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 seems to have dissipated.

Map reference: Oceania

Area
Total: 19,060 km²
Land: 18,760 km²

Land boundaries: 0 km

Coastline: 2,254 km
Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
Territorial sea: 12 nm

Climate: tropical; modified by southeast trade winds; hot, humid

Terrain: coastal plains with interior mountains

Natural resources: nickel, chrome, iron, cobalt, manganese, silver, gold, lead, copper

Land use
Arable land: 0%
Meadows and pastures: 14%
Forest and woodland: 51%
Other: 35%

Irrigated land: NA km²

Population: 178,056 (July 1993 est.)
Growth rate: 1.83% (1993 est.)

Nationality
Noun: New Caledonian(s)
Adjective: New Caledonian

Ethnic groups:

Languages: French, 28 Melanesian-Polynesian dialects

Religions: Roman Catholic 60%, Protestant 30%, other 10%

Population growth rate: 1.83% (1993 est.)

Birth rate: 22.7 births/1000 population (1993 est.)

Death rate: 5.01 deaths/1000 population (1993 est.)

Net migration rate: 0.58 migrant(s)/1000 population (1993 est.)

Environment
Current issues: typhoons most frequent from November to March

Infant mortality rate: 15.9 deaths/1000 live births (1993 est.)

Life expectancy at birth
Total population: 73.22 years
Male: 69.92 years
Female: 76.7 years (1993 est.)

Total fertility rate: 2.67 children born/woman (1993 est.)

Literacy: age 15 and over can read and write (1976)
Total population: 91%
Male: 91%
Female: 90%

Country name
Conventional long form: Territory of New Caledonia and Dependencies
Conventional short form: New Caledonia
Local long form: Territoire des Nouvelle-Caledonie et Dependances
Local short form: Nouvelle-Caledonie

Government type: overseas territory of France since 1956

Capital: Noumea

Administrative divisions: none (overseas territory of France; there are no first-order administrative divisions as defined by the US Government, but there are 3 provinces named Iles Loyaute, Nord, and Sud

Independence: none (overseas territory of France; a referendum on independence will be held in 1998)

National holiday: National Day, Taking of the Bastille, 14 July (1789)

Constitution: 28 September 1958 (French Constitution)

Legal system: the 1988 Matignon Accords grant substantial autonomy to the islands; formerly under French law

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

Executive branch: French president, high commissioner, Consultative Committee (cabinet)

Judicial branch: Court of Appeal

International organization participation: ESCAP (associate), FZ, ICFTU, SPC, WMO

Diplomatic representation
In the us:
From the us: none (overseas territory of France)

Flag description: the flag of France is used

Economy overview: New Caledonia has more than 25% of the world's known nickel resources. In recent years the economy has suffered because of depressed international demand for nickel, the principal source of export earnings. Only a negligible amount of the land is suitable for cultivation, and food accounts for about 25% of imports.

Real gdp growth rate: 2.4% (1988)

Real gdp per capita: $6,000 (1991 est.)

Industries: nickel mining and smelting vegetables; 60% self-sufficient in beef

Industrial production growth rate: growth rate NA%

Labor force: 50,469 foreign workers for plantations and mines from Wallis and Futuna, Vanuatu, and French Polynesia (1980 est.)
By occupation: NA

Unemployment rate: 16% (1989)

Budget: revenues $224.0 million; expenditures $211.0 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (1985)

Fiscal year: calendar year

Exports: $671 million (f.o.b., 1989)
Commodoties: nickel metal 87%, nickel ore
Partners: France 52.3%, Japan 15.8%, US 6.4%

Imports: $764 million (c.i.f., 1989)
Commodoties: foods, fuels, minerals, machines, electrical equipment
Partners: France 44.0%, US 10%, Australia 9%

Exchange rates: Comptoirs Francais duPacifique francs (CFPF) per US$1 - 99.65 (January 1993), 96.24 (1992), 102.57 (1991), 99.00 (1990), 115.99 (1989), 108.30 (1988; note - linked at the rate of 18.18 to the French franc

Electricity
Production: 400,000 kW capacity; 2,200 million kWh produced, 12,790 kWh per capita (1990)

Airports: 29
Usable: 27
With permanentsurface runways: 2
With runways over 3659 m: 0
With runways 2440-3659 m: 1
With runways 1220-2439 m: 2

Disputes international: none

Illicit drugs: illicit cannabis cultivation is becoming a principal source of income for some families