The French sui generis collectivity of New Caledonia is divided into three provinces, which in turn are divided into 33 communes. There is also a system of eight tribal areas for the indigenous Kanak people, and three decentralized subdivisions.

Provinces

New Caledonia is divided into three provinces. The North and South Provinces are located on the New Caledonian mainland, while the Loyalty Islands Province is a series of islands off the mainland.

Province name
(name in French)
Capital cityPopulation
(2019)
Loyalty Islands Province
(Province des îles Loyauté)
Lifou18,353
North Province (Province Nord)Koné49,910
South Province (Province Sud)Nouméa203,144

Each province has its own flag and emblem and has considerable powers, including all powers that are not explicitly the prerogative of either the territorial Congress of New Caledonia in Nouméa or parliament of the French Republic in Paris. The borders and powers of the provinces were outlined in 1988 as part of the Matignon Accords.

The Loyalty Islands Province has its seat at in the commune of Lifou, and the provincial seat of the North Province is at Koné (although physically located closer to the town of Pouembout). The South Province has its provincial seat at Nouméa, although La Foa also serves as the seat of some administrations (see subdivisions section below).

Communes

New Caledonia is subdivided into 33 communes (municipalities), which in most cases predate the provinces. One commune, Poya, was divided between the two mainland provinces as part of the Matignon Accords. On the list below, communal seats are shown in parentheses if different from the commune name.

Key
  South Province
  North Province
  Loyalty Islands Province
  part of both provinces
provincial capital
capital of New Caledonia
Administrative divisions of New Caledonia:   North Province   South Province   Loyalty Islands Province. The numbers correspond to the list of communes to the left.
No. on Map Commune Capital Area (km2) Population (2019) Individual Map
1 Thio Thio 997.6 2,524
2 Yaté Yaté 1,338.4 1,667
3 L'Île-des-Pins Vao 152.3 2,037
4 Le Mont-Dore Mont-Dore 643.0 27,620
5 Nouméa Nouméa 45.7 94,285
6 Dumbéa Dumbéa 254.6 35,873
7 Païta Païta 699.7 24,563
8 Boulouparis Boulouparis 865.6 3,315
9 La Foa La Foa 464.0 3,552
10 Sarraméa Sarraméa 106.4 572
11 Farino Farino 48.0 712
12 Moindou Moindou 321.9 681
13 Bourail Bourail 797.6 5,531
14 Poya Poya 845.8 2,802
15 Pouembout Pouembout 674.3 2,752
16 Koné Koné 373.6 8,144
17 Voh Voh 804.9 2,856
18 Kaala-Gomen Kaala-Gomen 718.2 1,803
19 Koumac Koumac 550.0 3,981
20 Poum Poum 469.4 1,435
21 Belep Waala 69.5 867
22 Ouégoa Ouégoa 656.8 2,118
23 Pouébo Pouébo 202.8 2,144
24 Hienghène Hienghène 1,068.8 2,454
25 Touho Touho 283.0 2,380
26 Poindimié Poindimié 673.1 5,006
27 Ponérihouen Ponérihouen 707.3 2,420
28 Houaïlou Houaïlou 940.6 3,955
29 Kouaoua Kouaoua 383.0 1,304
30 Canala Canala 438.7 3,701
31 Ouvéa Fayaoué 132.1 3,401
32 Lifou 1,207.1 9,195
33 Maré Tadine 641.7 5,757

Other types of divisions

The hierarchy of New Caledonia's administrative subdivisions, shown in a triangle.

Tribal areas (aires coutumières)

In addition, a parallel layer of administration exists for Kanak tribal affairs; these are called aires coutumières ("tribal areas") and are eight in number. Their jurisdiction does not encompass non-Kanaks living within these zones. The tribal areas more or less correspond to the indigenous language areas and/or areas of pre-French tribal alliances.

Subdivisions

There are also three subdivisions, simply known as subdivisions in French, with the same names and boundaries as the three provinces, except that the commune of Poya is entirely within the North Subdivision. Unlike the provinces, which are full political divisions with their own assemblies and executives, the subdivisions are merely decentralized divisions of the French central state, akin to the arrondissements of Metropolitan France, with a Deputy Commissioner of the Republic (commissaire délégué de la République), akin to a subprefect of Metropolitan France, in residence in each subdivision's chief town.

The subdivision chief towns are the same as the provincial capitals except in the South Subdivision where the chief town is La Foa, whereas the capital of the South Province is Nouméa. Thus, although the provincial assembly of the South Province sits in Nouméa, the South Subdivision's Deputy Commissioner of the Republic is in residence in La Foa. This was decided in order to counterbalance the overwhelming weight of Nouméa in New Caledonia.

See also

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