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.

Name

The name Caledonia derives from the Latin name of a region corresponding approximately to modern Scotland. The name Kanaky is also in common usage in French, English and the indigenous languages. This name is favored by Melanesian nationalists. The word comes from kanaka, a Polynesian word meaning human used by Polynesians to call themselves. The word was later used by the French to call all the native inhabitants of the South Pacific Ocean, including the Melanesian (non-Polynesian) native inhabitants of New Caledonia. The word, turned into Canaque in French, became derogative. In the 1960s and 1970s, when the Melanesian native inhabitants started to organize themselves into political parties and ask for independence, this derogative word was turned into a symbol of political emancipation and pride.

Related Topics:
Caledonia - Latin - Scotland - Melanesia - Polynesian

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