The rugged coastline of New Caledonia allegedly reminded Captain Cook (whose father was a Scot) of Scotland, and he thus named it New Caledonia. In French, Nouvelle-Calédonie is the official name, but the territory is often called only Calédonie in colloquial use, as in l'histoire de la Calédonie ^{6 - . The adjective néo-calédonien(ne) is seldom used;calédonien(ne) is the term most often used, even by official institutions, as in l'économie calédonienne 7 - ("the New Caledonian economy").}

The nickname (le) Caillou (literally "the stone" or "the pebble") is used as an endearing term by the European community of New Caledonia to designate the territory. It allegedly refers to the main island of New Caledonia which is a nickel-rich, long rock formation emerging from the Pacific Ocean.

Another nickname, (la) Kanaky , is also used in by independence movements, and the indigenous languages. This name is favored by Melanesian nationalists. The word comes from kanaka , a Hawaiian word (elsewhere tangata and variants) meaning "human/person/people", used by Polynesians to refer to themselves. The word was later used by the French to refer to all the indigenous inhabitants of the South Pacific Ocean, including the Melanesian (non-Polynesian) native inhabitants of New Caledonia. The word, turned into Canaque in French, became derogatory. In the 1960s and 1970s, when the Melanesian native inhabitants started to organize themselves into political parties and call for independence, the word was transformed into a symbol of political emancipation and pride. In 1983, during the period of political turmoil, the terms Kanak and Kanaky became political brand names and colonial whites realized the name had changed into a political statement.

The official name of the territory, Nouvelle-Calédonie , could be changed in the near future due to the Nouméa Accord of 1998 which stated that "a name, a flag, an anthem, a motto, and the design of banknotes will have to be sought by all parties together, to express the Kanak identity and the future shared by all parties."^{8 - To date, however, there has been no consensus on a new name for the territory.9 -}

New Caledonia is made up of a main island, the Grande Terre , and several smaller islands, the Belep archipelago to the north of the Grande Terre, the Loyalty Islands to the east of the Grande Terre, the Île des Pins (Isle of Pines) to the south of the Grande Terre, the Chesterfield Islands and Bellona Reefs further to the west. A territorial dispute exists with regard to the uninhabited Matthew and Hunter Islands, which are claimed by both France (as part of New Caledonia) and Vanuatu.

The Grande Terre is by far the largest of the islands, and the only mountainous island. It has an area of 16,372 square kilometres (6,321 sq mi), and is elongated northwest-southeast, 350 kilometres (217 mi) in length and 50 to 70 kilometres (31–44 mi) wide. A mountain range runs the length of the island, with five peaks over 1,500 meters (4,900 ft). The highest point is Mont Panié at 1,628 meters (5,341 ft) elevation. The total area of New Caledonia is 19,060 km (7,360 sq mi), 18,575 km (7,172 sq mi) of those being land.

New Caledonia is one of the northernmost parts of a (93%) submerged continent called Zealandia. It sank after rifting away from Australia 60–85 million years ago (mya) and from Antarctica between 130 and 85 mya. New Caledonia itself is separated from Australia since 65 mya, and subsequently drifted in a north-easterly direction, reaching its present position about 50 mya.^{10 -}

On the one hand, both a Territorial Congress ( Congress of New Caledonia ) and government have been established, and are increasingly empowered via the gradual implementation of a devolution of powers from France in favour of New Caledonia, pursuant to the 1998 Nouméa Accord. Key areas (e.g. taxation, labour law, health and hygiene, foreign trade, and others) are already in the hands of the Territorial Congress and government. Further authority will be given to the Territorial Congress in the near future. Ultimately, the French Republic should only remain in charge of foreign affairs, justice, defense, public order, and the treasury. An additional enhancement to New Caledonian autonomy has come in the form of recently introduced territorial "citizenship":Only New Caledonian "citizens" have the right to vote in local elections. The introduction of this right has been criticised because it creates a second-class status for French citizens living in New Caledonia who do not possess New Caledonian "citizenship" (because they settled in the territory recently). ^] Further signs of increased autonomy for the territory include New Caledonia's right to engage in international cooperation with independent countries of the Pacific Ocean region, the continued use of a local currency (the French Pacific Franc, or CFP) rather than the Euro, as well as the authority of the Territorial Congress to pass statutes overriding French law in a number of areas.

On the other hand, New Caledonia remains a part of the French Republic. The inhabitants of New Caledonia are French citizens, carry French passports and take part in the legislative and presidential French elections.

The Nouméa Accord provides a mechanism for the determination of the ultimate status and degree of New Caledonian territorial autonomy:pursuant to the Accord, the Territorial Congress will have the right to call for a referendum on independence at any time of its choosing after 2014.

The current president of the government elected by the territorial Congress is Philippe Gomès, from the loyalist (i.e. anti-independence) "Caledonia Together" party ( Calédonie Ensemble ), which split from "Future Together" ( Avenir Ensemble ) in 2008. "Future Together" is a party of mostly White and Polynesian New Caledonians opposed to independence, but rebelling against the hegemonic and (allegedly) corrupt anti-independence RPCR, led by Jacques Lafleur. Their toppling of the RPCR (until then seen as the only voice of New Caledonian Whites) was a surprise to many, and a sign that New Caledonian society is undergoing changes. "Future Together," as the name implies, is opposed to a racial-oriented vision of New Caledonian political life, one based purely on the political primacy of either the Melanesian native inhabitants or the descendants of European settlers. Rather, it is in favour of a multicultural New Caledonia that retains its existing relationship with France, of governing principles that better reflect the reality of the existence of large populations of Polynesians, Indonesians and other immigrant communities that make up the territory's population. Some members of "Future Together" are even in favour of some form of autonomy or independence, though not necessarily on the same basis as the Melanesian independence parties which seek full independence for New Caledonia.

Administratively, the archipelago is divided into three provinces :

The subdivision chief towns are the same as the provincial capitals except in the South Subdivision where the chief town is La Foa, whereas the capital of the South Province is Nouméa. Thus, although the provincial assembly of the South Province sits in Nouméa, the South Subdivision's Deputy Commissioner of the Republic is in residence in La Foa. This was decided in order to counterbalance the overwhelming weight of Nouméa in New Caledonia.

In addition, a parallel layer of administration exists for Kanak tribal affairs;these are called aires coutumières ("traditional spheres") and are eight in number (see map of the "aires coutumières"). Their jurisdiction does not encompass non-Kanaks living within these zones. The aires coutumières more or less correspond to the indigenous language areas of pre-French tribal alliances.

There are two main seasons:a dry season, and a warm and wet season. The dry cooler months are from April to November with daily temperature ranges from 17-27 °C. During the wet season (December to March) the temperature can reach 32 °C. The south-east trade winds temper the heat, and evenings are pleasantly cool. The wet season sees the occasional cyclone hitting the islands.

It is a vast oversimplification, however, to merely describe New Caledonia's extremely important, complex and diverse ecology in terms of precipitation zones. Species and ecological diversity is further complicated by soil type (degree and type of mineralization), altitude, and geographic location (for instance, Loyalty Islands and Isle of Pines have flora that is distinct from Grande Terre).

In addition to the remarkable terrestrial environment of New Caledonia, the country is also home to important aquatic ecosystems. Its freshwater ecology also evolved in long isolation, and the New Caledonia rivers and streams are home to many endemic species. Moreover, the New Caledonia Barrier Reef, which surrounds Grande Terre and the Isle of Pines (Île des Pins), is the second-largest coral reef in the world after Australia's Great Barrier Reef, reaching a length of 1,500 kilometres (930 mi). Like its terrestrial counterpart, the Caledonian reef system has great species diversity, is home to endangered dugongs (Dugong dugong) , and is an important nesting site for the Green Sea Turtle (Chelonia mydas) . The island is also a home for vagrant fur seals. The Nautilus is a living-fossil species, common during the age of the dinosaurs, which survives today in the waters surrounding New Caledonia. In January 2002, the French government proposed listing New Caledonia's reefs as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. UNESCO listed New Caledonia Barrier Reef on the World Heritage List under the name The Lagoons of New Caledonia:Reef Diversity and Associated Ecosystems on 7 July 2008.

Due to an intervention by French president Jacques Chirac, questions asking for the ethnicity of people were deleted from the 2004 census, officially because they were deemed to contravene the French Constitution, which states that no distinction based on ethnicity or religion should be made among French citizens. The indigenous Melanesian Kanak leaders, who are extremely sensitive to ethnic balance issues, called for New Caledonians of Kanak ethnicity not to return census forms if questions regarding ethnicity were not asked, threatening to derail the census process.

Eventually, the stalemate was resolved when the local New Caledonian statistical office (a branch of the national French statistical office INSEE) agreed to ask questions regarding ethnicity. However, it is not known whether questions regarding ethnicity were asked to all residents of New Caledonia, and at any rate no data have been released, leaving the ethnic tables from the 1996 census as the only information on ethnicity currently available.

According to the 31 August 2004 census, there were 230,789 inhabitants in New Caledonia.^{2 - This figure has increased to 249,000 as of 1 January 2009 official estimates. -}

Population :249,000 (1 January 2009 estimate) ^-

Age structure:
0–14 years:28,4% (male 31 818, female 30 513)
15–64 years:64,9% (male 71 565, female 70 815)
65 years and over:6,6% (male 6 773, female 7 772) (2006 est.)

Population growth rate:1.84% (in 2005), 1.91% (yearly average from January 2000 to January 2006)

Birth rate :17.2 births/1 000 population (in 2005)

Death rate:4.9 deaths/1 000 population (in 2005)

Net migration rate :5.62 migrants/1 000 population (in 2005), 5.01 migrants/1 000 population (yearly average between beginning of 2000 and end of 2005

Infant mortality rate:7.57 deaths/1,000 live births male:8.27 deaths/1,000 live births female:6.83 deaths/1,000 live births (2006 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:(in 2005)
total population:75.2 years
male:71.9 years
female:78.6 years

Total fertility rate:2.20 children born/woman (in 2005)

Nationality:
noun:New Caledonian(s)
adjective:New Caledonian

Ethnic groups:(as of 1996 census) ^{25 - ) Melanesian 44.6%, European 34.5%, Wallisian 9.1%, Tahitian 2.7%, Indonesian 2.6%, Vietnamese 1.4%, Ni-Vanuatu 1.2%, other (Filipino) 3.9%}

Religions:Roman Catholicism 60%, Protestantism 30%, other 10%
See also:

Literacy :
definition:age 15 and over can read and write
total population:91%
male:92%
female:90% (1976 est.)

Amédée lighthouse at Nouméa, the world's tallest metal lighthouse

Xodre Cliffs on Lifou

Coral reef off Lifou

Brush countryside in the north, towards Poum

The famous bandstand of the Place des Cocotiers at Nouméa

A creek rich in metal oxides in the south of Grande Terre.

On Ouvéa, 25km of white sand.

Ouvéa atoll

Phones in New Caledonia