New Caledonia is a French overseas country located 1500 kilometres (km) east of Australia and 1700 km north of New Zealand, in the south-west Pacific Ocean.  Part of Melanesia, New Caledonia is the third largest island state in the south Pacific, after New Guinea and New Zealand.  It comprises one large island and several smaller islands.  The total land area comprises 19 100 km2.  The territory has an Exclusive Economic Zone of 1 740 000 km2.  New Caledonia is self-governing.  It has a three-tiered system of administration: metropolitan France (represented by the High Commissioner), the territorial congress and the provincial assemblies.

New Caledonia’s tropical climate has an average annual temperature of 23 degrees Celsius with little variation (of only 6 or 7 degrees throughout the year).  During the wet season (December to March), cyclones can bring heavy rains.  The east coast receives about twice the rainfall of the west coast.  The average rainfall is 2000 millimetres (mm) in the east compared with 1000 mm in the west, including Noumea.

The indigenous population is Melanesian but the population also includes Europeans, Asians and other Polynesians.  In 2003 the population was estimated to be some 223 000 with a population density of 11 persons per km2.  The natural per annum growth rate is 1.5%.

est.: estimate

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