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New Caledonia

File:Flag_of_New_Caledonia.svg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons

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New Caledonia

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Also known as Territory of New Caledonia and Dependencies, NC, FR-NC, NCL, Nouvelle-Calédonie, Kanaky

French special collectivity and archipelago in Oceania

AI overview

New Caledonia is a French territory in the South Pacific Ocean that consists of a group of islands and has a special political status within France. It matters because of its strategic location in the Pacific region and its significant nickel resources, which make it economically and geopolitically important.

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Wikidata facts

Official name
Nouvelle-Calédonie
Demonym
Nua-Chaladónach
Population
278500
Area
18576
Official website
gouv.nc
Image
New Caledonia after the passage of tropical cyclone Niran.jpg
Life expectancy
76.9615
Nominal GDP
10071349707
Calling code
+687
Mains voltage
220
Show 14 more facts
Commons category
New Caledonia
Unicode character
🇳🇨
inception
1853-01-01
Commons gallery
Nouvelle-Calédonie
postal code
988*
total fertility rate
2.24
native label
Nouvelle-Calédonie
maritime identification digits
540
street address
3 rue Félix Raoul-Thomas, Nouville, 98845, Nouméa
phone number
+33-0.687.26.60.20
nickname
le Caillou
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Article

New Caledonia is a French territory consisting of a group of islands in the southwest Pacific Ocean, 220 km (140 mi) southwest of Vanuatu and 1,210 km (750 mi) east of Australia. Located 16,100 km (10,000 mi) from Metropolitan France, it forms a sui generis collectivity of the French Republic, having a unique legal status enshrined in a dedicated chapter of the French Constitution.

The archipelago, part of the Melanesia subregion, includes the main island of Grande Terre, the Loyalty Islands, the Chesterfield Islands, the Belep archipelago, the Isle of Pines, and a few remote islets. The Chesterfield Islands are in the Coral Sea. French people, especially locals, call Grande Terre le Caillou, a nickname also used more generally for New Caledonia itself. Pro-independence Kanak parties use the name (la) Kanaky (pron. [(la) kanaki]) to refer to New Caledonia, a term coined in the 1980s from the ethnic name of the indigenous Melanesian Kanak people who make up 41% of New Caledonia's population. New Caledonia is associated with the European Union as an overseas country and territory (OCT).

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