Loyalty Islands (Province des îles Loyauté)
The Loyalty Islands Province (French Province des îles Loyauté) is one of three administrative subdivisions of New Caledonia encompassing the Loyalty Island (Îles Loyauté) archipelago in the Pacific, which are located northeast of the New Caledonian mainland of Grande Terre.
The provincial government seat is at Lifou. The Loyalty Islands are a collectivité territoriale of France. The province's 2019 population was approximately 18,353 inhabitants living on almost 2,000 km2. The native inhabitants are the Kanak and the Tavu'avua' peoples.
The first Western contact on record is attributed to British Captain William Raven of the whaler Britannia, who was on his way in 1793 from Norfolk Island to Batavia (now called Jakarta). It is very likely, however, that the discovery and name originated with officials on the London ship Loyalty, which was on a Pacific Ocean trading voyage from 1789 to 1790.
The French Government demanded the removal of missionaries from the London Missionary Society led by Rev. Samuel Macfarlane from the Loyalty Islands and New Caledonia in 1869. This led to the missionaries travelling to the Torres Strait Islands on the vessel Surprise, in an event still celebrated as "The Coming of the Light", on 1 July 1871.
The provincial government seat is at Lifou. The Loyalty Islands are a collectivité territoriale of France. The province's 2019 population was approximately 18,353 inhabitants living on almost 2,000 km2. The native inhabitants are the Kanak and the Tavu'avua' peoples.
The first Western contact on record is attributed to British Captain William Raven of the whaler Britannia, who was on his way in 1793 from Norfolk Island to Batavia (now called Jakarta). It is very likely, however, that the discovery and name originated with officials on the London ship Loyalty, which was on a Pacific Ocean trading voyage from 1789 to 1790.
The French Government demanded the removal of missionaries from the London Missionary Society led by Rev. Samuel Macfarlane from the Loyalty Islands and New Caledonia in 1869. This led to the missionaries travelling to the Torres Strait Islands on the vessel Surprise, in an event still celebrated as "The Coming of the Light", on 1 July 1871.
Map - Loyalty Islands (Province des îles Loyauté)
Map
Country - New_Caledonia
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New Caledonia has a land area of 18576 km2 divided into three provinces. The North and South Provinces are on the New Caledonian mainland, while the Loyalty Islands Province is a series of three islands off the east coast of mainland. New Caledonia's population of 271,407 (October 2019 census) 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 is Nouméa.
Currency / Language
| ISO | Currency | Symbol | Significant figures |
|---|---|---|---|
| XPF | CFP franc | â‚£ | 0 |
| ISO | Language |
|---|---|
| FR | French language |