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Our nearest French-speaking neighbour.

New Caledonia is an overseas territory of France and its is the third biggest island in the Pacific after Papua New Guinea and New Zealand. It is not a single island, but a group of islands and archipelagos.

Map  of Pacific area
Source: http://www.lonelyplanet.com/maps/pacific/

Where is New Caledonia?

New Caledonia is about 1500km from Australia, 1700km from New Zealand, 5000km from Tahiti, 7000km from Japan, 10 000km from the West coast of the USA, and 20 000 km from France.


Is there just one island?

New Caledonia has many islands. It comprises the main island, Grande Terre, which is 400km in length, and between 40 to 70km wide; the Isle of Pines, an island paradise 18 by 15 km which is south of Grande Terre; the Loyalty Islands an archipelago 100km to the East; and the Belep Islands, little islands to the extreme North.

Map New Caledonia
Source:http://www.nouvelle-caledonie-tourisme.com/ncfr.htm


The people of New Caledonia

The main island - Grande Terre - is the richest region, and the majority of the population live here. There are about 210 000 inhabitants.

The capital city is called Nouméa, and this has about 146 000 inhabitants. Most people are of either Melanesian or European origins. There are also many other peoples who live in New Caledonia. Many people of Asian origin came to the country in the late 19th century to work in the mines. Their descendants form nearly 9 - 10% of the population.

population graph
Source: http://www.nouvelle-caledonie-tourisme.com/ncfr.htm


Mountains

Grande Terre is very mountainous. It is divided by a mountain chain which is called The Central Chain. The highest mountain is Mont Panié at 1629 metres. This mountain chain separates the island into two quite distinctly differing regions

Mountains


La Côte Ouest

West coast The West Coast has a drier climate than the East side of the island. There are large plains, hills, and farms with cattle and horses. There are spectacularly beautiful beaches.

La Côte Est

East coast

The East Coast is on the windward side and the climate is wetter so the soil is fertile; the country has an exotic and tropical vegetation. There are valleys, magnificent waterfalls, wilderness rivers and typical Melanesian huts along all the roads.

The Lagoon

reef

The New Caledonian lagoon has a total area of 24 000 km² and is the biggest in the world. It is called the most beautiful lagoon in the world. The coral reef which surrounds the lagoon is 1 600 km in length. The average water depth is 40 metres; the water is warm, between 22° and 30°.

Climate

New Caledonia has a tropical oceanic climate. There are two main seasons: The warm season from November to April with maximum temperatures of 28 to 32°.  It is also the rainy season (January to March are the wettest months) and it's also the cyclone season.

The cool season goes from May to September. July and August are the coldest months, July generally being the rainiest month. The cool season is drier than the warm season, with average temperature of 20 to 23°.

People say that September to November are generally the best months of the year as it is the New Caledonian spring time with fine, dry weather.

 

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A visit to New Caledonia from School

     
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