Ouvéa | |
|---|---|
 Mouli Bridge | |
 Location of the commune (in red) within New Caledonia | |
 Location of Ouvéa | |
| Coordinates:20°39′08″S166°33′43″E / 20.6522°S 166.5619°E /-20.6522; 166.5619 | |
| Country | France |
| Sui generis collectivity | New Caledonia |
| Province | Loyalty Islands Province |
| Government | |
| • Mayor(2020–2026) | Maurice Tillewa[1] |
Area 1 | 132.1 km2 (51.0 sq mi) |
| Population (2019 census)[2] | 3,401 |
| • Density | 25.75/km2 (66.68/sq mi) |
| Ethnic distribution | |
| • 2019 census | Kanaks 90.91% Europeans 0.47% Wallisians and Futunans 0.03% Mixed 3.97% Other 4.62% |
| Time zone | UTC+11:00 |
| INSEE/Postal code | 98820 /98814 |
| Elevation | 0–46 m (0–151 ft) (avg. 2 m or 6.6 ft) |
| 1 New Caledonia Land Register (DITTT) data, which exclude lakes and ponds larger than 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) as well as the estuaries of rivers. | |
Ouvéa orUvea (West Uvean:[uˈve.a],Iaai:Iaai,Eaje)[3] is acommune in theLoyalty Islands Province ofNew Caledonia, anoverseas territory of France in thePacific Ocean. The settlement ofFayaoué[faˈjawe], on Ouvéa Island, is the administrative centre of the commune.[4]
Ouvéa is made up ofOuvéa Island, the smallerMouli Island andFaiava Island, and severalislets around these three. All lie among the Loyalty Islands, to the northeast of New Caledonia's mainland.
Ouvea has been recognised as anImportant Bird Area (IBA) byBirdLife International because it supports populations ofred-bellied fruit doves,Ouvea parakeets,grey-eared honeyeaters,New Caledonian friarbirds,cardinal myzomelas,fan-tailed gerygones,long-tailed trillers,streaked fantails,Melanesian flycatchers andstriated starlings.[5]
Ouvéa has atropical monsoon climate (Köppen climate classificationAm). The average annual temperature in Ouvéa is 24.6 °C (76.3 °F). The average annual rainfall is 1,345.3 mm (52.96 in) with March as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in February, at around 27.4 °C (81.3 °F), and lowest in July, at around 21.6 °C (70.9 °F). The highest temperature ever recorded in Ouvéa was 35.3 °C (95.5 °F) on 7 February 2016; the coldest temperature ever recorded was 6.4 °C (43.5 °F) on 10 August 1981.
| Climate data for Ouvéa(Ouloup, 1991–2020 averages, extremes 1971−present) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 34.0 (93.2) | 35.3 (95.5) | 33.4 (92.1) | 33.2 (91.8) | 31.0 (87.8) | 29.7 (85.5) | 29.1 (84.4) | 29.3 (84.7) | 31.0 (87.8) | 31.3 (88.3) | 32.5 (90.5) | 33.9 (93.0) | 35.3 (95.5) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 30.3 (86.5) | 30.6 (87.1) | 29.9 (85.8) | 28.8 (83.8) | 27.1 (80.8) | 25.8 (78.4) | 25.0 (77.0) | 25.1 (77.2) | 26.2 (79.2) | 27.4 (81.3) | 28.5 (83.3) | 29.7 (85.5) | 27.9 (82.2) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 27.1 (80.8) | 27.4 (81.3) | 27.0 (80.6) | 26.0 (78.8) | 24.1 (75.4) | 22.7 (72.9) | 21.6 (70.9) | 21.6 (70.9) | 22.5 (72.5) | 23.9 (75.0) | 25.1 (77.2) | 26.4 (79.5) | 24.6 (76.3) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 23.9 (75.0) | 24.3 (75.7) | 24.1 (75.4) | 23.1 (73.6) | 21.2 (70.2) | 19.6 (67.3) | 18.1 (64.6) | 18.2 (64.8) | 18.8 (65.8) | 20.3 (68.5) | 21.7 (71.1) | 23.0 (73.4) | 21.4 (70.5) |
| Record low °C (°F) | 15.5 (59.9) | 15.7 (60.3) | 13.7 (56.7) | 12.5 (54.5) | 9.7 (49.5) | 8.4 (47.1) | 7.3 (45.1) | 6.4 (43.5) | 8.1 (46.6) | 8.5 (47.3) | 10.2 (50.4) | 12.3 (54.1) | 6.4 (43.5) |
| Averageprecipitation mm (inches) | 167.1 (6.58) | 164.8 (6.49) | 199.6 (7.86) | 155.7 (6.13) | 111.0 (4.37) | 98.6 (3.88) | 69.1 (2.72) | 85.0 (3.35) | 60.0 (2.36) | 52.4 (2.06) | 76.4 (3.01) | 105.6 (4.16) | 1,345.3 (52.96) |
| Average precipitation days(≥ 1.0 mm) | 11.1 | 12.0 | 13.2 | 10.3 | 9.2 | 7.8 | 7.1 | 6.0 | 4.8 | 5.7 | 6.3 | 8.3 | 101.6 |
| Source:Météo-France[6] | |||||||||||||
Ouvéa is aPolynesian outlier originally settled byPolynesian navigators who named it for their home island,Uvea Island. Some of their descendants still speak theWest Uvean language.
In April 1988, a hostage taking took place on Ouvéa. Fourgendarmes were killed and twenty-seven were held hostage in a cave by supporters of theKanak and Socialist National Liberation Front. Twelve of the captured gendarmes were released after a while, but six members of a French anti-terrorist squad were also taken hostage. When negotiations to release the hostages did not succeed, French security forces besieged the cave and freed them. EighteenKanaks and two gendarmes were left dead. In the aftermath it was alleged that three Kanaks had been executed or left to die after being arrested.
The native languages of Ouvéa are theMelanesianIaai and thePolynesianFaga Uvea, which is the only Polynesian language that has taken root in New Caledonia. Speakers of Faga Uvea have fully integrated into the Kanak society and consider themselves Kanak.
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