Geography of New Caledonia
Indonesian 2.6%, Vietnamese 1.4%, Ni-Vanuatu 1.2%, other (Filipino) 3.9% |
The geography of
The archipelago is located east of Australia, north of New Zealand, south of the Equator, and just west of Fiji and Vanuatu.
New Caledonia is one of the northernmost parts of an almost entirely (93%) submerged
Composition
New Caledonia is made up of a main island, the
- The New Caledonia archipelago, which includes Grande Terre, .
- The trench.
- The Chesterfield Islands, 550 kilometres (340 miles) to the northwest, are reef outcroppings of the oceanic plateau.
- The Matthew and Hunter Islands, at 450 and 520 kilometres (280 and 320 miles) east, respectively, are volcanic islands that form the southern end of the arc of the New Hebrides.
The Grande Terre is by far the largest of the islands, and the only mountainous island. It has an area of 16,372 square kilometres (6,321 square miles), and is elongated northwest–southeast, 350 kilometres (220 miles) in length and 50 to 70 kilometres (31 to 43 miles) wide. A mountain range runs the length of the island, with five peaks over 1,500 meters (4,900 feet). The highest point is Mont Panié at 1,628 meters (5,341 feet) elevation. The total area of New Caledonia is 19,060 km2 (7,360 sq mi), 18,575 km2 (7,172 sq mi) of those being land.
A territorial dispute exists with regard to the uninhabited Matthew and Hunter Islands, which are claimed by both France (as part of New Caledonia) and Vanuatu.
Zealandian origin
The New Caledonian archipelago is a
Zealandia is 3,500,000 km2 (1,351,358 sq mi) in area, larger than Greenland or India, and almost half the size of Australia. It is unusually slender, stretching from New Caledonia in the north to beyond New Zealand's subantarctic islands in the south (from latitude 19° south to 56° south,[10] analogous to ranging from Haiti to Hudson Bay or from Sudan to Sweden in the Northern Hemisphere). New Zealand is the greatest part of Zealandia above sea level, followed by New Caledonia.[10]
Given its continental origin as a fragment of Zealandia, unlike many of the
Since the age of the dinosaurs, as the island moved north due to the effects of
Climate
The
Climate data for Nouméa (Köppen Aw) | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
Record high °C (°F) | 36.8 (98.2) |
36.4 (97.5) |
36.4 (97.5) |
36.1 (97.0) |
32.7 (90.9) |
30.7 (87.3) |
34.0 (93.2) |
31.7 (89.1) |
33.0 (91.4) |
32.3 (90.1) |
34.9 (94.8) |
35.7 (96.3) |
36.8 (98.2) |
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 29.5 (85.1) |
29.9 (85.8) |
29.0 (84.2) |
27.4 (81.3) |
25.6 (78.1) |
24.2 (75.6) |
23.4 (74.1) |
23.4 (74.1) |
24.7 (76.5) |
26.2 (79.2) |
27.6 (81.7) |
29.1 (84.4) |
26.7 (80.1) |
Daily mean °C (°F) | 26.5 (79.7) |
26.9 (80.4) |
26.2 (79.2) |
24.7 (76.5) |
22.9 (73.2) |
21.6 (70.9) |
20.6 (69.1) |
20.5 (68.9) |
21.5 (70.7) |
22.9 (73.2) |
24.3 (75.7) |
25.8 (78.4) |
23.7 (74.7) |
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 23.4 (74.1) |
24.0 (75.2) |
23.5 (74.3) |
22.0 (71.6) |
20.2 (68.4) |
18.9 (66.0) |
17.7 (63.9) |
17.5 (63.5) |
18.3 (64.9) |
19.6 (67.3) |
21.0 (69.8) |
22.5 (72.5) |
20.7 (69.3) |
Record low °C (°F) | 18.6 (65.5) |
19.0 (66.2) |
18.8 (65.8) |
16.7 (62.1) |
15.7 (60.3) |
13.6 (56.5) |
13.5 (56.3) |
13.2 (55.8) |
13.3 (55.9) |
14.2 (57.6) |
15.2 (59.4) |
17.8 (64.0) |
13.2 (55.8) |
Average precipitation mm (inches) | 107.2 (4.22) |
128.3 (5.05) |
161.9 (6.37) |
118.3 (4.66) |
89.9 (3.54) |
77.5 (3.05) |
69.8 (2.75) |
67.5 (2.66) |
39.3 (1.55) |
36.3 (1.43) |
44.2 (1.74) |
64.0 (2.52) |
1,004.2 (39.54) |
Average precipitation days (≥ 1.0 mm) | 10.1 | 10.8 | 11.9 | 11.7 | 11.3 | 9.3 | 9.4 | 8.4 | 5.8 | 4.8 | 6.0 | 6.7 | 106.3 |
Mean monthly sunshine hours | 238.5 | 205.6 | 196.1 | 193.1 | 173.2 | 154.6 | 182.4 | 203.5 | 230.8 | 258.6 | 250.6 | 261.8 | 2,548.7 |
Source 1: Météo-France,[15] Meteociel (sunshine 1981-2010)[16] | |||||||||||||
Source 2: Service de la météorologie de la Nouvelle-Calédonie[17] |
Climate data for Lifou (Köppen Af/Am) | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
Record high °C (°F) | 33.3 (91.9) |
34.6 (94.3) |
32.1 (89.8) |
31.9 (89.4) |
30.3 (86.5) |
29.5 (85.1) |
30.0 (86.0) |
28.9 (84.0) |
30.6 (87.1) |
30.3 (86.5) |
32.2 (90.0) |
32.8 (91.0) |
34.6 (94.3) |
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 29.6 (85.3) |
30.0 (86.0) |
29.3 (84.7) |
28.1 (82.6) |
26.3 (79.3) |
25.0 (77.0) |
24.3 (75.7) |
24.4 (75.9) |
25.4 (77.7) |
26.6 (79.9) |
27.7 (81.9) |
28.9 (84.0) |
27.1 (80.8) |
Daily mean °C (°F) | 26.2 (79.2) |
26.6 (79.9) |
26.2 (79.2) |
24.9 (76.8) |
22.7 (72.9) |
21.4 (70.5) |
20.1 (68.2) |
20.0 (68.0) |
21.0 (69.8) |
22.5 (72.5) |
23.9 (75.0) |
25.3 (77.5) |
23.4 (74.1) |
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 22.8 (73.0) |
23.3 (73.9) |
23.1 (73.6) |
21.7 (71.1) |
19.1 (66.4) |
17.7 (63.9) |
15.9 (60.6) |
15.7 (60.3) |
16.6 (61.9) |
18.5 (65.3) |
20.0 (68.0) |
21.6 (70.9) |
19.7 (67.5) |
Record low °C (°F) | 11.0 (51.8) |
14.1 (57.4) |
13.6 (56.5) |
10.9 (51.6) |
7.4 (45.3) |
5.5 (41.9) |
4.4 (39.9) |
4.5 (40.1) |
5.5 (41.9) |
7.0 (44.6) |
8.5 (47.3) |
10.0 (50.0) |
4.4 (39.9) |
Average precipitation mm (inches) | 174.2 (6.86) |
194.9 (7.67) |
242.4 (9.54) |
185.2 (7.29) |
144.8 (5.70) |
127.8 (5.03) |
88.2 (3.47) |
70.8 (2.79) |
70.4 (2.77) |
66.6 (2.62) |
75.9 (2.99) |
137.8 (5.43) |
1,579 (62.17) |
Average precipitation days (≥ 1.0 mm) | 12.1 | 13.0 | 15.4 | 11.9 | 11.7 | 9.5 | 8.0 | 6.5 | 6.2 | 7.0 | 7.4 | 10.1 | 118.8 |
Mean monthly sunshine hours | 223.4 | 186.8 | 194.0 | 194.6 | 178.3 | 151.4 | 180.0 | 194.5 | 208.7 | 236.1 | 230.1 | 233.8 | 2,411.5 |
Source 1: Météo-France[18] | |||||||||||||
Source 2: Service de la météorologie de la Nouvelle-Calédonie[19] |
Climate data for Poindimié (Köppen Af) | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
Record high °C (°F) | 33.8 (92.8) |
34.2 (93.6) |
34.4 (93.9) |
32.8 (91.0) |
31.2 (88.2) |
30.2 (86.4) |
29.0 (84.2) |
30.3 (86.5) |
32.1 (89.8) |
31.0 (87.8) |
33.0 (91.4) |
33.3 (91.9) |
34.4 (93.9) |
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 29.5 (85.1) |
29.9 (85.8) |
29.5 (85.1) |
28.4 (83.1) |
26.9 (80.4) |
25.5 (77.9) |
24.8 (76.6) |
24.7 (76.5) |
25.6 (78.1) |
26.5 (79.7) |
27.5 (81.5) |
28.6 (83.5) |
27.3 (81.1) |
Daily mean °C (°F) | 26.4 (79.5) |
26.8 (80.2) |
26.5 (79.7) |
25.3 (77.5) |
23.6 (74.5) |
22.2 (72.0) |
21.2 (70.2) |
21.1 (70.0) |
22.0 (71.6) |
23.1 (73.6) |
24.2 (75.6) |
25.5 (77.9) |
24.0 (75.2) |
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 23.3 (73.9) |
23.7 (74.7) |
23.4 (74.1) |
22.1 (71.8) |
20.3 (68.5) |
18.9 (66.0) |
17.6 (63.7) |
17.5 (63.5) |
18.4 (65.1) |
19.7 (67.5) |
21.0 (69.8) |
22.4 (72.3) |
20.7 (69.3) |
Record low °C (°F) | 17.6 (63.7) |
17.9 (64.2) |
16.2 (61.2) |
15.8 (60.4) |
13.5 (56.3) |
12.5 (54.5) |
11.2 (52.2) |
11.0 (51.8) |
12.5 (54.5) |
12.5 (54.5) |
13.1 (55.6) |
14.8 (58.6) |
11.0 (51.8) |
Average precipitation mm (inches) | 313.2 (12.33) |
326.2 (12.84) |
395.8 (15.58) |
258.5 (10.18) |
194.6 (7.66) |
155.6 (6.13) |
116.0 (4.57) |
101.4 (3.99) |
102.7 (4.04) |
96.8 (3.81) |
144.7 (5.70) |
221.1 (8.70) |
2,426.6 (95.54) |
Average precipitation days (≥ 1.0 mm) | 17.9 | 18.6 | 19.9 | 16.6 | 13.9 | 11.0 | 9.2 | 8.4 | 8.4 | 11.0 | 12.1 | 16.3 | 163.4 |
Mean monthly sunshine hours | 186.9 | 158.8 | 163.5 | 165.3 | 153.1 | 148.2 | 174.3 | 186.6 | 195.5 | 207.9 | 186.3 | 192.0 | 2,118.2 |
Source 1: Météo-France[20] | |||||||||||||
Source 2: Service de la météorologie de la Nouvelle-Calédonie[21] |
Terrain
The terrain of Grande Terre consists of coastal
The
In 1993, 12% of New Caledonian land was used for permanent pasture, with 39% occupied by forests and woodland. In 1991, 160 km2 (62 sq mi) of the land was irrigated. A current environmental issue is erosion caused by mining exploitation and forest fires.
Biological isolation
Given its geographical isolation since the end of the
New Caledonia is home to 13 of the 19 extant species of evergreens in the genus
Given their prehistoric appearance, the dry forests of western New Caledonia were chosen as the location for filming the first episode of the BBC miniseries Walking with Dinosaurs, which was set in the Arizona of the late Triassic.
Mineral wealth
After a formation discovered in
Human geography
Before Western contact
Anthropologically, New Caledonia is considered the southernmost archipelago of
Since Western contact
Western colonization of the area began in the 18th century. The British explorer
Today, while French is the official language, 28 indigenous tongues are still spoken. At the 2004 census, 97.0% reported they could speak French, whereas only 0.97% reported that they had no knowledge of French.[36] In the same census, 37.1% reported that they could speak (but not necessarily read or write) one of the 28 indigenous Austronesian languages.[37]
At the 1996 census, the indigenous
See also
Other microcontinental islands:
References
This article incorporates public domain material from The World Factbook.
- ^ Previously known officially as the "Territory of New Caledonia and Dependencies" (French: Territoire de la Nouvelle-Calédonie et dépendances), then simply as the "Territory of New Caledonia" (French: Territoire de la Nouvelle-Calédonie), the official French name is now only Nouvelle-Calédonie (Organic Law of 19 March 1999, article 222 IV — see "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-06-14. Retrieved 2007-06-14.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)). French courts often continue to use the appellation Territoire de la Nouvelle-Calédonie. - ^ Boyer & Giribet 2007: 355
- ^ "New Caledonia has long been considered a Gondwanan refuge where archaic groups have survived for 80Ma." "New Caledonia: a very old Darwinian island?" Philippe Grandcolas,1* Jérôme Murienne, et al., Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 2008 October 27; 363(1508): 3309–3317.
- ^ a window into the unique evolutionary history of this part of the world. Initially this biota lived along the New Zealand-New Caledonia coast of Gondwana, but following Cretaceous breakup of this southern supercontinent the fossils record terrestrial and marine evolution on and around the New Zealand "ark" set adrift in the Southwest Pacific." See HAYWARD B.W. (2009).- Protecting fossil sites in New Zealand.- In: LIPPS J.H. & GRANIER B.R.C. (eds.), PaleoParks – The Protection and conservation of fossil sites worldwide.- Carnets de Géologie / Notebooks on Geology, Brest, 2009
- ^ for scholarly usage of the exact term "biological ark" in context of the Gondwanan breakup: "This globally significant ‘biological ark’, is attributed to Australia's long geographic isolation from other parts of the world." "Potential of ecotourism to protect natural remnant areas within the urban environment" Fiona Prince The University of Western Australia, Department of Environmental Engineering, 2002
- ^ At the end of Jurassic (135 My), Gondwana started to break apart. The oldest grounds of current New Caledonia were then located on the eastern margin of this continent as part of the Australian block. Towards the end of Cretaceous, about 85 million years ago, this old New Caledonia broke away and so did New Zealand. New-Caledonia was then isolated... As a result, New Caledonia is now a kind of "Jurassic Park" particularly with regards to its vegetation which is highly endemic and which has kept archaic characteristics." Gondwana super-continent.
- ^ Jean-Jacques Espirat, author of Étude géologique de régions de la Nouvelle Calédonie and member of the Bureau de Recherches Geologiques et Minieres compares it to Noah's Ark: "La Grande Terre de la Nouvelle-Calédonie s'est séparée il y a 70 millions d'années (au Crétacé terminal) du continent de Gondwana (groupant à l'origine les terres qui se sont séparées pour former l'Australie, l'Antarctique, l'Amérique du Sud, l'Inde, Madagascar et l'Afrique). Telle l'Arche de Noé cette Nouvelle Calédonie de la fin du Crétacé embarquait la flore de cette époque." La faune et la flore de Nouvelle-Calédonie. (French)
- ^ "Figure 8.1: New Zealand in relation to the Indo-Australian and Pacific Plates". The State of New Zealand's Environment 1997. 1997. Archived from the original on 2007-04-15. Retrieved 2007-04-20.
- ^ a b "Continental shelves".
- ^ a b c Keith Lewis; Scott D. Nodder; Lionel Carter (2007-01-11). "Zealandia: the New Zealand continent". Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Retrieved 2007-02-22.
- Dominion Post. 29 September 2007. Retrieved 2007-10-09.
We cannot categorically say that there has always been land here. The geological evidence at present is too weak, so we are logically forced to consider the possibility that the whole of Zealandia may have sunk.
- ISBN 978-0-14-302088-2.
- ^ Pelletier B., 2007. "Geology of the New Caledonia region and its implications for the study of the New Caledonian biodiversity", in: Payri C. E., Richer de Forges B. (eds.) Compendium of marine species of New Caledonia, Doc. Sci. Tech. II7, second edition, IRD Nouméa, pp 19–32.
- ISBN 978-0-387-98313-4.
- ^ "Fiche Climatologique Statistiques 1991-2020 et records" (PDF) (in French). Météo-France. Retrieved August 26, 2022.
- ^ "Noumea (988) / Normales / Moyennes 1981-2010" (in French). Météo-France. Retrieved August 26, 2022.
- ^ "climate of Noumea 1981-2010" (PDF) (in French). Météo-France. Retrieved April 7, 2022.
- ^ "Fiche Climatologique Statistiques 1991-2020 et records" (PDF) (in French). Météo-France. Retrieved August 26, 2022.
- ^ "Climate of Poindimié 1981-2010" (PDF) (in French). Météo-France. Retrieved April 8, 2022.
- ^ "Fiche Climatologique Statistiques 1991-2020 et records" (PDF) (in French). Météo-France. Retrieved August 27, 2022.
- ^ "Climate of Poindimié 1981-2010" (PDF) (in French). Météo-France. Retrieved April 7, 2022.
- ^ a b "Diahot River". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 9 June 2011.
- ^ "The impacts of opencast mining in New Caledonia". The United Nations University. Archived from the original on 27 July 2011. Retrieved 9 June 2011.
- ^
De Vosjoli, Phillipe; Repashy, Allen; Fast, Frank (2003), Rhacodactylus: The Complete Guide to their Selection and Care, Advanced Vivarium Inc, ISBN 978-0-9742971-0-1
- ^ Allison Ballance and Rod Morris, "Island Magic; wildlife of the south seas", David Bateman publishing, 2003
- ^ New Caledonia by Leanne Logan, Geert Cole, Lonely Planet, 2001, p 29
- ^ Gondwana super-continent. Nouvelle-Calédonie.
- ^ "La flore de Nouvelle-Calédonie - Première partie".
- ^ Geology – The massifs of ultrabasic rocks or "massifs miniers" New Caledonia
- ^ La faune et la flore de Nouvelle-Calédonie. (French)
- ^ a b "Austronesian Basic Vocabulary Database". Archived from the original on 2011-09-28. Retrieved 2010-06-29.
- ^ "The Austronesian Dispersal" Pawley, Andrew, Examining the framing/language dispersal hypothesis, Peter Bellwood and Colin Renfrew, eds., McDonald Institute Monographs, 2002, p 254
- ^ "Lapita and non-Lapita ware during New Caledonia's first millennium of Austronesian settlement" Christophe Sand, p 3, in Le Pacifique de 5000 h 2000 avant le present / The Pacific from 5000 to 2000 BP, Archaeologue, http://horizon.documentation.ird.fr/exl-doc/pleins_textes/pleins_textes_7/divers2/010020743.pdf
- ^ Pawley, ibid.
- ^ "The establishment of Free French rule in New Caledonia and the deportation of the Vichy leaders, meant that the colony was for all practical purposes allied with Australia in the war against Germany" Hasluck: "Clearing a Way to Total War" p 47.
- Government of France. Retrieved 2007-06-24.
- Government of France. Retrieved 2007-06-24.
- ^ a b Institut de la statistique et des études économiques de Nouvelle-Calédonie (ISEE). "Population totale, selon la communauté par commune et Province de résidence" (in French). Archived from the original (XLS) on 2007-09-28. Retrieved 2007-06-24.
External links
- Croixdusud.info a site in both English and French including information on the geography, geology, and biodiversity of the area