Private guide in New Caledonia (Noumea) - Local independent tour guides in New Caledonia who offer private walking, sailing and driving tours for individuals, families and small groups. New Caledonia and its islands are one of the most extraordinary places of the Pacific ocean.
Tour - Excursion in Noumea (Noumea) - Nouméa and periphery The museum of sea history: This museum resumes more than 3000 years of history. Local archaeologists have made a selection of objects to discover the story of boats in New Caledonia.
CAPITAL CITY OF New Caledonia: Noumea LANGUAGE OF New Caledonia: French CURRENCY OF New Caledonia: Euro (EUR) CLIMATE OF New Caledonia: New Caledonia lies astride the Tropic of Capricorn, between 19° and 23° south latitude. The climate of the islands is tropical, and rainfall is highly seasonal, brought by trade winds that usually come from the east. Rainfall averages about 1,500 millimetres (59 in) yearly on the Loyalty Islands, 2,000 millimetres (79 in) at low elevations on eastern the Grande Terre, and 2,000-4,000 millimetres (79–157.5 in) at high elevations on the Grande Terre. The western side of the Grande Terre lies in the rain shadow of the central mountains, and rainfall averages 1,200 millimetres (47 in) per year. RELIGION OF New Caledonia: Roman Catholic 60%, Protestant 30%, other 10% POPULATION OF New Caledonia: Though still the largest group, the indigenous Melanesian Kanak community now represents 44.6% of the whole population (as of 1996 census[3]), their proportion of the population having declined due to immigration and other factors. The rest of the population is made up of ethnic groups that arrived in New Caledonia in the last 150 years: Europeans (34.5%) (predominantly French, with German, British and Italian minorities), Polynesians (Wallisians, Tahitians) (11.8%), Indonesians (2.6%), Vietnamese (1.4%), Ni-Vanuatu (1.2%), and various other groups (3.9%), such as Malabaris and Tamils, Indians (Hindu and Muslim), Sri Lankans, Bengalis, Berbers, Japanese, Chinese, Fijians (Native Fijians and Fiji Indians), Arabs, West Indian (mostly from other French territories) and a small number of ethnic Africans. Some of this immigration was a direct consequence of various conflicts around the world but in particular of the crumbling of the French colonial empire. The Kanak are known officially as Melanesians. 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" no distinction is made between Caledonian-born whites and French-born whites, however it is estimated that approximately two thirds identify themselves with the Caldoche community while the rest see themselves primarily as French immigrants. 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 and Afrikaner culture. Until very recently the Kanak population held an economically disadvantaged position in New Caledonian society, while wealthy French expatriates formed the top of the socio-economic hierarchy. The Asian and Polynesian inhabitants dominate certain segments of the local economy.
There have been frequent accusations by the pro-independence movement that the French government is attempting to skew the demographic balance between the ethnic communities by clandestinely settling thousands of people from mainland France among the white Caledonians. Censuses are extremely critical to the balance of power in New Caledonia, and the organisation 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.
According to the 2004 census, there were 230,789 inhabitants in New Caledonia. This figure has increased to 236,528 as of January 2006 official estimates.[5] Kanak leaders were fearful of a major influx of whites from metropolitan France which would alter the ethnic balance in the territory, but this has not happened.>> ECONOMY OVERVIEW OF New Caledonia: New Caledonia has about 25% of the world's known nickel resources. Only a small amount of the land is suitable for cultivation, and food accounts for about 20% of imports. In addition to nickel, substantial financial support from France - equal to more than 15% of GDP - and tourism are keys to the health of the economy. Substantial new investment in the nickel industry, combined with the recovery of global nickel prices, brightens the economic outlook for the next several years.
New Caledonia and its islands are one of the most extraordinary places of the Pacific ocean. And the best way to visit this area is to be with your family or friends and to be lead by a local private guide. He will be able to show you all the different beauties and secrets which are part of the Caledonian culture.
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CAPITAL CITY OF New Caledonia: Noumea
