New Caledonia

Settled by both Britain and France during the first half of the 19th century, the island became 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 two decades transferred an increasing amount of governing responsibility from France to New Caledonia. In a referendum held in November 2018, residents rejected independence and decided to retain their territorial status, although two additional referendums may occur in 2020 and 2022, per the Noumea Accord.

description:

• unicameral Territorial Congress or Congres du Territoire (54 seats; members indirectly selected proportionally by the partisan makeup of the 3 Provincial Assemblies or Assemblees Provinciales; members of the 3 Provincial Assemblies directly elected by proportional representation vote; members serve 5-year terms);
• note - the Customary Senate is the assembly of the various traditional councils of the Kanaks, the indigenous population, which rules on laws affecting the indigenous population

; New Caledonia indirectly elects 2 members to the French Senate by an electoral colleges for a 6-year term with one seat renewed every 3 years and directly elects 2 members to the French National Assembly by absolute majority vote in 2 rounds if needed for a 5-year term

elections:

• Territorial Congress - last held on 11 May 2014 (next to be held in May 2019);
• note - the government that was elected on 11 May 2014 collapsed within 6 months leading to a new election on 31 December 2014, which reelected the same government

; French Senate - election last held on 28 September 2014 (next to be held not later than 2019); French National Assembly - election last held on 11 and 18 June 2017 (next to be held by June 2022)

election results:

• Territorial Congress - percent of vote by party - N/A;
• seats by party - seats by party - CE 13, FLNKS 9, UMP 7, Union for Caledonia in France 6, Build Our Rainbow Nation 6, UNI 6, other 7;
• composition - men 30, women 24, percent of women 44.4%

; French Senate - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - UMP 2; French National Assembly - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - CE 2

name:

"Soyons unis, devenons freres" (Let Us Be United, Let Us Become Brothers)

lyrics/music:

Chorale Melodia (a local choir)

note: adopted 2008; contains a mixture of lyrics in both French and Nengone (an indigenous language); as a self-governing territory of France, in addition to the local anthem,

"La Marseillaise" is official (see France)

New Caledonia has 11% of the world's nickel reserves, representing the second largest reserves on the planet. Only a small amount of the land is suitable for cultivation, and food accounts for about 20% of imports. In addition to nickel, substantial financial support from France - equal to more than 15% of GDP - and tourism are keys to the health of the economy.

With the gradual increase in the production of two new nickel plants in 2015, average production of metallurgical goods stood at a record level of 94 thousand tons. However, the sector is exposed to the high volatility of nickel prices, which have been in decline since 2016. In 2017, one of the three major mining firms on the island, Vale, put its operations up for sale, triggering concerns of layoffs ahead of the 2018 independence referendum.

general assessment:

a submarine cable network connection between New Caledonia and Australia, completed in 2007, increased network capacity and improved high-speed connectivity and access to international networks (2015)

domestic:

combined fixed-line and mobile-cellular telephone subscribership exceeds 120 per 100 persons (2015)

international:

country code - 687; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Pacific Ocean) (2015)