New Caledonia
Geography - People - Economy - Government - Communications - Transportation - Military - Transnational IssuesCountry name - conventional long form : Territory of New Caledonia and Dependencies
Country name - conventional short form : New Caledonia
Country name - local long form : Territoire des Nouvelle-Caledonie et Dependances
Country name - local short form : Nouvelle-Caledonie
Government type : NA
Capital - name : Noumea
Capital - time difference : UTC+11 (16 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)
National holiday : Bastille Day, 14 July (1789)
Population : 224,824 (July 2008 est.)
Nationality - noun : New Caledonian(s)
Nationality - adjective : New Caledonian
Languages : French (official), 33 Melanesian-Polynesian dialects
Currency (code) : Comptoirs Francais du Pacifique franc (XPF)
Currency code : XPF
New Caledonia is located Oceania, islands in the South Pacific Ocean, east of Australia. The climate is tropical; modified by southeast trade winds; hot, humid. The terrain is coastal plains with interior mountains.
Background
This entry usually highlights major historic events and current issues and may include a statement about one or two key future trends.Background : Settled by both Britain and France during the first half of the 19th century, the island was made 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 as many as three referenda between 2013 and 2018, to decide whether New Caledonia should assume full sovereignty and independence.
More Information about the country
