New Caledonia People - 1986

GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES 

Population: 152,000 (July 1986\ average annual growth rate 1.2%

Nationality: noun—New Caledonian(s); adjective—New Caledonian

Ethnic divisions: Melanesian 42.5%, European 37.1%, Wallisian 8.4%, Polynesian 3.8%, Indonesian 3.6%, Vietnamese 1.6%

Religion: over 60% Roman Catholic, 30% Protestant

Language: French; Melanesian-Polynesian dialects

Labor force: 50,469 (1980 est); Javanese and Tonkinese laborers were imported for plantations and mines in pre-World War II period; immigrant labor now coming from Wallis and Futuna, Vanuatu, and French Polynesia; est. 8% unemployment

NOTE: The information regarding New Caledonia on this page is re-published from the 1986 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency and other sources. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of New Caledonia 1986 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about New Caledonia 1986 should be addressed to the CIA or the source cited on each page.