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100-584: The Vitiaz Strait was so named by Nicholai Nicholaievich Mikluho-Maklai to commemorate the Russian corvette Vitiaz in which he sailed from October 1870 by way of South America and the Pacific Islands reaching Astrolabe Bay in September 1871. The 1200 m deep Vitiaz Strait "was a focus of attention by Australian and USA oceanographers on voyages in 1985, 1986, 1988, 1991 and 1992 as part of

200-606: A Free French committee and appointed Henri Sautot as governor. The Vichy government despatched a warship, Dumont d'Urville , at Pélicier's request, but soon deemed him incompetent and appointed an acting governor. By this time the Australian government had agreed to intervene and despatched HMAS Adelaide to oversee the installation of Sautot as governor. A stand-off between Dumont d'Urville and Adelaide followed, with Pélicier and other pro-Vichy officials ultimately deported to French Indochina. In 1941, some 300 men from

300-743: A Miklouho-Maclay Street  [ uk ] . There is also a bust of him in Sevastopol on the Crimean Peninsula. In 2011, the Ukrainian Geographical Society declared the year of Nickolai Nicklouho-Maclay in Ukraine in connection with the 165th anniversary of his birth. New Caledonia New Caledonia ( / ˌ k æ l ɪ ˈ d oʊ n i ə / KAL -ih- DOH -nee-ə ; French : Nouvelle-Calédonie [nuvɛl kaledɔni] )

400-410: A coalition of several pro-independence groups. Kanak society has several layers of customary authority, from the 4,000–5,000 family-based clans to the eight customary areas ( aires coutumières ) that make up the territory. Clans are led by clan chiefs and constitute 341 tribes, each headed by a tribal chief. The tribes are further grouped into 57 customary chiefdoms ( chefferies ), each headed by

500-507: A head chief, and forming the administrative subdivisions of the customary areas. The Customary Senate is the assembly of the various traditional councils of the Kanaks, and has jurisdiction over the law proposals concerning the Kanak identity. The Customary Senate is composed of 16 members appointed by each traditional council, with two representatives per customary area. In its advisory role,

600-622: A historical landmark in memory of Miklouho-Maclay's scientific work. Today, although owned by the Sydney Harbour Federation Trust , the building is used as a private residence and is only open to the public on special occasions. The Miklouho-Maclay Society succeeded in naming a park in his honour in Snails Bay ( Birchgrove ), not far from a house where he lived in Sydney for a time. A bust of Miklouho-Maclay

700-551: A meeting chaired by the French Prime Minister Édouard Philippe on 2 November 2017, to be held by November 2018. Voter list eligibility was the subject of a long dispute, but the details were resolved in an electoral list that granted automatic eligibility to voters of Kanak origin but excluded those of other origins who had not been longtime residents of the territory. The referendum was held on 4 November 2018 , with independence being rejected. Another referendum

800-694: A motto, and a new design for its banknotes. In July 2010, the Congress of New Caledonia voted in favour of a wish to fly the Kanak flag of the independence movement FLNKS alongside the French tricolour , as dual flags of the territory . The wish, legally non-binding, proved controversial. A majority of New Caledonian communes, but not all, now fly both flags, the rest flying only the French Tricolour. The non-official adoption made New Caledonia one of

900-657: A new sponge species, which he named Guancha blanca , in tribute to the Guanches , the original Berber inhabitants of the Canary Islands . He also became a close friend of the biologist Anton Dohrn , with whom he helped conceive the idea of research stations while staying with him at Messina , Italy. Miklouho-Maclay left St Petersburg for Australia on the steam corvette Vityaz . He arrived in Sydney on 18 July 1878. A few days after arriving, he approached

1000-597: A regiment of the Troupes de marine , the Régiment d'infanterie de marine du Pacifique . About 80 percent of the 700-member regiment is composed of soldiers on short-term (four month) deployments from metropolitan France. As of 2018, only about 30 personnel in the regiment were locally recruited. The naval forces incorporate several vessels of the French Navy including: one Floréal -class frigate , Vendémiaire ,

1100-625: A state of emergency; however, regional elections went ahead , and the FLNKS won control of three out of four provinces. The centre-right government elected in France in March 1986 began eroding the arrangements established under the Socialists, redistributing lands mostly without consideration of native land claims, resulting in over two-thirds going to Europeans and less than a third to the Kanaks. By

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1200-506: A three-week exercise. In addition, some 855 personnel from the National Gendarmerie are stationed on the archipelago divided into 4 companies, 27 brigades and several specialized and mobile Gendarmerie units. During periods such the 2021 referendum on independence, these forces have been significantly reinforced with personnel deployed from metropolitan France. The air component includes two Écureuil helicopters while

1300-422: A violent reaction in 1878, when High Chief Ataï  [ fr ] of La Foa managed to unite many of the central tribes and launched a guerrilla war that killed 200 Frenchmen and 1,000 Kanaks. A second uprising  [ fr ] occurred in 1917, with Protestant missionaries like Maurice Leenhardt functioning as witnesses to the events of this war. Leenhardt would pen a number of ethnographic works on

1400-645: Is Nouméa . New Caledonia was part of the continent Zealandia , which broke off from the supercontinent Gondwana between 79 million and 83 million years ago. The earliest traces of human presence in New Caledonia date back to the period when the Lapita culture was influential in large parts of the Pacific, c.  1600 –500 BC or 1300–200 BC. The Lapita were highly skilled navigators and agriculturists . The first settlements were concentrated around

1500-563: Is a group of islands in the southwest Pacific Ocean , 220 km (140 mi) southwest of Vanuatu and 1,210 km (750 mi) east of Australia . Located 16,100 km (10,000 mi) from Metropolitan France , it forms a sui generis collectivity of the French Republic , a legal status unique in overseas France and enshrined in a dedicated chapter of the French Constitution . The archipelago, part of

1600-507: Is also to be delivered to naval forces based in New Caledonia by 2025. The landing craft is to better support coastal and riverine operations in the territory. As of the latter 2010s, French naval aviation and air force elements in New Caledonia included two Navy Falcon 200 Gardian maritime surveillance aircraft (drawn from Flotilla 25F), which are to be replaced by the more modern Falcon 2000 Albatros starting in 2025, plus two Casa CN235 transport aircraft and three Puma helicopters from

1700-554: Is further divided into 33 communes (municipalities). One commune, Poya , is divided between two provinces. The northern half of Poya, with the main settlement and most of the population, is part of the North Province, while the southern half of the commune, with only 210 inhabitants in 2019, is part of the South Province. New Caledonia is part of Zealandia , a fragment of the ancient Gondwana super-continent, which

1800-536: Is located in the house where Nicholas's brother Mykhailo lived, has a museum whose exhibits tell about the life of the scientist, his family, and the Malyn period of his life. Malyn was visited twice, in 1980 and 1988, by the scientist's grandson Robert Micklouho-Maclay from Australia. In 1986, on the occasion of the 140th anniversary of the scientist's birth, a monument to him was unveiled in Malin. Since 1946, Lviv has had

1900-492: Is named after him. A Khabarov class river passenger ship was named after him. Based at Khabarovsk , it was used on the Amur River between the 1960s and 1990s. The city of Malyn Zhytomyr Oblast , Ukraine commemorates the scientist and traveler. The city's recreation park and one of the city's streets are named after Miklouho-Maclay. The Malyn Forestry College in the village of Hamarnya  [ uk ] , which

2000-482: Is of diverse origins and varies by geography; in the North and Loyalty Islands Provinces , the indigenous Kanak people predominate, while the wealthy South Province contains significant populations of European ( Caldoches and Metropolitan French ), Kanak , and Polynesian (mostly Wallisian ) origin, as well as smaller groups of Southeast Asian , Pied-Noir , and North African heritage. The capital of New Caledonia

2100-425: Is part of Oceania . It is speculated that New Caledonia separated from Australia roughly 66 million years ago, subsequently drifting in a north-easterly direction, reaching its present position about 50 million years ago. The mainland is divided in length by a central mountain range whose highest peaks are Mont Panié (1,629 m or 5,344 ft) in the north and Mont Humboldt (1,618 m or 5,308 ft) in

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2200-467: Is strongly moderated by the oceanic influence and the trade winds that attenuate humidity, which can be close to 80%. The average annual temperature is 23 °C, with historical extremes of 2.3 and 39.1 °C (36.1 and 102.4 °F). The rainfall records show that precipitation differs greatly within the island. The 3,000 millimetres (120 in) of rainfall recorded in Galarino are three times

2300-598: Is the Rai Coast, which in turn gives its name to Rai Coast District , an electorate returning an MP to the National Parliament of Papua New Guinea . In Madang , Papua New Guinea – not far from where the explorer stayed in the 1870s – a street has been named after him. In 2000 a monument was erected in New Guinea by Oleg Aliev . In 2013 a monument to celebrate the legacy of Miklouho-Maclay

2400-680: The Maritime Gendarmerie deploys the patrol boat Dumbea in the territory. New Caledonia has been a member of the Pacific Community since 1983 with Nouméa the home of the organization's regional headquarters. Since 1986, the United Nations Committee on Decolonization has included New Caledonia on the United Nations list of non-self-governing territories . An independence referendum

2500-435: The 2012 French presidential election , the voter turnout in New Caledonia was 61.19%. For 25 years, the party system in New Caledonia was dominated by the anti-independence The Rally–UMP . This dominance ended with the emergence of a new party, Avenir Ensemble , also opposed to independence, but considered more open to dialogue with the Kanak movement, which is part of the Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front ,

2600-535: The Baie d'Harcourt , flowing towards the northern point of the island along the western escarpment of the Mount Panié. Most of the island is covered by wet evergreen forests, while savannahs dominate the lower elevations. The New Caledonian lagoon, with a total area of 24,000 square kilometres (9,300 sq mi) is one of the largest lagoons in the world. The lagoon and the surrounding New Caledonia Barrier Reef

2700-580: The Dnieper . After the annexation of the Ukraine, Stepan, one of the family, served as sotnik (a superior Cossack officer) under General Count Rumianzoff , and having distinguished himself at the storming of the Turkish fortress of Otshakoff , was by the order of Catherine II made a noble... Nicholai's father, Mykola Myklukha, graduated from the Nizhyn Lyceum ( Nizhyn ), after which he walked all

2800-629: The European Union . New Caledonia has a land area of 18,575 km (7,172 sq mi) divided into three provinces . The North and South Provinces are on the New Caledonian mainland, while the Loyalty Islands Province is a series of four inhabited islands off the east coast of mainland (from north to south: Ouvéa , Lifou , Tiga , and Maré ). New Caledonia's population of 271,407 (October 2019 census)

2900-632: The Huon Gulf on 8 March 1942 giving them control of the Dampier and Vitiaz Straits. Japanese forces lost control of the Vitiaz and Dampier Straits after the capture of Finschhafen by Australian troops and the later landing of American forces on New Britain (December 1943). General Douglas MacArthur announced that Rooke Island (now called Umboi Island ) had been occupied on Saturday 12 February 1944 by American forces who met no opposition. Allied control

3000-673: The Linnean Society and offered to organise a zoological centre. In September 1878 his offer was approved. The centre, known as the Marine Biological Station , was constructed by prominent Sydney architect, John Kirkpatrick. This facility, located in Watsons Bay on the east side of Greater Sydney, was the first marine biological research institute in Australia. He married Margaret-Emma, widowed daughter of

3100-771: The Melanesia subregion, includes the main island of Grande Terre , the Loyalty Islands , the Chesterfield Islands , the Belep archipelago, the Isle of Pines , and a few remote islets. The Chesterfield Islands are in the Coral Sea . French people, especially locals, call Grande Terre le Caillou ( pron. [lə kaju] , lit.   ' the stone ' ), a nickname also used more generally for

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3200-654: The Moscow-St. Petersburg Railway . Miklouho-Maclay was partly of Ukrainian Cossack descent. His Ukrainian father, Nikolai Ilyich Myklukha , was born in 1818, in Starodub , Chernigov Governorate , and descended from Stepan Myklukha, a Zaporozhian Cossack who was awarded the title of noble of the Empire by Catherine II for his military exploits during the Russo-Turkish War (1787–1792) , which included

3300-592: The Polesia region. One of Nicholai's brothers, Sergei, became a judge in Malyn where he eventually died. Another brother, Mikhail , became a geologist. A third brother, Vladimir , was a captain of the Russian coast defense ship Admiral Ushakov and participated in the Battle of Tsushima where he perished. Both Mikhail and Vladimir were members of the Russian revolutionary organization Narodnaya Volya . Nicholai

3400-553: The Premier of New South Wales , John Robertson . His residence is in the Sydney suburb of Birchgrove , Wyoming is now heritage-listed due to its association with him. Miklouho-Maclay lived in northeastern New Guinea for a two-year period in between 1871 and 1880, from which he also visited the Philippines , Malay Peninsula and Australia on a number of occasions. He returned to New Guinea again in 1883. Living amongst

3500-683: The St. Petersburg University but only spent two months there before being expelled in February 1864 and debarred from tertiary education in Imperial Russia for "breaking the rules ". In March of the same year, with a forged passport, he moved abroad to complete his studies in German universities, which provided an opportunity to study and work with leading European scientists. He studied humanities at Heidelberg , medicine at Leipzig , and zoology at

3600-458: The University of Jena , where he came under the influence of the great German scholar Ernst Haeckel , who had a profound influence on his future. Miklouho-Maclay's brilliant student records attracted the attention of Haeckel, who made him his assistant as part of a field expedition to the Canary Islands in 1866. There, Miklouho-Maclay took an interest in sharks and sponges and discovered

3700-551: The president of France . They have the right to vote in elections to the European Parliament . It is governed by a 54-member Territorial Congress , a legislative body composed of members of three provincial assemblies. The French State is represented in the territory by a High Commissioner . At a national level, New Caledonia is represented in the French Parliament by two deputies and two senators. At

3800-462: The " coloured " races. Some scientists, such as Ernst Haeckel, a teacher of the young Miklouho-Maclay, relegated what they regarded as culturally "backward" people like Papuans , Bushmen and others to the role of ' intermediate links ' between Europeans and their animal ancestors. While adhering to Darwin's theory of evolution , Miklouho-Maclay diverged from these concepts, and it was this question that led him to gather scientific facts and to study

3900-695: The 1930s. In June 1940, after the fall of France , the General Council of New Caledonia voted to reject the Vichy government and continue supporting the Allied military effort against Germany. However, the colonial governor Georges-Marc Pélicier promulgated the Vichy government's Constitutional Law , which sparked street demonstrations and an assassination attempt. By this time Caldoches had been in contact with Charles de Gaulle who encouraged them to form

4000-711: The Air Force's 52 "Tontouta" Squadron. Prior to 2022, the frigate Vendémiaire operated the Alouette III helicopter . However, with the retirement of the type in 2022, it is being replaced by the Eurocopter Dauphin N3 . In 2022, the French Air Force demonstrated a capacity to reinforce the territory by deploying three Rafale fighters, supported by A400M transport aircraft and A330 MRTT Phénix tankers, from France to New Caledonia for

4100-763: The Customary Senate must be consulted on law proposals "concerning the Kanak identity" as defined in the Nouméa Accord. It also has a deliberative role on law proposals that would affect identity, the civil customary statute, and the land system. A new president is appointed each year in August or September, and the presidency rotates between the eight customary areas. Kanak people have recourse to customary authorities regarding civil matters such as marriage, adoption, inheritance, and some land issues. The French administration typically respects decisions made in

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4200-610: The Dutch government informed him that on his recommendations it was checking the slave traffic at Ternate and Tidore . From 1879 onwards he wrote a number of letters to Australian papers, and corresponded with Sir Arthur Gordon , High Commissioner for the Western Pacific, on protecting the land rights of his friends on the Maclay Coast of north-eastern New Guinea, and on ending the traffic in arms and intoxicants in

4300-513: The Kanak of New Caledonia. Noël of Tiamou led the 1917 rebellion, which resulted in a number of orphaned children, one of whom was taken into the care of Protestant missionary Alphonse Rouel. This child, Wenceslas Thi, would become the father of Jean-Marie Tjibaou (1936–1989). Europeans brought new diseases such as smallpox and measles , which caused the deaths of many natives. The Kanak population declined from around 60,000 in 1878 to 27,100 in 1921, and their numbers did not increase again until

4400-737: The Loyalty Islands were first visited between 1793 and 1796 when Mare, Lifou, Tiga, and Ouvea were mapped by English whaler William Raven . Raven encountered the island, then named Britania, and today known as Maré (Loyalty Is.), in November 1793. From 1796 until 1840, only a few sporadic contacts with the archipelago were recorded. About 50 American whalers left record of being in the region (Grande Terre, Loyalty Is., Walpole and Hunter) between 1793 and 1887. Contacts with visiting ships became more frequent after 1840, because of their interest in sandalwood . As trade in sandalwood declined, it

4500-402: The Second Saint Petersburg Gymnasium (1859–1863) along with his brother Sergei, he was arrested and kept for several days in the Peter and Paul Fortress for participating in student protests. The young students were saved by the Russian writer Aleksey Konstantinovich Tolstoy who was a friend of Nicholai's father. In 1863, without finishing the gymnasium, Nicholai enrolled as a free listener at

4600-400: The South Pacific. In 1887 he left Australia, returned to St Petersburg to present his work to the Imperial Russian Geographical Society and took his young family with him. Miklouho-Maclay was in poor health and, despite treatment from Sergei Botkin , Miklouho-Maclay died of an undiagnosed brain tumour at 41 in St Petersburg. He was buried in the Volkovo Cemetery and left his skull to

4700-433: The St Petersburg Military and Medical Academy. Miklouho-Maclay's widow returned to Sydney with their children. Until 1917 the scientist's family received an imperial Russian pension. The money was first allocated by Alexander III and then by Nicholas II . One of his sons, Alexander, married a daughter of R. E. O'Connor . His travel journals were not published until 1923, and an annotated five-volume collection of his works

4800-476: The Western Equatorial Pacific Ocean Circulation Study, WEPOCS". The New Guinea Coastal Undercurrent transports "high-salinity, low-tritium, high-oxygen, low-nutrient water from the Solomon Sea northwestward along the north coast of Papua New Guinea through the Vitiaz Strait". However, the surface layer current running through the strait, the New Guinea Coastal Current, experiences a seasonal reversal. In boreal summer (northern hemisphere summer) characterized by

4900-614: The abuses of blackbirding and 'recruitment' strategies on the coastlines. The first missionaries from the London Missionary Society and the Marist Brothers arrived in the 1840s. In 1849, the crew of the American ship Cutter was killed and eaten by the Pouma clan. Human cannibalism was widespread throughout New Caledonia. On 24 September 1853, under orders from Emperor Napoleon III , Admiral Febvrier Despointes took formal possession of New Caledonia. Captain Louis-Marie-François Tardy de Montravel founded Port-de-France (Nouméa) on 25 June 1854. A few dozen free settlers settled on

5000-517: The anchor of la Coloniale , the BIM, to form the Bataillon de l'infanterie de marine et du Pacifique . The combined battalion formed part of the Gaulliste 1 Division Motorisée d'Infanterie / Division de Marche d'Infanterie , alongside three divisions from the French North African forces, in the French Expeditionary Corps during the Italian Campaign. They landed in Provence in 1944, when they were posted out and replaced by local French volunteers and résistants. Meanwhile, in March 1942, with

5100-428: The assault. The Matignon Agreements , signed on 26 June 1988, ensured a decade of stability. The Nouméa Accord , signed 5 May 1998, set the groundwork for a 20-year transition that gradually transfers competences to the local government. Following the timeline set by the Nouméa Accord that stated a vote must take place by the end of 2018, the groundwork was laid for a referendum on full independence from France at

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5200-424: The assistance of Australia, New Caledonia became an important Allied base, and the main South Pacific Fleet base of the United States Navy in the South Pacific moved to Nouméa in 1942–1943. The fleet that turned back the Japanese Navy in the Battle of the Coral Sea in May 1942 was based at Nouméa. American troops stationed on New Caledonia numbered as many as 50,000, matching the entire local population at

5300-472: The average of the west coast. There are also dry periods, because of the effects of El Niño . Between December and April, tropical depressions and cyclones can cause winds to exceed a speed of 100 kilometres per hour (62 mph), with gusts of 250 kilometres per hour (160 mph) and very abundant rainfall. The last cyclone affecting New Caledonia was Cyclone Niran , in March 2021. New Caledonia has many unique taxa, especially birds and plants. It has

5400-417: The basis of his comparative anatomical research, was one of the first anthropologists to refute the prevailing view that the different races of mankind belonged to different species. Miklouho-Maclay was born in a temporary workers' camp in Borovichi county (uyezd), Novgorod Governorate (currently Okulovsky District of Novgorod Oblast ) in Russia, a son of a civil engineer working on the construction of

5500-412: The capture of the Ochakov fortress. In fact, his Cossack lineage was extensive and also included the Otaman of Zaporizhian Host Okhrim Myklukha, who later became the prototype of Nikolai Gogol 's main character Taras Bulba . His paternal grandparents were friends of Gogol's. About his origins, Miklouho-Maclay wrote: My ancestors came originally from the Ukraine , and were Zaporogg-cossacks of

5600-416: The coast and date back to the period between c. 1100 BC and AD 200. British explorer James Cook was one of the first Europeans to sight New Caledonia, on 4 September 1774, during his second voyage. He named it "New Caledonia ", as the northeast of the island reminded him of Scotland . The west coast of Grande Terre was approached by the Comte de Lapérouse in 1788, shortly before his disappearance, and

5700-489: The customary system. However, their jurisdiction is sharply limited in penal matters, as some matters relating to the customary justice system, including the use of corporal punishment , are seen as clashing with the human rights obligations of France. The Armed Forces of New Caledonia ( French : Forces armées de Nouvelle-Calédonie , or FANC ) include about 2,000 soldiers, mainly deployed in Koumac , Nandaï , Tontouta , Plum , and Nouméa . The land forces consist of

5800-568: The dark-skinned inhabitants of New Guinea. On the basis of his comparative anatomical research, Miklouho-Maclay was one of the first anthropologists to refute polygenism , the view that the different races of mankind belonged to different species . You were the first to demonstrate beyond question by your experience that man is man everywhere, that is, a kind, sociable being with whom communication can and should be established through kindness and truth, not guns and spirits. I do not know what contribution your collections and discoveries will make to

5900-602: The earliest scientists to settle among and study indigenous people of New Guinea "who had never seen a European". Miklouho-Maclay spent the major part of his life travelling and conducted scientific research in the Middle East, Australia, New Guinea , Melanesia and Polynesia . Australia became his adopted country and Sydney the hometown of his family. He became a prominent figure of nineteenth-century Australian science and became involved in significant issues of Australian and New Guinea history. Writing letters to Australian papers, Miklouho-Maclay expressed his opposition to

6000-442: The early years of the trade, coercion was used to lure Melanesian islanders onto ships. In later years indenture systems were developed; however, when it came to the French slave trade, which took place between its Melanesian colonies of the New Hebrides and New Caledonia, very few regulations were implemented. This represented a departure from contemporary developments in Australia, since increased regulations were developed to mitigate

6100-403: The elite Australian Club , became the intimate of the leading amateur scientist and political figure Sir William Macleay , and married Margaret-Emma Robertson, the daughter of the Premier of New South Wales . His three grandsons have all contributed to the public life of Australia. One of the earliest followers of Charles Darwin , Miklouho-Maclay is also remembered today as a scholar who, on

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6200-461: The end of 1987, roadblocks, gun battles and the destruction of property culminated in the Ouvéa cave hostage taking , a dramatic hostage crisis just days before the 1988 French presidential election began. Pro-independence militants on Ouvéa killed four gendarmes and took 27 hostage. The military assaulted the cave to rescue the hostages. Nineteen Kanak hostage takers were killed and another three died in custody, while two soldiers were killed during

6300-409: The entire New Caledonia. Pro-independence Kanak parties use the name (la) Kanaky ( pron. [(la) kanaki] ) to refer to New Caledonia, a term coined in the 1980s from the ethnic name of the indigenous Melanesian Kanak people who make up 41% of New Caledonia's population. New Caledonia is one of the European Union's Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) , but it is not part of

6400-424: The exceptional biodiversity of New Caledonia and its threatened status has made it one of the most critical biodiversity hotspots on Earth. In 2001, Bruno Van Peteghem was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize for his efforts on behalf of the Caledonian ecological protection movement in the face of "serious challenges" from Jacques Lafleur 's RPCR party. Progress has been made in a few areas in addressing

6500-457: The failed Paris Commune of 1871, including Henri de Rochefort and Louise Michel . Between 1873 and 1876, 4,200 political prisoners were "relegated" to New Caledonia. Only 40 of them settled in the colony; the rest returned to France after being granted amnesty in 1879 and 1880. In 1864, nickel was discovered on the banks of the Diahot River ; with the establishment of the Société Le Nickel in 1876, mining began in earnest. To work

6600-423: The few countries or territories in the world with two flags. The decision to wish for the use of two flags has been a constant battleground between the two sides and led the coalition government to collapse in February 2011. The institutional organization is the result of the organic law and ordinary law passed by the Parliament on 16 February 1999. The archipelago is divided into three provinces: New Caledonia

6700-440: The impact caused by the COVID-19 pandemic ; when the French government declined to do so, they called for a boycott. This led to 96% of voters choosing to stay with France. In May 2024, riots broke out amid debate over a proposed electoral reform in the territory. New Caledonia is a territory sui generis to which France has gradually transferred certain powers. As such its citizens have French nationality and vote for

6800-417: The labour and slave trade (" blackbirding ") in Australia, New Caledonia and the Pacific, as well as his opposition to the British and German colonial expansion in New Guinea. While in Australia, he built the first biological research station in the Southern Hemisphere, was elected to the Linnean Society of New South Wales , was instrumental in establishing the Australasian Biological Association, stayed at

6900-480: The land mass he named New Britain was an island. As he sailed northwesterly through the passage, Dampier charted and named various islands which lay between the Dampier and Vitiaz Straits: Sir George Rook's Island (later Rooke Island, now Umboi Island), Long Island (Arop Island) and Crown Island . During the New Guinea Campaign (1942-1945), control of the Vitiaz Strait took on strategic military importance. The Japanese landed two battalions at Lae and Salamaua on

7000-408: The mines the French imported labourers from neighbouring islands and from the New Hebrides, and later from Japan , the Dutch East Indies , and French Indochina . The French government also attempted to encourage European immigration, without much success. The indigenous Kanak people were excluded from the French economy and from mining work, and ultimately confined to reservations. This sparked

7100-507: The native tribes, his comprehensive treatise on their way of life and customs was invaluable to later researchers. In scientific and anthropological circles during the 1850s and 1860s there was much discussion connected with the study of human races and the interpretation of racial peculiarities. There were some anthropologists, such as Samuel Morton , who tried to prove that not all human races were of equal worth, and that " white people " were predestined by " natural selection " to rule over

7200-457: The near future due to the accord, which states that "a name, a flag, an anthem, a motto, and the design of banknotes will have to be sought by all parties together, to express the Kanak identity and the future shared by all parties." To date, however, there has been no consensus on a new name for the territory, although Kanak Republic is popular among 40% of the population. New Caledonia has increasingly adopted its own symbols, choosing an anthem,

7300-610: The onward voyage to Africa. They joined the other Free French (FF) battalions in Qastina in August, before moving to the Western Desert with the 1st FF Brigade ( 1 BFL ). There they were one of the four battalions who took part in the breakout after the Battle of Bir Hakeim in 1942. Their losses could not easily be replaced from the Pacific and they were therefore amalgamated with the Frenchmen of another battalion wearing

7400-511: The patrol and support vessel D'Entrecasteaux and Auguste Benebig , the lead ship of the Félix Éboué class of patrol vessels. The French Navy will further reinforce its offshore patrol capabilities in New Caledonia by deploying a second vessel of the Félix Éboué class ( Jean Tranape ) to the territory by 2025. One Engins de Débarquement Amphibie – Standards (EDA-S) landing craft

7500-685: The protection of New Caledonia's ecological diversity from fire, industrial and residential development, unrestricted agricultural activity and mining (such as the judicial revocation of INCO 's mining licence in June 2006 owing to claimed abuses). In 2008, six lagoons of the New Caledonian barrier reef , the world's longest continuous barrier reef system, were inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List . New Caledonia's fauna and flora derive from ancestral species isolated in

7600-442: The region when it broke away from Gondwana many tens of millions of years ago. Not only endemic species have evolved here, but entire genera, families, and even orders are unique to the islands. More tropical gymnosperm species are endemic to New Caledonia than to any similar region on Earth. Of the 44 indigenous species of gymnosperms, 43 are endemic, including the only known parasitic gymnosperm ( Parasitaxus usta ). Also, of

7700-461: The richest diversity in the world per square kilometre. The biodiversity is caused by Grande Terre's central mountain range, which has created a variety of niches, landforms and micro-climates where endemic species thrive. Largely due to its nickel industry, New Caledonia emits a high level of carbon dioxide per person compared to other countries. In 2019, it emitted 55.25 tons of CO 2 per person, compared to 4.81 for France. The combination of

7800-536: The science for which you serve, but your experience of contacting the primitive peoples will make an epoch in the science for which I serve i.e. the science which teaches how human beings should live with one another. The humanist views of Miklouho-Maclay led him to campaign actively against the slave trade and against blackbirding  – carried on between the islands of Melanesia and plantations in Queensland , Fiji , Samoa and New Caledonia . In November 1878

7900-612: The south-easterly monsoon, the westward current dominates; during boreal winter (northern hemisphere winter) under the influence of the northwesterly monsoonal winds, the eastward flow dominates. Abel Tasman sighted Umboi Island in the Vitiaz Strait in 1643 but failed to realise that the Strait separated the island from the coast of New Guinea. William Dampier charted the passage now named Dampier Strait between Umboi Island and New Britain in 1700 Dampier had established that

8000-405: The southeast. The east coast is covered by a lush vegetation. The west coast, with its large savannahs and plains suitable for farming, is a drier area. Many ore-rich massifs are found along this coast. The Diahot River is the longest river of New Caledonia, flowing for some 100 kilometres (62 mi). It has a catchment area of 620 km (240 sq mi) and opens north-westward into

8100-495: The term, defining it as extending for 150 miles between Cape Croisilles and Cape King William , and 30–50 miles inland to the mountains of Mana-Boro-Boro ( Finisterre Mountains ). However, this name is not in use today. The section of the coast from Cape Croisilles to Madang is referred to as part of the North Coast, the bay in which Madang is situated in called Astrolabe Bay , while the coast from Astrolabe Bay to Saidor

8200-588: The territory proposed a five-year transition period and a referendum in 1989. In March 1984, the Front Indépendantiste, a Kanak resistance group, seized farms and the Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front (FLNKS) formed a provisional government. In January 1985, the French Left-wing government offered sovereignty to the Kanaks and legal protection for European settlers. The plan faltered as violence escalated. The government declared

8300-802: The territory volunteered for service overseas. They were joined, in April, by 300 men from French Polynesia ('the Tahitians'), plus a handful from the French districts of the New Hebrides: together they formed the Bataillon du Pacifique . The Caledonians formed two of the companies, and the Polynesians the other two. In May 1941, they sailed to Australia and boarded the RMS ; Queen Elizabeth for

8400-653: The time. In 1946, New Caledonia became an overseas territory. By 1953, French citizenship had been granted to all New Caledonians, regardless of ethnicity. During the late 1940s and early 1950s, New Caledonia strengthened its economic links with Australia, particularly as turmoil within France and its empire weakened New Caledonia's traditional economic links to metropolitan France; New Caledonia supplied nickel to Australia in exchange for coal vital for smelting nickel. New Caledonian exports of iron ore and timber to Australia also increased during this time period. The European and Polynesian populations gradually increased in

8500-534: The trade in the early decades of the twentieth century involved kidnapping children from the Loyalty Islands to the Grand Terre for forced labour in plantation agriculture. New Caledonia's primary experience with blackbirding revolved around a trade from the New Hebrides (now Vanuatu) to the Grand Terre for labour in plantation agriculture, mines, as well as guards over convicts and in some public works. In

8600-740: The way to Saint Petersburg , where he enrolled in the Roadway Institute of Engineering Corps. He graduated from the institute in 1840 and became an engineer assigned to work on the construction of the Moscow–Saint Petersburg Railway . After becoming the first chief of the Moskovsky passenger railway station in Saint Petersburg , Myklukha moved his family there. He died in December 1857 from tuberculosis and

8700-526: The west coast in the following years. New Caledonia became a penal colony in 1864, and from the 1860s until the end of the transportations in 1897, France sent about 22,000 criminals and political prisoners to New Caledonia. The Bulletin de la Société générale des prisons for 1888 indicates that 10,428 convicts, including 2,329 freed ones, were on the island as of 1 May 1888, by far the largest number of convicts detained in French overseas penitentiaries. The convicts included many Communards , arrested after

8800-482: The years leading to the nickel boom of 1969–1972, and the indigenous Kanak Melanesians became a minority, though they were still the largest ethnic group. Between 1976 and 1988, a period referred to as "the Events" ( French : Les Événements ), conflicts between French government actions and the Kanak independence movement saw periods of serious violence and disorder. In 1983, a statute of "enlarged autonomy" for

8900-465: Was held in October 2020 , with voters once again choosing to remain a part of France. In the 2018 referendum, 56.7% of voters chose to remain in France. In the 2020 referendum, this percentage dropped with 53.4% of voters choosing to remain part of France. The third referendum was held on 12 December 2021. The referendum was boycotted by pro-independence forces, who argued for a delayed vote due to

9000-745: Was baptised on 21 July 1846 by priest Ioann Smirnov at the Shegrinskaya Church of Nikolaos the Wonderworker. His godfather was Alexander Ridiger , a Borovichi landowner who was a veteran of the Patriotic War of 1812 and a participant in the Battle of Borodino . In 1858 Nicholai enrolled into the third grade of a German Lutheran school at the Saint Anna Kirche in Saint Petersburg. During his studies at

9100-803: Was erected near Bongu village in Madang Province, funded by "Valeria, Irma, and Valentina Sourin, Chief, Sir Peter Barter and volunteers from the Madang Resort and Friends of the Haus Tumbuna". In Russia there is an Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology and a street in South-West Moscow (where the Peoples' Friendship University of Russia is situated) named in his honour. The district museum in Okulovka , Novgorod Oblast ,

9200-494: Was held on 4 October 2020. The result was that 53.26% of voters chose to remain with France. The third and last referendum permitted by the Nouméa Accord was held on 12 December 2021 , confirming New Caledonia as part of the French Republic with 96% voting "no" to independence after the vote was boycotted by the bulk of the Kanak population. The official name of the territory, Nouvelle-Calédonie , could be changed in

9300-573: Was held the following year, but independence was rejected by a large majority. Under the Nouméa Accord , signed in 1998 following a period of secessionist unrest in the 1980s and approved in a referendum , New Caledonia was granted special status. Twenty years after inception, the Nouméa Accord required an referendum on independence which was held on 4 November 2018. The result was that 56.9% of voters chose to remain with France. The Nouméa Accord required another independence referendum , which

9400-503: Was made secure by landings in the Admiralty Islands on 29 February 1944. Nicholas Miklouho-Maclay Nicholai Nikolaevich Miklouho-Maclay ( Russian : Никола́й Никола́евич Миклу́хо-Макла́й ; 17 [ O.S. 5] July 1846 – 14 [ O.S. 2] April 1888) was a Russian explorer of Ukrainian origin. He worked as an ethnologist , anthropologist and biologist who became famous as one of

9500-560: Was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2008 for its exceptional beauty and marine biodiversity. In May 2023, there was an earthquake and tsunami in New Caledonia. This triggered a tsunami warning here as well as in other nearby countries. The climate is tropical , with a hot and humid season from November to March with temperatures between 27 and 30 °C (81 and 86 °F), and a cooler, dry season from June to August with temperatures between 20 and 23 °C (68 and 73 °F), linked by two short interstices. The tropical climate

9600-647: Was named in his honour. Maklaj is the basis of the main character in the Esperanto historical novel "Sed Nur Fragmento" by Trevor Steele. The Marine Biological Station in Watson's Bay, built and used by Miklouho-Maclay, was commandeered by the Ministry of Defence in 1899 as a barracks for officers . In the 1980s the Miklouho-Maclay Society unsuccessfully lobbied for the centre to be made into

9700-677: Was published in 1953. Nicholai Nikolaevich Miklouho-Maclay is commemorated in the scientific name of the New Guinea tree species Planchonella maclayana , in the banana species Musa maclayi , and in the land snail species Canefriula maclayiana which were some of the species he discovered. The weevil Rhinoscapha maclayi was first collected by Miklouho-Maclay and was then named after him by his friend William Macleay. Other species named after Nicholai Nikolaevich Miklouho-Maclay include: Colastomion maclayi (a wasp from New Guinea), and Dysmicoccus maclayi (a scale insect from New Guinea) The asteroid 3196 Maklaj , discovered in 1978,

9800-583: Was replaced by a new business enterprise, " blackbirding ", a euphemism for taking Melanesian or Western Pacific Islanders from New Caledonia, the Loyalty Islands, New Hebrides , New Guinea, and the Solomon Islands into slavery , indentured or forced labour in the sugarcane plantations in Fiji and Queensland by various methods of trickery and deception. Blackbirding was practised by both French and Australian traders, but in New Caledonia's case,

9900-622: Was survived by his wife and five children. Before his death, Myklukha was fired from his job for sending 150 rubles to Taras Shevchenko . Nicholai's mother, Ekaterina Semenovna, née Bekker, was of German and Polish descent (her three brothers took part in the January Uprising of 1863). After 1873, the Miklouho-Maclay family purchased and lived in a country estate in Malyn , 100 kilometres (62 mi) northwest of Kiev in

10000-687: Was unveiled in front of the Macleay Museum at the University of Sydney to commemorate the 150th anniversary of his birth. The Macleay Miklouho-Maclay Fellowship is available from the University of Sydney each year. A monument to Miklouho-Maclay was unveiled in Jakarta , Indonesia , on 3 March 2011. The term Maclay Coast has from time to time been used to refer the North-east coast of Papua New Guinea . Miklouho-Maclay began using

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