GENERAL INFORMATION ON NEW CALEDONIA
1.2 Country Information a) Area and population Area New Caledonia is an archipelago in the Pacific Ocean located near the Tropic of Capricorn about 1,500 km off the east coast of Australia, 1,800 km north of New Zealand, 7,500 km from Japan and 18,000 km from metropolitan France.
The Region The Pacific region is divided into three geographical groups: Micronesia in the North, Polynesia in the East and Melanesia in the West. Melanesia comprises Fiji, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, the Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea and Irian Jaya. New Caledonia is situated between 19° and 23° latitude south and between 158° and 172° longitude east and is the third largest island in the South Pacific after Papua New Guinea and New Zealand.
The Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of New Caledonia is estimated at about 1,450,000 sq. km, which is approximately half the size of the Mediterranean sea.
Topography The ‘Chaine’ mountain range divides the mainland through the centre. The highest summits are Mt. Panié at 1,628m in the north of the island and Mt. Humbolt at 1,618m in the south of the island. The eastern side of the main island has a high and ragged coastline that drops straight down to the Lagoon (le Lagon) and is exposed to the Trade Winds. In contrast, the West Coast is low with several plains. The unique topography caused by the Chaine mountains means that most cyclones are prevented or weakened before they reach the capital, Nouméa. The Isle of Pines has a central plateau and coral coastal plain while the Loyalty Islands are flat islands that are formed from coral.
The Archipelago With an area of 18,575 km2 the New Caledonian archipelago consists of:
New Caledonia and The World
Distance
> the Mainland (about 400km long and 40km wide) on a SouthEast/North-West axis;
Nouméa - Paris:
16,674 km
Nouméa - Los Angeles:
10,095 km
> Isle of Pines (150km2), in a South-East alignment of the Mainland;
Nouméa - Tokyo:
6,972 km
Nouméa - Auckland:
1,859 km
> the Belep Archipelago (70km2), in the North-West alignment of the Mainland;
Nouméa - Brisbane:
1,500 km
Nouméa - Suva:
1,400 km
> the Loyalty Islands composed of Lifou, Mare, Ouvea and Tiga; and numerous small islands (a total of 1,981 km2) on an axis parallel to the Mainland on the East Coast.
Nouméa – Port-Vila:
527 km
Source: ISEE, New Caledonia facts and figures, 2007.
Municipalities Of New Caledonia
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