New Caledonia
Territory of New Caledonia and Dependencies
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About New Caledonia
The archipelago of New Caledonia lies about 2,000 km from the Australian city of Sydney. The main island, Grande Terre is a beautiful island surrounded by an emerald green lagoon and is divided by a mountain range with the highest points Mount Pancé in the north (1629m) and Mount Humboldt in the south (1618m), that splits the east with lush tropical vegetation with abundant wildlife, from the west with its beautifull beaches. The New Caledonian Barrier Reef which surrounds the Grande Terre and the Île des Pinscoral is the second-largest coal reef in the world and has a great diversity in species, and is home to endangered Dugongs and the Green Sea Turtles.
The colonial buildings of New Caledomia remind of its past as a French colony.
Top destinations in New Caledonia
Cities in New Caledonia
General information
- Capital: Noumea
- Language: French (official), 33 Melanesian-Polynesian dialects
- Climate: Tropical; modified by southeast trade winds; hot, humid
- Timezone: UTC +11
- Currency: Comptoirs Francais du Pacifique franc (XPF)
- Electricity plugs: f (show)
- No. of inhabitants: 216,494 (July 2005 est.)
- Interl. accesscode +687
- Toplevel domain .nc
- Travel alert: EnjoyYourWorld strongly advises you to take necessary precautions for a safe travel. For more info please follow this link
Good to know
There are some profound differences about independency from France between the indigenous Melanesian Kanak which are now a minority of 44%, and the rest of the population made up of whites (34%), Polynesians (11.5%) and others (11%).
Religion: Roman Catholic 60%, Protestant 30%, indiginous beliefs 10%
National holiday: Bastille Day, 14 July (1789)
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