SearchTraveling Luck for New Caledonia. New Caledonia, Oceania
New Caledonia is located in Oceania, islands in the South Pacific Ocean, east of Australia.
Land in New Caledonia is coastal plains with interior mountains.
New Caledonian land covers an area of 19060 square kilometers which is slightly smaller than New Jersey
New Caledonian national flag (Flag of New Caledonia)
New Caledonia country profile
Travel advice for New CaledoniaAs for the New Caledonian climate; tropical; modified by southeast trade winds; hot, humid.
New Caledonian(s) speak French (official), 33 Melanesian-Polynesian dialects.
Places of note in New Caledonia
New Caledonian map
Regions of New Caledonia
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 and early 1990s ended in the 1998 Noumea Accord, which over a period of 15 to 20 years will transfer an increasing amount of governing responsibility from France to New Caledonia. The agreement also commits France to conduct as many as three referenda between 2013 and 2018, to decide whether New Caledonia should assume full sovereignty and independence.
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 one-fourth 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 Caledonian natural resources include nickel, chrome, iron, cobalt, manganese, silver, gold, lead, copper
consists of the main island of New Caledonia (one of the largest in the Pacific Ocean), the archipelago of Iles Loyaute, and numerous small, sparsely populated islands and atolls
New Caledonian religion is Roman Catholic 60%, Protestant 30%, other 10%.
Natural hazards in New Caledonia include cyclones, most frequent from November to March.
Travel Advice for New Caledonia
New CaledoniaSUMMARY
- New Caledonia is a French Overseas Territory. There is no formal British diplomatic consular representation. The General section of this Travel Advice gives you more information.
- The threat from terrorism is low. But you should be aware of the global risk of indiscriminate terrorist attacks which could be against civilian targets, including places frequented by foreigners.
- Although the risk from crime is also low, it does exist and you should take normal common-sense precautions.
- Around 300 British nationals visit New Caledonia each year. Most visits are trouble free. The main type of incident for which British visitors require consular assistance concern cases of illness.
- Tropical cyclones may occur in New Caledonia between mid-December and mid-March. See the Natural Disasters section of this advice and Hurricanes for more information.
- We strongly recommend that you obtain comprehensive travel and medical insurance before travelling to New Caledonia. You should check any exclusions, and that your policy covers you for the activities you want to undertake. Please see: Travel Insurance.
SAFETY AND SECURITY
Tropical cyclones may occur in New Caledonia between mid-December and mid-March. Local weather updates are available from the New Caledonia Meteorological Department at: http://www.meteo.nc and regional and international weather updates at: http://www.supertyphoon.com/ or at: http://www.hurricanezone.net/south-pacific-cyclones/advisories-bulletins.html. Please also see Hurricanes for more detailed information and advice should you be involved in a cyclonic situation.
GENERAL