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    New Caledonia
    New Caledonia
    New Caledonia
    Ebook92 pages31 minutes

    New Caledonia

    By Thomas Booth

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    About this ebook

    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. I
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHunter Publishing
    Release dateJul 5, 2012
    ISBN9780935161632
    New Caledonia

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      Book preview

      New Caledonia - Thomas Booth

      New Caledonia

      Thomas H. Booth

      Hunter Publishing, Inc.

      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 Nouméa, 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.

      Nouméa

      Nouméa has sidewalk cafes, little corner bistros, boulangeries, patisseries and, if it weren't for the black faces and the climate, you could be in a French provincial town. The white inhabitants have a Gallic look, the slight difference around nose and mouth that perhaps comes from a nasal approach to words. Some look as if they had just left the farm, some are conservatively well dressed, and many of the young people are clad in the latest mod-chic.

      Then there are others. You see them and hear them in the bars and bistros. They are usually bearded and have a military appearance. They are clearly soldiers, perhaps of the Foreign Legion. New Caledonia needs them now and perhaps will in the future.

      Arrival in New Caledonia is attended by the feeling that you've arrived somewhere very colonial, very French, where everything works, except during the awkward hours from 11:30 AM to 1:30 PM when everything is closed. You'll soon become aware that the standard of living is much higher in New Caledonia than on other Pacific islands, except Guam and Hawaii. They've got television, lots of cars, good housing, big hospitals, and a form of government that's run as an overseas territory of France. What the French say about égalité they apparently mean, for all New Caledonians are full citizens of France, though this doesn't mean that everyone has a say in what's happening in New Caledonia now. The problem is that, out of a population of 145,000, the 60,000 native Melanesians known as Kanaks constitute a 40% minority. They want independence, and a few are extremely militant about the matter. Because they know they would lose in a referendum, they say they'll boycott the polls and threaten violence at the outcome.

      The other 60% – French, Asian, Vietnamese, Algerian – prefer French rule and are of the opinion that the Kanak lifestyle is not oriented toward self-government. Kanak workers, they say, tend to be more interested in a rural life than in acquiring technical skills or material possessions.

      According to the French, the Kanaks don't want to work.

      According to the Kanaks, they don't get the chance. They say they just get the dirty low-paying jobs, and they add that France is exploiting them by reaping millions of dollars from their mines which produce high-grade nickel ore. The Kanaks have a point. France's economy would be hurt if the mines were lost to an independent New Caledonia.

      Kanak women & children in Nouméa

      On the other hand, when you look around this colony at the roads, the public buildings, schools, and hospitals, it's evident that a lot of money has been spent on public works, money that undoubtedly came from the mines. Even so there are rural Kanaks who claim they've never seen any of the benefits. Both sides have legitimate arguments.

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