Financial Institutions and Markets in New Caledonia

Abstract

Located some 1500 kilometres due east of Australia and 1700 kilometres north of New Zealand, the French Overseas Territory of New Caledonia covers a land area of 19,103 square kilometres. It is comprised of the islands of New Caledonia, Walpole, Isle of Pines, and the Loyalty, Belep, Huon and Surprise and Chesterfield island groups.1 The island of New Caledonia, la grande terre, is the largest and comprises 16,750 square kilometres or some 88 per cent of the Territory’s total land mass and the major portion of its population of 145,368. The population itself is comprised of different races and cultures of which the native Melanesians are the largest group. The most recent statistics indicated that they comprised 42.6 per cent of the population compared to 37.1 per cent for Europeans, 8.4 per cent Wallisians and Futunians (another French Pacific Territory), 3.8 per cent Tahitians, 3.5 per cent Indonesians, 1.6 per cent Vietnamese, and the remainder from a mixture of other races to include Chinese and ni-Vanuatu.