Name
British explorer Captain James Cook gave New Caledonia its name in 1774, using "Caledonia," the Latin name for Scotland.
Source: CIA World Factbook · 2026-02-01 · text generated from this source, approved by a person
Country
New Caledonia
21.06° S, 165.08° E
No land border at all — every neighbor is across water, along 2,254 km of coast, the 55th longest on Earth.
land borders 0 km · 164th/230 · coastline 2,254 km · 55th/229
CIA World Factbook · 2026-02-01 · ranks computed across the countries in this atlas that carry the value
- Population
- 287,800
- Natural Earth population estimate.
- Area
- 18,575 km²
- Official total area (land + water) from the CIA World Factbook. Computed from the Natural Earth boundary: ≈ 18,616 km².
- Population density
- ≈ 15 / km²
- Population divided by the computed boundary area.
- ISO codes
- NC · NCL
- GDP (nominal)
- $10.13 billion
- Field “Economy → GDP (official exchange rate)” in the CIA World Factbook archive (frozen 2026-02-01). Public domain. The Factbook stopped publishing in February 2026; the year shows when the value was estimated.
- GDP per capita (PPP)
- $34,600
- Field “Economy → Real GDP per capita → Real GDP per capita 2024” in the CIA World Factbook archive (frozen 2026-02-01). Public domain. The Factbook stopped publishing in February 2026; the year shows when the value was estimated.
New Caledonia 18,575 km²Vanuatu 12,189 km²
geometry: Natural Earth 1:50m · EPSG:6933 equal-area
Where New Caledonia sits in the world
Each line is every country in this atlas that carries the value, ordered smallest to largest. The line down the middle is the world median; the mark on each line is this country.
- Median age34.6 years100th of 224 · median 32.6 years
- Life expectancy79.3 years64th of 224 · median 76.2 years
- Fertility rate1.82 children per woman128th of 225 · median 1.92 children per woman
- Population287,800182nd of 235 · median 5,454,073
- Total area18,575 km²154th of 228 · median 83,736 km²
- Coastline2,254 km55th of 229 · median 402 km
Overview
Government
As an overseas collectivity of France, New Caledonia has a parliamentary democracy with a Territorial Congress. Its legal system is a civil law system based on French civil law. The constitution is the French Constitution of 4 October 1958, with changes as reflected in the Noumea Accord of 5 May 1998. Its independence is listed as none (overseas collectivity of France). Fête de la Fédération, 14 July (1790), is its national holiday.
Source: CIA World Factbook · 2026-02-01 · text generated from this source, approved by a person
Flag and symbols
Two official flags have equal status: the flag of France and the Kanak (ethnic Melanesian) flag. Its three equal horizontal bands are blue at the top, red, and green. A large yellow disk shifted slightly to the left side is edged in black and displays a black flèche faîtière symbol, a native rooftop adornment. The national symbols are the flèche faîtière, a native rooftop adornment, and the kagu bird.
Source: CIA World Factbook · 2026-02-01 · text generated from this source, approved by a person
Key figures
CIA World Factbook
Economy
- GDP (nominal)
- $10.13 billion
- Field “Economy → GDP (official exchange rate)” in the CIA World Factbook archive (frozen 2026-02-01). Public domain. The Factbook stopped publishing in February 2026; the year shows when the value was estimated.
- GDP (PPP)
- $8.47 billion
- Field “Economy → Real GDP (purchasing power parity) → Real GDP (purchasing power parity) 2024” in the CIA World Factbook archive (frozen 2026-02-01). Public domain. The Factbook stopped publishing in February 2026; the year shows when the value was estimated.
- GDP per capita (PPP)
- $34,600
- Field “Economy → Real GDP per capita → Real GDP per capita 2024” in the CIA World Factbook archive (frozen 2026-02-01). Public domain. The Factbook stopped publishing in February 2026; the year shows when the value was estimated.
- GDP growth
- +3.5%
- Field “Economy → Real GDP growth rate → Real GDP growth rate 2022” in the CIA World Factbook archive (frozen 2026-02-01). Public domain. The Factbook stopped publishing in February 2026; the year shows when the value was estimated.
- Inflation (consumer prices)
- 3.7%
- Field “Economy → Inflation rate (consumer prices) → Inflation rate (consumer prices) 2022” in the CIA World Factbook archive (frozen 2026-02-01). Public domain. The Factbook stopped publishing in February 2026; the year shows when the value was estimated.
- Unemployment
- 11.2%
- Field “Economy → Unemployment rate → Unemployment rate 2024” in the CIA World Factbook archive (frozen 2026-02-01). Public domain. The Factbook stopped publishing in February 2026; the year shows when the value was estimated.
- Exports
- $1.92 billion
- Field “Economy → Exports → Exports 2021” in the CIA World Factbook archive (frozen 2026-02-01). Public domain. The Factbook stopped publishing in February 2026; the year shows when the value was estimated.
- Imports
- $2.26 billion
- Field “Economy → Imports → Imports 2021” in the CIA World Factbook archive (frozen 2026-02-01). Public domain. The Factbook stopped publishing in February 2026; the year shows when the value was estimated.
People
- Life expectancy
- 79.3 years
- Field “People and Society → Life expectancy at birth → total population” in the CIA World Factbook archive (frozen 2026-02-01). Public domain. The Factbook stopped publishing in February 2026; the year shows when the value was estimated.
- Median age
- 34.6 years
- Field “People and Society → Median age → total” in the CIA World Factbook archive (frozen 2026-02-01). Public domain. The Factbook stopped publishing in February 2026; the year shows when the value was estimated.
- Birth rate
- 13.6 per 1,000
- Field “People and Society → Birth rate” in the CIA World Factbook archive (frozen 2026-02-01). Public domain. The Factbook stopped publishing in February 2026; the year shows when the value was estimated.
- Death rate
- 6 per 1,000
- Field “People and Society → Death rate” in the CIA World Factbook archive (frozen 2026-02-01). Public domain. The Factbook stopped publishing in February 2026; the year shows when the value was estimated.
- Fertility rate
- 1.82 children per woman
- Field “People and Society → Total fertility rate” in the CIA World Factbook archive (frozen 2026-02-01). Public domain. The Factbook stopped publishing in February 2026; the year shows when the value was estimated.
- Population growth
- +1.11% a year
- Field “People and Society → Population growth rate” in the CIA World Factbook archive (frozen 2026-02-01). Public domain. The Factbook stopped publishing in February 2026; the year shows when the value was estimated.
- Urban population
- 72.7%
- Field “People and Society → Urbanization → urban population” in the CIA World Factbook archive (frozen 2026-02-01). Public domain. The Factbook stopped publishing in February 2026; the year shows when the value was estimated.
- Religions
- Christian85.2%
- Muslim2.8%
- unaffiliated10.4%
- other1.6%
- Field “People and Society → Religions” in the CIA World Factbook archive (frozen 2026-02-01). Public domain. The Factbook stopped publishing in February 2026; the year shows when the value was estimated.
Land
- Total area
- 18,575 km²Land 18,275 km² · Water 300 km²
- Field “Geography → Area → total” in the CIA World Factbook archive (frozen 2026-02-01). Public domain. The Factbook stopped publishing in February 2026; the year shows when the value was estimated.
- Coastline
- 2,254 km
- Field “Geography → Coastline” in the CIA World Factbook archive (frozen 2026-02-01). Public domain. The Factbook stopped publishing in February 2026; the year shows when the value was estimated.
- Land borders
- 0 km
- Field “Geography → Land boundaries → total” in the CIA World Factbook archive (frozen 2026-02-01). Public domain. The Factbook stopped publishing in February 2026; the year shows when the value was estimated.
- Highest point
- 1,628 m Mont Panie
- Field “Geography → Elevation → highest point” in the CIA World Factbook archive (frozen 2026-02-01). Public domain. The Factbook stopped publishing in February 2026; the year shows when the value was estimated.
Values from the CIA World Factbook archive. Each carries the year it describes; open a year for the exact source field.
Connections
Natural geography 5
Natural Earth outlines · features with a Wikidata ID
Oceans 1
Seas 1
Islands 1
Island groups 2
Largest cities 1
Population · Natural Earth
- Noumea93.1K