New Caledonia in Caledonia

/kloc-At the end of 0/8th century, the great British navigator james cook discovered a piece of land about half the size of Taiwan Province Island in the Pacific Ocean more than 700 nautical miles east of Australia. From a distance, the scenery on the shore seems to be similar to the navigator's hometown, so Cook named it "New Caledonia". New Caledonia has more than 25% of the world's crust nickel reserves, and China imports a lot of nickel from it every year. It is located at the southern tip of Melanesia Island Group, between south latitude 19 ~ 23 and east longitude 163 ~ 168. It consists of New Caledonia, Loyal, Cunniè re and Belep. The total land area is 19 103 square kilometers. The population is 152000( 1984). New Caledonia is the largest and most important island, with an area of 16750 square kilometers and a population of 1 17000. Residents are mainly melanesians, Europeans (mostly French), as well as wallis islands, Vietnamese and China. Catholicism and Christianity. There are many dialects, and the official language is French. Noumé a, the capital, is located on the southwest coast of New Caledonia with a population of 60,000 (1983). It is one of the important air and sea traffic relay stations in the southwest Pacific.

The island of New Caledonia is mountainous. There are two parallel mountains running through the island, and the highest peak is Mount Penney, which is 1628 meters high. Surrounded by coral reefs, the coast is second only to Australia's Great Barrier Reef in length. The Diaholt River in the north is 90 kilometers long and is the largest river on the island. It belongs to tropical maritime climate, which is warm, hot and rainy all year round. The average temperature is about 23℃. There is a great difference in rainfall between the east and west coasts of New Caledonia. The average annual rainfall along the eastern coast is 2000mm, and that along the western coast is about 1 000mm. ..

The Frenchman Bougainville 1768 arrived here. James cook, an Englishman, came here in 1774 and saw the dense forest on the island, which was similar to the scene in Scotland, that is, before the ancient name "Caledonia" in Scotland, he was named New Caledonia. 1792, France conducted a comprehensive survey of the island and later used it as a penal colony. 1853 was occupied by France, and 1885 was ruled by the governor. 1958 became the largest overseas territory of France in the Pacific Ocean, and a naval base was established here. In recent years, the voice of the territory for independence has been rising.

The economy is dominated by mining and smelting. There are many minerals, such as nickel, chromium, iron, silver, gold, cobalt, lead, magnesium and copper. In particular, nickel and chromium are the most abundant reserves. Nickel production and export rank among the top in the world. The main mineral deposits are in Theo and Polo on the east coast of New Caledonia and Napoi on the west coast. 198 1 the output of nickel ore is 3.9 million tons. Except for some local smelting, most of the ore is directly exported. The largest smelter in Noumé a is controlled by French capital. 198 1 year, the export of nickel ore and nickel products accounts for 90% of the total export value. Cultivable land accounts for only 6% of the total area. Agricultural products include beef, fruit and coffee. Except for some exported coffee and coconuts, the rest are self-sufficient. Rich in forest resources, with a forest area of 250,000 hectares. Mainly export nickel products, coffee and so on. And imported food and fuel. The main trading countries are France and Australia. With the rapid development of tourism, it has increasingly become an important economic sector after mining. 1From May to June 1997, New Caledonia held elections for members of the French National Assembly. Due to the boycott of organizations demanding independence, such as FLNKS, few people participated in the voting, and both representatives were elected by members of the Coalition for the Defence of Caledonia. ?

1998 On April 2 1, the French government reached a political agreement with the Front de libé ration nationale kanak socialiste (FLNKS) and the National Union for the Defence of Caledonia in Noumé a on the future status of the island. The main contents are as follows: France gradually handed over the powers of education, taxation, foreign trade and transportation to new Cameroon, but still retained the departments of national defense, justice and police; In the next 15-20 years, a referendum on independence will be held in New Cameroon. If three-fifths of the people choose independence, France will hand over the remaining power. If independence is rejected, two more votes can be held in the next four years. If independence is rejected in the second vote, the future of the islands will be renegotiated. Recognition of "French * * and domestic New Caledonian nationality", if the islands choose independence in the future, this identity will become "nationality". On May 5th, French Prime Minister Jospin signed the above agreement in Noumé a with leaders of various factions who supported and opposed the independence of the new Cameroon. 1998165438+1On 8 October, New Cameroon held a referendum on the Noumé a Accord. The agreement was passed with 765,438+0.9% votes, because two opposing political forces called on voters to vote for the agreement. The independents believe that the agreement laid the foundation for the independence of the new Cameroon, while the anti-independents claim that the new Cameroon "will never be independent". Public opinion generally believes that the adoption of this agreement is conducive to the future social stability of new Cameroon. In the same year, at the end of 65438+February, the French National Assembly adopted all the contents of the draft agreement with absolute superiority, and 1999 was also adopted by the Senate in February. ?

The April census figure 1996 shows that since 1989, the immigration from Europe to Polynesia has increased by 10 times. The Kanak population accounts for 44. 1% of the total population, but the birth rate is relatively high, so they strongly urge the French government to control the number of immigrants to ensure that more local people can find jobs. 1999101At the end of October, the Kanak Socialist National Liberation Front organized a demonstration with 5,000 participants in Noumé a to arouse social concern about the high unemployment rate of Kanaks. ? In terms of tourism, the new card is not as developed as other Pacific island countries. 1999, the number of tourists was 99,735, and the tourism income165438+200 million USD. Tourists mainly come from Japan, France, Australia and New Zealand. With the increasing number of tourists, New Caledonia has become one of the emerging tourist destination countries.

There are many shopping places around the central square in Noumé a. One of the important places is the "Xinjiba Bird Culture Center", part of which is the Animal and Botanical Garden. Here you can enjoy the world-famous aquarium coral in Noumé a. There are also tall and straight peaks where you can breathe the freshest air. There are also abundant tropical plants and spectacular waterfalls on the east coast, and it is also the planting place of coconut and coffee.

For those tourists who like water sports, they can freely sail, swim or go deep-sea diving here to explore the underwater world. Other land sports include tennis, bowling and golf. Highway: The total length of New Kaya Highway is 5,980 kilometers, including 766 kilometers of asphalt road, 589 kilometers of dirt road, 0/8 kilometers of Shimian road16/kloc-0, and 2,523 kilometers of narrow road. Other islands are expressway, which is 470 kilometers away. 0999 65438+22600 commercial vehicle. ?

Water transport: The main port Noumé a has regular ships sailing to various islands and other countries and cities. The Northern Province plans to develop Napuyi Port, making it a deep-water port and an industrial center. There are two shipping companies. International routes lead to Australia, New Zealand and South Pacific island countries, Asia and European countries. 1999 5 10 incoming ships; Unloaded 6.5438+0.25 million tons and loaded 3.79 million tons. ?

Air transportation: Noumé a has an international airport and a domestic transportation network, providing transportation services from Noumé a to other countries and cities and islands. There are two airlines: Caledonian Airlines flies from Noumé a to France; Caledonian International Airlines flies to Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, French Polynesia, wallis islands, Futuna Islands, Vanuatu and other countries. In addition, Air France flies from Noumé a to Japan three times a week and from Paris to Noumé a once every two weeks. 1999 passenger volume is 342702, and freight volume is 5077 tons. ? (1) Bank of Hawaii-New Caledonia: founded in 1974 and jointly owned by Bank of Hawaii (94.5% shares) and credit lyonnais (3% shares). By the end of February,1998,65438+,it had a capital of 3,677.7 million Pacific francs, a reserve of 940.2 million Pacific francs and a deposit of 46,462.2 million Pacific francs. President William Michael. ? (2) BNP Paribas: founded at 1969. Originally known as BNP Paribas, it was later renamed as 1978. By the end of February,1994,65438+,the capital was 30 million French francs, the reserve was 65438+59 million French francs, and the deposit was 1927 million French francs. President Gé rard Decair.

(3) Societe Generale: founded in 198 1. By the end of February, its capital was 825 million CFA francs, its reserves were 2 billion CFA francs and its deposits were 36.326 billion CFA francs. President JeanLouisMattei.

(4) Investment by Caledonian banks.

(5) French Development Agency In 2000, there were 3 100 French military personnel in Xinca, including gendarmerie 1050.