New Caledonia

New Caledonia (French: Nouvelle-Calédonie; popular names: Kanaky, Le caillou) is a French territory made up of a main island and several smaller islands, in the southwest Pacific. It has a land area of 18,575.5 km² (7,172 sq. miles). The population at the 2004 census was 230,789 inhabitants. It has an Internet country code top-level domain (ccTLD) of .nc. The capital and largest city of the territory is Nouméa.

Demographics

Main article: Demographics of New Caledonia

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Political life is complicated by the fact that the indigenous Melanesian Kanak community is now a minority of some 44.6% (at 1996 census) following earlier population decline and immigration under French rule. The rest of the population is made up of ethnic groups who arrived in New Caledonia in the last 150 years: Whites (34.5%), Polynesians (Wallisians, Tahitians) (11.8%), Javanese (2.6%), Vietnamese (1.4%), ni-Vanuatu (1.2%), and various other groups, such as Malabaris, Maghrebins, Japanese, Chinese, Fijians (3.9%). The Kanak are known officially as Melanesians, however this term technically includes the ni-Vantuatu as well. Similarly, those whose roots are in French Polynesia are known either as Tahitians (which excludes persons originating in the other archipelagoes of French Polynesia) or simply as Polynesians (which would include both Tahitians and Wallisians, as well as many other minor groups). Whites that have lived in New Caledonia for several generations are locally known as "Caldoches", whereas newcomers who have immigrated from metropolitan France are called "Métros" or "Métropolitains". Within the official statistical category "Europeans" it is estimated that approximately two thirds identify themselves with the caldoche community while the rest see themselves primarily as French. There is a significant contingent of people that arrive from France to work for a year or two and others that have come to retire. The Caldoche usually refer to themselves simply as "calédoniens" and may be either white (mostly French or German) or white with an admixture of Asian, Melanesian or Polynesian ancestry. Caldoche culture has many similarities with Australian or white South African culture. Until very recently the Kanak population held an economically disadvantaged position in New Caledonian society, while wealthy French expatriats formed the top of the social hierarchy. The Asian and Polynesian inhabitants dominate certain segments of the local economy.

Related Topics:
Melanesian - Kanak - Whites - Polynesia - Wallisians - Tahiti - Javanese - Vietnamese - Ni-Vanuatu - Malabaris - Maghrebins - Japanese - Chinese - Fijians - French Polynesia - French - German - Australia - White South African

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Censuses are extremely critical to the balance of power in the territory, and the organization of a new census was regularly postponed after 1996. Eventually the census was carried out in August and September 2004, amidst raging controversies over ethnic questions. 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.

Related Topics:
1996 - 2004 - Jacques Chirac - French Constitution - INSEE

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

According to the 2004 census, there were 230,789 inhabitants in New Caledonia as of September 2004. This means a population increase of 1.9% per year since 1996, which is less than had been anticipated. In particular, Kanak leaders were fearful of a large influx of white people from metropolitan France which would alter the ethnic balance in the territory. Census results show that immigration to New Caledonia was not as high as anticipated, with nonetheless a positive migration flow of about 1,000 people yearly to New Caledonia between 1996 and 2004 (i.e. there are 1,000 more people who migrate to New Caledonia every year than people who leave New Caledonia).

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~