New Caledonia:
Geography

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Other pages in this profile of New Caledonia:
People, Government, Economy, Communications & Transportation, Military & Transnational Issues.


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 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.

Location	Oceania, islands in the South Pacific Ocean, east of Australia
Geographic coordinates	21 30 S, 165 30 E
Map references	Oceania
Area	total: 19,060 sq km land: 18,575 sq km water: 485 sq km
Area - comparative	slightly smaller than New Jersey
Land boundaries	0 km
Coastline	2,254 km
Maritime claims	territorial sea: 12 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
Climate	tropical; modified by southeast trade winds; hot, humid
Terrain	coastal plains with interior mountains
Elevation extremes	lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m highest point: Mont Panie 1,628 m
Natural resources	nickel, chrome, iron, cobalt, manganese, silver, gold, lead, copper
Land use	arable land: 0.32% permanent crops: 0.22% other: 99.46% (2005)
Irrigated land	100 sq km (2003)
Natural hazards	cyclones, most frequent from November to March
Environment - current issues	erosion caused by mining exploitation and forest fires
Geography - note	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 Caledonia: Geography

New Caledonia:
Geography