New Caledonia

New Caledonia
Status	Dependency (Sui generis Collectivity)
Sovereignty	France
Capital	Noumea
Land Area	18 280km21
Location	Australasia, Melanesia
Groupings	Small Islands
Population
GNI
ISO3166-1 Codes	NC, NCL, 5402
Internet Domain	.nc3
Currency	Franc (XPF)4
Telephone	+6875

1. Overview
2. New Caledonia's Demographics and Migration
3. New Caledonia's Health
   1. Health Datasets
   2. Children's Health Datasets
4. New Caledonia's Responsibility Towards The Environment
5. New Caledonia's Modernity and Learning
   1. Technology and Information Datasets
6. Religion and Beliefs
7. Links

---

1. Overview

#france

“Settled by both Britain and France during the first half of the 19th century, the island was made 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 a period of 15 to 20 years will transfer an increasing amount of governing responsibility from France to New Caledonia. The agreement also commits France to conduct a referendum between 2014 and 2018 to decide whether New Caledonia should assume full sovereignty and independence.”

CIA's The World Factbook (2013)₆

“Dazzling - yes, New Caledonia is dazzling. Its lagoon surrounds it with every colour of blue. So the light and the space delight your senses. The prestigious listing of the lagoon as a World Heritage site in 2008 has brought the people together to celebrate and protect it, from village level through to the government.New Caledonia isn´t just a tropical playground. There´s a charming mix of French and Melanesian: warm hospitality sitting beside European elegance, gourmet food beneath palm trees, sand, resorts, bungalows, concrete, bamboo. Long gorgeous beaches are backed by cafes and bars, with horizons that display tiny islets to attract day trippers. Be lured into kayaks, rock climb, sail, dive into a world of corals, canyons, caves and heritage shipwrecks, go whale watching or snorkelling, or relax on the warm sands of a deserted isle. Natural wonders and manmade delights are at your fingertips.”

"The World" by Lonely Planet (2014)₇

As a territory of France, this territory does not have standard international statistics available for it in its own right.

2. New Caledonia's Demographics and Migration

#birth_control #demographics #fertility #health #overpopulation #population #yemen

Population Datasets:

This country has a fertility rate of 2.02. The fertility rate is, in simple terms, the average amount of children that each woman has. The higher the figure, the quicker the population will grow, although, to calculate the rate you also need to take into account morbidity - the rate at which people die. If people live healthy and long lives and morbidity is low, then, 2.0 approximates to the replacement rate (two new children for each set of parents who die), which would keep the population stable. If all countries had such a fertility rate, population growth would end. The actual replacement rate in most developed countries is around 2.1, once you take mortality into account₈. The highest fertility rate ever detected in a single year was in Yemen in 1985, at 8.86.₉

Fertility Rate 2.0 is best10
Pos.		202210
1	US Virgin Islands	2.00
2	Ecuador	2.00
3	Nepal	2.01
4	India	2.01
5	Belize	1.99
6	Grenada	1.99
7	New Caledonia	2.02
8	Sri Lanka	1.97
9	Faroe Islands	2.05
10	Bangladesh	1.95
11	Vietnam	1.94
12	Georgia	2.06
	World Avg	2.47
q=208. Also scored for 1960s-2010s.

• The Population of the Earth
• Abortion, Birth Control and Contraception

3. New Caledonia's Health

#birth_control #demographics #health #overpopulation

Compared to Australasia (2025)11
Pos.		Lower is better Avg Rank11
1	Australia	60.4
2	New Zealand	65.0
3	New Caledonia	68.1
4	French Polynesia	93.1
5	Fiji	93.8
6	Palau	98.6
7	Niue	102.3
8	Tonga	103.3
9	Tuvalu	118.6
10	Vanuatu	122.4
11	Guam	122.6
12	Solomon Islands	122.9
13	Samoa	124.2
	Australasia Avg	112.00
q=19.

Health (2025)11
Pos.		Lower is better Avg Rank11
1	Monaco	10.3
2	Liechtenstein	30.1
3	Japan	37.3
	...
37	Germany	66.6
38	USA	66.8
39	Ireland	67.2
40	New Caledonia	68.1
41	Greece	68.3
42	N. Korea	68.8
43	Poland	68.8
44	Thailand	69.1
	World Avg	97.57
q=207.

The countries with the best overall approach to public health, in terms of both public policy and individual lifestyle choices, are Monaco, Liechtenstein and Japan₁₂. These countries are worth emulating. And, although often through no fault of the average citizen, the worst countries are Angola, Somalia and S. Sudan₁₂.

42 datasets are used to calculate points for each country, including multiple decades of data on its average life expectancy, its alcohol consumption rate, its fertility rate, its smoking rate, its suicide rate, its food aid and health contributions and WHO compliance, the prevalence of overweight adults, obesity rate, its adolescent birth rate, delivery rate of infant DTP immunizations, delivery rate of 7x Infant Immunizations 2011-2015 and childhood mortality. The regions with the best average results per country are Scandinavia, Europe and The Mediterranean₁₂, whereas the worst are Africa, Micronesia and Melanesia₁₂.

For more, see:

• "Countries With the Healthiest Cultures and Health Policies" by Vexen Crabtree (2025).

3.1. Health Datasets

#birth_control #demographics #health #overpopulation

When it comes to public health, New Caledonia has exemplary public policy and a uniquely healthy culture. New Caledonia comes in the best 20 in its fertility rate₁₀ (the lowest in Australasia) and in delivery rate of infant DTP immunizations in the 2020s₁₃. The prevalence of overweight adults has increased by 14% during the past 40 years. New Caledonia's peak fertility rate was 6.28 in 1960.

Fertility Rate 2.0 is best10
Pos.		202210
1	US Virgin Islands	2.00
2	Ecuador	2.00
3	Nepal	2.01
4	India	2.01
5	Belize	1.99
6	Grenada	1.99
7	New Caledonia	2.02
8	Sri Lanka	1.97
9	Faroe Islands	2.05
10	Bangladesh	1.95
11	Vietnam	1.94
12	Georgia	2.06
	Australasia Avg	2.82
	World Avg	2.47
q=208. Also scored for 1960s-2010s.

3.2. Children's Health Datasets

#children's_health #health #vaccines

Infant DTP Immunizations (2020s) Higher is better13
Pos.		Total Avg %13
1=	Luxembourg	99.0
1=	Oman	99.0
1=	Niue	99.0
	...
15=	Malta	98.5
15=	Nauru	98.5
15=	Guyana	98.5
15=	New Caledonia	98.5
19=	Turkmenistan	98.4
19=	Andorra	98.4
21	Japan	98.2
22=	Singapore	98.1
	Australasia Avg	90.0
	World Avg	88.5
q=211. Also scored for 1980s-2020s.

4. New Caledonia's Responsibility Towards The Environment

#biodiversity #deforestation #food #meat #over-exploitation #the_environment #veganism #vegetarianism

This is computed from 21 data sets. New Caledonia does better than average when it comes to its forested percent change 2000-2020₁₄. And finally, it does worse than average for reducing annual meat consumption per person₁₅.

Forest Area Change 2000-2020 Higher is better14
Pos.		Total14
1	Guernsey	82.6%
2	Bahrain	75.2%
3	Iceland	64.7%
	...
85	Japan	0.2%
86	Niue	0.2%
87	Cook Islands	0.1%
88	New Caledonia	0.0%
89=	Qatar	0.0%
89=	Marshall Islands	0.0%
89=	Norfolk Island	0.0%
89=	Yemen	0.0%
	Australasia Avg	0.1%
	World Avg	-0.1%
q=234.

Meat Consumption Lower is better15
Pos.		2021 kg15
1	Congo, DR	03.0
2	Burundi	03.5
3	Bangladesh	04.3
	...
160	France	86.1
161	Barbados	86.4
162	Canada	86.9
163	New Caledonia	87.5
164	Montenegro	88.4
165	Belarus	88.9
166	Poland	89.3
167	St Lucia	89.6
	Australasia Avg	74.2
	World Avg	52.5
q=185. Also scored for 2010s.

In the 2010s, meat consumption per person in New Caledonia was well above the global average (of 49kgs per year), putting unnecessary strain on water supplies and the environment.₁₅

5. New Caledonia's Modernity and Learning

#the_internet

5.1. Technology and Information Datasets

#the_internet

Internet Users Higher is better16
Pos.		201616
1	Iceland	100%
2	Faroe Islands	99%
3	Norway	98%
	...
54	Cyprus	72%
55	Russia	71%
56	Oman	71%
57	New Caledonia	70%
58=	Macedonia	69%
58=	Argentina	69%
60	Trinidad & Tobago	69%
61	Malaysia	69%
	Australasia Avg	44.3%
	World Avg	48.1%
q=201.

IPv6 Uptake Higher is better17
Pos.		2017 Ratio17
1	Belgium	55.4
2	Germany	41.8
3	Switzerland	35.1
	...
113=	Antigua & Barbuda	0.0
113=	Venezuela	0.0
113=	Kazakhstan	0.0
113=	New Caledonia	0.0
113=	Maldives	0.0
118=	Tunisia	0.0
118=	Tuvalu	0.0
118=	Marshall Islands	0.0
	Australasia Avg	1.55
	World Avg	3.82
q=176.

6. Religion and Beliefs

#buddhism #christianity #hinduism #islam #judaism

Pew Forum polling over the decades has found the following adherency rates:₁₈:

	2010	2020
Christian	85.6%	85.1%
Unaffiliated	9.99%	10.5%
Muslim	2.77%	2.76%
Other	0.955%	0.953%
Buddhist	0.626%	0.625%
Jewish	<0.1%	<0.1%
Hindu	None	None

The CIA World Factbook has slightly different data, and states simply: Roman Catholic 60%, Protestant 30%, other 10%₁₉.

Links:

• A List of All Religions and Belief Systems

There isn't much information in the database for New Caledonia, most likely because it is either a part of another country (i.e., a territory or possession) and therefore most international statistics are counted for the country as a whole, or, this is such an exotic place that little data exists about it.