific Ocean / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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New Caledonia (/ˌkælɪˈdoʊniə/ KAL-ih-DOH-nee-ə; French: Nouvelle-Calédonie [nuvɛl kaledɔni] ⓘ)[nb 1] is a sui generis collectivity of overseas France in the southwest Pacific Ocean, south of Vanuatu, about 1,210 km (750 mi) east of Australia,[4] and 17,000 km (11,000 mi) from Metropolitan France. The archipelago, part of the Melanesia subregion, 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.[5] The Chesterfield Islands are in the Coral Sea. French people, especially locals, call Grande Terre "Le Caillou" ("the pebble").[6]
New Caledonia | |
|---|---|
| Motto: | |
| Anthem: La Marseillaise ("The Marseillaise") "Soyons unis, devenons frères"[n 1] | |
Location of New Caledonia | |
| Sovereign state |  France |
| Annexed by France | 24 September 1853 |
| Overseas territory | 1946 |
| Nouméa Accord | 5 May 1998 |
| Capital and largest city | Nouméa 22°16′S 166°28′E |
| Official languages | French |
| Recognised regional languages | |
| Demonym(s) | New Caledonian |
| Government | Devolved parliamentary dependency |
| Emmanuel Macron | |
| Patrice Faure | |
| Louis Mapou | |
| Roch Wamytan | |
• President of the Customary Senate | Yvon Kona |
| Legislature | Congress of New Caledonia |
| French Parliament | |
• Senate | 2 senators (of 348) |
| 2 seats (of 577) | |
| Area | |
• Total | 18,576 km2 (7,172 sq mi) |
• Land | 18,275 km2 (7,056 sq mi) |
• Water (%) | 1.6 |
| Highest elevation | 1,628 m (5,341 ft) |
| Population | |
• 2019 census | 271,407[1] (184th) |
• Density | 14.5/km2 (37.6/sq mi) (200th) |
| GDP (nominal) | 2019 estimate |
• Total | US$9.44 billion[2] |
• Per capita | US$34,780[2] |
| Currency | CFP franc (₣) (XPF) |
| Time zone | UTC+11:00 |
| Driving side | right |
| Calling code | +687 |
| ISO 3166 code | |
| Internet TLD | .nc |
| This article is part of a series on the |
| Administrative divisions of France |
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| Administrative divisions |
| Intercommunality |
| Communes |
| Overseas France |
| Geocodes of France |
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New Caledonia has a land area of 18,576 km2 (7,172 sq mi) divided into three provinces. The North and South Provinces are on the New Caledonian mainland, while the Loyalty Islands Province is a series of three islands off the east coast of mainland. New Caledonia's population of 271,407 (October 2019 census)[7] is of diverse origins and varies by geography; in the North and Loyalty Islands Provinces, the indigenous Kanak people predominate, while the wealthy South Province contains significant populations of European (Caldoches and Metropolitan French), Kanak, and Polynesian (mostly Wallisian) origin, as well as smaller groups of Southeast Asian, Pied-Noir, and North African heritage. The capital of New Caledonia is Nouméa.[4]