Thomas Booth - New Caledonia

New Caledonia consists of a large island, Grande Terre, and a group of small islands called dependencies-the Loyalty Group, Ouen, the Isle of Pines, Huon Islands, and the Chesterfields. Grande Terre is as big in land mass as the whole state of Hawaii. Its capital Nouma, with 70,000 people, looks big too. There are imposing buildings, freeways, traffic lights, escalators and, in the center of town there is a large bowered park called the Place des Cocotiers.

Nouma

New Caledonia and its dependencies are an island group in the southwest Pacific that forms part of Melanesia. The bIg island called Grande Terre has a land area of 12,000 square miles, and is the third-largest island in the South PacIfic after New Guinea and New Zealand..

Along the entire length of New Caledonia runs a chain of mountains. Mt. Passie in the north and Mt. Humbol in the south are nearly 5,000 feet high and this chain divides the island into climatic areas. In the west on the leeward side, like the Australian outback, there are wide stretches of dry savannah land dotted with eucalyptus trees. This is good cattle country but, because of invasive mangrove swamps along this coast, there are few good beaches.
On the east coast where it rains over 100 inches a year, there are coconut plantations, rivers with waterfalls, and 150-foot-tall Norfolk pines. This is where most of the rural Melanesians live. Around both sides of the island, there is a protective barrier reef, the second-largest barrier reef in the world.
The Economy Mining, mainly nickel ore, represents the most important export by far. The island provides 30% of the world's nickel. Secondary resources are cattle, copra, fish farming, and tourism. But since locally grown products are insufficient for local needs, meat, groceries, and manufactured products are imported from France, the European Economic Community, Australia, and New Zealand.
The People Half of the 145,000 people live in and around Nouma. About 60,000 are Melanesian, 50,000 European, 17,500 are Wallis Islanders and Tahitians, and 12,000 are Indonesians and Vietnamese.
Government New Caledonia is part of the Republic of France, and the head of the Territory is an appointed High Commissioner. He has considerable power and runs such things as defense, education, public works, agriculture, and mines. Then there's an executive council, and finally an elected Territorial Congress consisting of 46 members. There is some criticism, perhaps justified, for it's said that the High Commissioner can alter anything the Territorial Congress does. The French for the moment are in full charge.
The real Melanesians, most of whom live on the east coast or in the south, grow manioc, yams, taro, sweet potatoes, bananas, and coconuts. They raise chickens and pigs, and their national dish bounia, which is similar to that in the other island groups, is a steamed leaf-wrapped mixture of taro, yams, manioc, chicken, fish or pork laced with coconut milk .
Their traditional culture is also similar to that found in the other islands. They call it "la coutume." In independent Vanuatu it's called "custom" and now with independence, it's given room to breathe. In New Caledonia a return to the old ways is sought after, but any success they have with this seems to be in spite of the government.