| Loyalty Islands Province | |
| Native Name: | Province des îles Loyauté |
| Native Name Lang: | fr |
| Coordinates: | -21.0667°N 188°W |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: | France |
| Subdivision Type1: | Collectivity |
| Subdivision Name1: | New Caledonia |
| Seat: | Wé (Lifou) |
| Leader Title: | President |
| Leader Name: | Jacques Lalié |
| Area Total Km2: | 1980.9 |
| Population Total: | 18,353 |
| Population As Of: | 2019 |
| Population Density Km2: | auto |
| Demographics Type1: | Ethnic Groups (2019) |
| Demographics1 Title1: | Kanak |
| Demographics1 Info1: | 94.63% |
| Demographics1 Title2: | Multiracial |
| Demographics1 Info2: | 2% |
| Demographics1 Title3: | European |
| Demographics1 Info3: | 1.74% |
| Demographics1 Title4: | Ni-Vanuatu |
| Demographics1 Info4: | 0.09% |
| Demographics1 Title5: | Wallisians and Futunans |
| Demographics1 Info5: | 0.08% |
| Demographics1 Title6: | Indonesians |
| Demographics1 Info6: | 0.05% |
| Demographics1 Title7: | Other Asian |
| Demographics1 Info7: | 0.02% |
| Demographics1 Title8: | Tahitians |
| Demographics1 Info8: | 0.01% |
| Demographics1 Title9: | Vietnamese |
| Demographics1 Info9: | 0.01% |
| Demographics1 Title10: | Other |
| Demographics1 Info10: | 1.38% |
| Blank Name Sec1: | Languages |
| Blank Info Sec1: | Drehu, Iaai, Nengone |
Loyalty Islands Province (French: Province des îles Loyauté, pronounced as /fr/) is one of the three top-level administrative subdivisions of New Caledonia. It encompasses the Loyalty Islands (French: Îles Loyauté) archipelago in the Pacific Ocean, 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 2000sigfig=2NaNsigfig=2. The native inhabitants are Melanesians who speak various Kanak languages and Polynesians who speak the Fagauvea language.
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[1] [2] 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.[3] [4] [5] [6]
The archipelago consists of six inhabited islands – Lifou Island, Maré Island, Tiga Island, Ouvéa Island, Mouli Island, and Faiava Island – and several smaller uninhabited islands and islets. Their combined land area is 1981km². The highest elevation is at 138m (453feet) above sea level on Maré Island. The islands are part of the New Caledonia rain forests ecoregion. The chief export of the Loyalty Islands is copra.
An earthquake of moment magnitude 7.7 was reported just after midnight on 11 February 2021 in an area south-east of the islands, with several aftershocks.[7] Over 50 quakes of magnitude greater than 4.5 were recorded in less than 24 hours, and then on the 19 May another quake of the same magnitude happened and caused tsunamis detected by geonets DART (Deep-ocean Assessment and Reporting of Tsunami) and hit everywhere (mostly) in the Pacific Ocean and another of the same size on 20 May triggering another tsunami warning.
The people of the Loyalty Islands are of mixed Melanesian and Polynesian ancestry, with a small European minority. The population numbered 17,436 in the 2009 census, a 7.9% reduction from the 22,080 in the preceding 2004 census. In 2014 the population grew to 18,297, an increase of 4.9%, and in 2019 the population grew a further 0.1% to 18,353.[8] [9]
Several thousand more Loyalty Islanders live on New Caledonia, especially in Nouméa, the capital, and in the mining areas of the main island.
The Loyalty Islands Province is divided into three communes (municipalities):
See main article: Politics of New Caledonia. As of 2018, there are 14 seats in the province's congress held by six parties: the nationalist Caledonian Union holds four, the anti-independence Rally for Caledonia in the Republic holds two, and the National Union for Independence-Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front, Socialist Kanak Liberation, Renewed Caledonian Union and Union of Pro-Independence Co-operation Committees each have two.
NZ DART Network Data https://www.geonet.org.nz/tsunami/dart