"text":"Settled by both Britain and France during the first half of the 19th century, the island became 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 a referendum between 2014 and 2018 to decide whether New Caledonia should assume full sovereignty and independence."
}
},
"Geography":{
"Location":{
"text":"Oceania, islands in the South Pacific Ocean, east of Australia"
},
"Geographic coordinates":{
"text":"21 30 S, 165 30 E"
},
"Map references":{
"text":"Oceania"
},
"Area":{
"total":{
"text":"18,575 sq km"
},
"land":{
"text":"18,275 sq km"
},
"water":{
"text":"300 sq km"
}
},
"Area - comparative":{
"text":"slightly smaller than New Jersey"
},
"Land boundaries":{
"text":"0 km"
},
"Coastline":{
"text":"2,254 km"
},
"Maritime claims":{
"territorial sea":{
"text":"12 nm"
},
"exclusive economic zone":{
"text":"200 nm"
}
},
"Climate":{
"text":"tropical; modified by southeast trade winds; hot, humid"
"text":"cyclones, most frequent from November to March",
"volcanism":{
"text":"Matthew and Hunter Islands are historically active"
}
},
"Environment - current issues":{
"text":"erosion caused by mining exploitation and forest fires"
},
"Geography - note":{
"text":"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"
"text":"active local transmission of Zika virus by Aedes species mosquitoes has been identified in this country (as of August 2016); it poses an important risk (a large number of cases possible) among US citizens if bitten by an infective mosquito; other less common ways to get Zika are through sex, via blood transfusion, or during pregnancy, in which the pregnant woman passes Zika virus to her fetus (2016)"
"text":"British explorer Captain James COOK discovered and named New Caledonia in 1774; he used the appellation because the northeast of the island reminded him of Scotland (Caledonia is the Latin designation for Scotland)"
"text":"UTC+11 (16 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)"
}
},
"Administrative divisions":{
"text":"3 provinces; Province Iles (Islands Province), Province Nord (North Province), and Province Sud (South Province)"
},
"Independence":{
"text":"none (overseas territory of France); note - a referendum on independence was held in 1998 but was rejected; a new referendum must be held before 2019"
},
"National holiday":{
"text":"Fete de la Federation, 14 July (1789); note - the local holiday is New Caledonia Day, 24 September (1853)"
"text":"civil law system based on French law; the 1988 Matignon Accords (signed in the Matignon Hotel) set up a 10-year period of development during which the Kanak community received substantial autonomy but agreed not to raise the independence issue"
"text":"President of the Government Philippe GERMAINE (since 1 April 2015); Vice President Jean-Louis D'ANGLEBERME (since 1 April 2015)"
},
"cabinet":{
"text":"Cabinet elected from and by the Territorial Congress"
},
"elections/appointments":{
"text":"French president directly elected by absolute majority popular vote in 2 rounds if needed for a 5-year term (eligible for a second term); high commissioner appointed by the French president on the advice of the French Ministry of Interior; president of New Caledonia elected by Territorial Congress for a 5-year term (no term limits); election last held on 10 June 2011 (next to be held in June 2016)"
},
"election results":{
"text":"Philippe GERMAINE (Caledonia Together) elected president by Territorial Congress; vote NA"
}
},
"Legislative branch":{
"text":"unicameral Territorial Congress or Congres du Territoire (54 seats; members indirectly selected proportionally by the partisan makeup of the 3 Provincial Assemblies or Assemblees Provinciales; members of the 3 Provincial Assemblies directly elected by proportional representation vote; members serve 5-year terms)",
"note":{
"text":"the Customary Senate is the assembly of the various traditional councils of the Kanaks, the indigenous population, which rules on laws affecting the indigenous population; New Caledonia holds two seats in the French Senate; elections last held on 28 September 2014 (next to be held not later than September 2017); results - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - UMP 2; New Caledonia also elects two seats to the French National Assembly; elections last held on 17 June 2012 (next to be held by June 2017); results - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - UMP 2"
"text":"last held on 11 May 2014 (next to be held on May 2019); note - the government that was elected on 11 May 2014 collapsed within 6 months leading to a new election on 31 December 2015 which re-elected the same government"
"text":"percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - Caledonia Together 13, FLNKS 9, UMP 7, Union for Caledonia in France 6, Build Our Rainbow Nation 6, National Union for Independence 6, other 7"
"text":"Court of Appeal in Noumea or Cour d'Appel; organized into civil, commercial, social, and pre-trial investigation chambers; court bench normally includes the court president and 2 counsilors); Administrative Court (number of judges NA); note - final appeals beyond the Court of Appeal are referred to the Court of Cassation or Cour de Cassation in Paris; final appeals beyond the Administrative Court are referred to the Administrative Court of Appeal in Paris"
"text":"Courts of First Instance include: civil, juvenile, commercial, labor, police, criminal, assizes, and also a pre-trial investigation chamber; Joint Commerce Tribunal; administrative courts"
"text":"Build Our Rainbow Nation ++ Caledonia Together [Philippe GOMES] ++ Caledonian Union or UC [Daniel GOA] ++ Future Together (l'Avenir Ensemble) [Harold MARTIN] ++ Kanak Socialist Front for National Liberation or FLNKS (alliance includes PALIKA, UNI, UC, and UPM) [Roch WAMYTAN] ++ Labor Party (Parti Travailliste) or PT [Louis Kotra UREGEI] ++ National Union for Independence (Union Nationale pour l'Independance) or UNI ++ Party of Kanak Liberation (Parti de Liberation Kanak) or PALIKA [Paul NEAOUTYINE] ++ Socialist Kanak Liberation or LKS [Nidoish NAISSELINE] ++ The Republicans (formerly The Rally or UMP) [Pierre FROGIER] ++ Union for Caledonia in France; note - dissolved in July 2014"
"text":"New Caledonia has two official flags; alongside the flag of France, the Kanak (indigenous Melanesian) flag has equal status; the latter consists of three equal horizontal bands of blue (top), red, and green; a large yellow disk - diameter two-thirds the height of the flag - shifted slightly to the hoist side is edged in black and displays a black fleche faitiere symbol, a native rooftop adornment"
"text":"\"Soyons unis, devenons freres\" (Let Us Be United, Let Us Become Brothers)"
},
"lyrics/music":{
"text":"Chorale Melodia (a local choir)"
},
"note":{
"text":"adopted 2008; contains a mixture of lyrics in both French and Nengone (an indigenous language); as a self-governing territory of France, in addition to the local anthem, \"La Marseillaise\" is official (see France)"
"text":"New Caledonia has about 25% of the world's known nickel reserves. Only a small amount of the land is suitable for cultivation, and food accounts for about 20% of imports. In addition to nickel, substantial financial support from France - equal to more than 15% of GDP - and tourism are keys to the health of the economy. ++ ++ During 2009-10, France sent more development assistance to New Caledonia than to any of its other overseas territories. In October 2014, French Prime Minster Manuel VALLS confirmed financial support to New Caledonia totaling $500 million for the period 2016-20. The new government, which inherited a $112 million deficit in 2013, is expected to focus on bringing the territory’s budget back into balance. ++ ++ Substantial new investment in the nickel industry — including two major new plants - combined with the recovery of global nickel prices, has brightened the economic outlook for the next several years. In 2015, New Caledonia helped fill China’s shortfall in nickel supplies left by an Indonesian ban on nickel ore exports."
"text":"a submarine cable network connection between New Caledonia and Australia, completed in 2007, increased network capacity and improved high-speed connectivity and access to international networks"
"text":"the publicly owned French Overseas Network (RFO), which operates in France's overseas departments and territories, broadcasts over the RFO Nouvelle Caledonie TV and radio stations; a small number of privately owned radio stations also broadcast (2008)"
