ate: 0.4 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1995 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 14.4 deaths/1,000 live births (1995 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 74.02 years
male: 70.73 years
female: 77.48 years (1995 est.)

Total fertility rate: 2.57 children born/woman (1995 est.)

Nationality:
noun: New Caledonian(s)
adjective: New Caledonian

Ethnic divisions: Melanesian 42.5%, European 37.1%, Wallisian 8.4%,
Polynesian 3.8%, Indonesian 3.6%, Vietnamese 1.6%, other 3%

Religions: Roman Catholic 60%, Protestant 30%, other 10%

Languages: French, 28 Melanesian-Polynesian dialects

Literacy: age 15 and over can read and write (1976)
total population: 91%
male: 92%
female: 90%

Labor force: 50,469 foreign workers for plantations and mines from
Wallis and Futuna, Vanuatu, and French Polynesia (1980 est.)
by occupation: NA

@New Caledonia:Government

Names:
conventional long form: Territory of New Caledonia and Dependencies
conventional short form: New Caledonia
local long form: Territoire des Nouvelle-Caledonie et Dependances
local short form: Nouvelle-Caledonie

Digraph: NC

Type: overseas territory of France since 1956

Capital: Noumea

Administrative divisions: none (overseas territory of France); there
are no first-order administrative divisions as defined by the US
Government, but there are 3 provinces named Iles Loyaute, Nord, and
Sud

Independence: none (overseas territory of France; a referendum on
independence will be held in 1998)

National holiday: National Day, Taking of the Bastille, 14 July (1789)

Constitution: 28 September 1958 (French Constitution)

Legal system: the 1988 Matignon Accords grant substantial autonomy to
the islands; formerly under French law

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

Executive branch:
chief of state: President Francois MITTERRAND (since 21 May 1981)
head of government: High Commissioner and President of the Council of
Government Didier CULTIAUX (since NA July 1994; appointed by the
French Ministry of the Interior); President of the Territorial
Congress Simon LOUECKHOTE (since 26 June 1989)
cabinet: Consultative Committee

Legislative branch: unicameral
Territorial Assembly: elections last held 11 June 1989 (next to be
held July 1995); results - RPCR 44.5%, FLNKS 28.5%, FN 7%, CD 5%, UO
4%, other 11%; seats - (54 total) RPCR 27, FLNKS 19, FN 3, other 5;
note - election boycotted by FULK
Fren