New Caledonia offers an endless variety of landscapes, from some of the best white sand
beaches in the Pacific to spectacular
mountain retreats. It is surrounded by a 1,600km- (1,000 mile-) long
coral reef, and claims the world’s largest
lagoon.
New Caledonia is not volcanic, like its neighbors, but a fragment of an ancient continent that drifted away some 250 million years ago. As such its flora and fauna have evolved in isolation, and are now quite unique. A wide variety of
endemic species have flourished.
New Caledonia is the third
largest island in the
Pacific Region after Papua New Guinea and New Zealand. It became a
French colony in1853 and a French Overseas Territory in 1946. The indigenous population has attempted to free themselves from French rule on several occasions, including the Kanak Revolt of 1878. Conflicts still flare up today, reflecting the countries’ differing attitudes on self-government, French nuclear testing in the region and more.
GeographyNew Caledonia consists of Grande Terre (Mainland), the Ile des Pins (Isle of Pines) to the south of Grande Terre, the Loyalty Islands to the east of Grande Terre (Maré, Lifou, Tiga and Ouvéa), the Belep Archipelago in the northwest, and numerous islands and islets (Huon & Surprise, Christfield, Walpole, Beautémps-Beaupré, Astrolabe and the Bellona reef); a total surface area of 19,000 sq km (7,340 sq miles) (16,372 sq km/6,321 sq miles for Grande Terre alone, which is 400km/249 miles long). Grande Terre is divided by a range of mountains (Châine Centrale), the highest points of which are Mount Pancé in the north (1,629m/5,344ft) and Mount Humboldt in the south (1,618m/5,308ft). Various species of trees can be found here. This unusual relief divides Grande Terre into the East coast (humid and open to trade winds; fertile and exotic with lush tropical vegetation) from the West coast (dry and temperate; filled with
niaouli trees, cattle and beautiful beaches).
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