1987 Edition

Climate

tropical; modified by southeast trade winds; hot, humid

Coastline

2,254 km

Comparative area

about the size of Massachusetts

Continental shelf

200 meters or to depth of exploitation

Environment

typhoons most frequent from November to March

Extended econamic zone

200 nm

Labor force

50,469 (1980 est.); Javanese and Tonkinese laborers were imported for plantations and mines in pre-World War II period; immigrant labor now coming from Wallis and Futuna, Vanuatu, and French Polynesia; est. 8% unemployment

Land use

NEGL% arable land; NEGL% permanent crops; 14% meadows and pastures; 51% forest and woodland; 35% other

Language

French; Melanesian-Polynesian dialects

Religion

over 60% Roman Catholic, 30% Protestant, 10% other

Special notes

none

Terrain

coastal plains with interior mountains

Territorial sea

12 nm

Total area

150 km Coral Sea South Pacific Ocean Coral Sea “jle des Pins Islands of Huon end SteregionalmapX Chesterfield era not shown,

19,060 km?; land area: 18,760 km?

Ethnic divisions

Melanesian 42.5%, European 37.1%, Wallisian 8.4%, Polynesian 3.8%, Indonesian 3.6%, Vietnamese 1.6%, other 3.0%

Population

149,795 (July 1987), average annual growth rate 0.66% Nationality; noun—New Caledonian(s); adjective—New Caledonian

Administrative divisions

4 islands or island group dependencies (fle des Pins, fles Loyauté, fle Huon, Island of New Caledonia) and 32 municipalities

Branches

administered by High Commissioner, responsible to French Ministry for Overseas France and Council of Government; 46-seat Territorial Assembly

Capital

Nouméa

Communists

number unknown; Palita extreme left party; some politically active Communists deported during 1950s; small number of North Vietnamese

Elections

Assembly elections every five years, last in November 1984; referendum on New Caledonian independence scheduled for 1987

Government leaders

Fernand WIBAUX, French High Commissioner and President of the Council of Government (since 1985); Kanak Provisional Government—JeanMarie TJIBAOU, President (since December 1984)

Legal system

French law

Member of

EIB (associate), WFTU, WMO

Official name

Territory of New Caledonia and Dependencies

Political parties

white-dominated Rassemblement pour la Calédonie dans la République (RPCR)}—Conservative; Melanesian proindependence Kanak Socialist National Liberation Front (FLNKS); Melanesian moderate Kanak Socialist Liberation (LKS)

Suffrage

universal

Type

French overseas territory; represented in French parliament by two deputies and one senator

Voting strength

(1984 election) Territorial Assembly—RPCR, 34 seats; LKS, 6 seats; splinter groups, 2 seats; FLNKS boycotted the election

Agriculture

large areas devoted to cattle grazing; coffee, maize, wheat, vegetables; 60% self-sufficient in beef

Budget

revenues, $187.1 million; expenditures, $168.3 million (1981)

Electric power

400,000 kW capacity; 2,200 million kWh produced, 14,800 kWh per capita (1986)

Exports

$217.8 million (1983); 95% nickel metal (95%), nickel ore

GNP

$1.21 billion, $8,050 per capita (1983)

Imports

$350 million (1983); fuels and minerals, machines and electrical equipment

Industry

nickel mining

Major trade partners

exports—54.9% France; imports—32.5% France (1980)

Monetary conversion rate

127.05 francs CFP=US$1 (December 1982)

Natural resources

nickel, chrome, iron, cobalt, manganese, silver, gold, lead, copper

Airfields

29 total, 28 usable; 4 with permanent-surface runways; 1 with runways 2,440-3,659 m, 1 with runways 1,220-2,489 m

Civil air

no major transport aircraft

Highways

5,448 km total; 558 km paved, 2,251 km improved earth, 2,689 km unimproved earth

Inland waterways

none

Ports

1 major (Nouméa), 21 minor

Railroads

none

Telecommunications

32,000 telephones (21 per 100 popl.); 5 AM, 3 FM, 7 TV stations; 1 satellite ground station