Everything about The Loyalty Islands totally explained
The
Loyalty Islands (
French:
Îles Loyauté) are an
archipelago in the
Pacific. They are part of the
French territory of
New Caledonia, whose mainland is 100 km (60 miles) distant. They form the Loyalty Islands Province (
province des îles Loyauté), one of the three provinces of New Caledonia.
The first Western contact on record is attributed to the British Captain William Raven from the London trading ship '
Britannia', who in 1793 was on his way from Norfolk Island to Batavia. It is very likely however that the discovery and naming of the islands goes back to the London ship 'Loyalty' (also 'Loyalist', Jethro Daggett Master), being on a South Sea trading voyage from 1789 till 1790.
The archipelago consists of six inhabited islands:
Lifou Island,
Maré Island,
Tiga Island,
Ouvéa Island,
Mouli Island, and
Faiava Island, as well as several smaller uninhabited islands and
islets. Their combined land area is 1,981 km² (765 sq. miles). The highest elevation is at 138 m (453 ft) above sea-level on Maré Island.
The Loyalty Islands Province is divided into three
communes (municipalities):
The people of the Loyalty Islands are of mixed
Melanesian and
Polynesian heritage, with also a small European minority. They number 22,080 as of 2004 census. Several thousands more natives of the Loyalty Islands live in Nouméa (New Caledonia's capital) and in the mining areas of New Caledonia's mainland.
The chief export of the Loyalty Islands is
copra.
The islands are part of the
New Caledonia rain forests ecoregion.
Provincial Congress
Of 14 seats in the province's congress, the nationalist
Caledonian Union holds 4, the anti-independence
Rally for Caledonia in the Republic holds 2, the
National Union for Independence-Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front,
Socialist Kanak Liberation,
Renewed Caledonian Union, and the
Union of Pro-Independence Co-operation Committees each detain two seats.
Further Information
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