Le GROS problème de la Nouvelle-Calédonie :/

Summary

La Nouvelle-Calédonie, archipel français du Pacifique Sud, est confrontée à de nombreux défis. Sa population est divisée entre Kanaks indépendantistes, Caldoches loyalistes et immigrants. L'économie dépend essentiellement du nickel, dont les cours fluctuants et la concurrence d'autres pays fragilisent les entreprises locales, obligeant l'État à renflouer. L'isolement, le coût de l'énergie et la faible densité de population renchérissent les infrastructures. Malgré deux référendums rejetant l'indépendance, les tensions ethniques et économiques persistent. La diversification de l'économie et la spécialisation dans les batteries au nickel sont envisagées pour sortir de l'impasse.

Takeaways

• 😊 La Nouvelle-Calédonie est un archipel français du Pacifique Sud composé d'îles principales et de petites îles.
• 👥 La population est divisée entre Kanaks (autochtones), Caldoches (d'origine européenne) et Wallisiens-Futuniens (immigrés).
• 🚩 Il y a eu plusieurs crises et tentatives d'indépendance, avec des accords signés en 1988 et 1998.
• 😣 L'économie dépend beaucoup de l'industrie du nickel, ce qui la rend vulnérable aux fluctuations des prix.
• 😬 Le pays est très centralisé autour de la capitale Nouméa, qui concentre les 2/3 de la population.
• 🏙 Le réseau urbain est très déséquilibré entre Nouméa et de petites villes le long de la côte Ouest.
• 💰 La Nouvelle-Calédonie dépense beaucoup en énergie à cause de son isolement géographique et sa faible densité de population.
• 🛢 Elle n'est plus compétitive face à l'Indonésie pour l'extraction de nickel à cause des coûts énergétiques.
• 😖 Le pays est en crise économique et sociale, avec un solde migratoire négatif et une population vieillissante.
• ❓ L'avenir est incertain : faut-il miser sur des niches comme le nickel pour batteries électriques ?

Q & A

Quel est le pourcentage de la population que représentent les Kanaks en Nouvelle-Calédonie selon les statistiques officielles ?

Les Kanaks représentent 39% de la population.

Quels sont les trois principales communautés en Nouvelle-Calédonie et leurs positions concernant l'indépendance ?

Les trois principales communautés sont les Kanaks, les Caldoches et les Wallisiens-Futuniens. Les Kanaks souhaitent l'indépendance, tandis que les Caldoches et les Wallisiens-Futuniens ne le souhaitent pas.

Quel événement a marqué le sommet de la crise décoloniale en Nouvelle-Calédonie en 1988 ?

Le sommet de la crise décoloniale a été marqué par la prise d'otages dans la grotte d'Ouvéa en 1988.

Quelles sont les conséquences des Accords de Matignon en 1988 ?

Les Accords de Matignon ont permis de calmer la situation et de proposer une série de politiques pour établir progressivement l'indépendance de la Nouvelle-Calédonie.

Combien de référendums pour l'indépendance ont été prévus par les Accords de Nouméa et quel a été le résultat du premier en 2018 ?

Trois référendums pour l'indépendance ont été prévus, et lors du premier en 2018, le 'Non' à l'indépendance a gagné avec 56% des voix.

Quelles sont les deux principales raisons pour lesquelles la France souhaite maintenir la Nouvelle-Calédonie ?

Les deux principales raisons sont la position géostratégique essentielle de la Nouvelle-Calédonie pour la France et la présence d'une population anti-indépendance ayant vécu là plusieurs décennies.

Quelle est la particularité administrative de la Nouvelle-Calédonie par rapport aux autres territoires français d'outre-mer ?

La Nouvelle-Calédonie est considérée comme une collectivité d'outre-mer et ses trois provinces sont également considérées comme des communautés d'outre-mer, ce qui est un cas unique.

Quels sont les principaux problèmes économiques auxquels fait face la Nouvelle-Calédonie ?

La Nouvelle-Calédonie fait face à la dépendance à la ressource unique du nickel, à la volatilité des prix du nickel, et à la concurrence d'autres pays comme l'Indonésie.

Pourquoi la Nouvelle-Calédonie est-elle considérée comme ayant un des taux de pollution par habitant les plus élevés au monde ?

Cela est principalement dû à l'industrie du nickel, qui est très polluante et au fait que le pays doit maintenir des infrastructures énergétiques coûteuses pour sa petite population.

Quelle solution à court terme est envisagée pour améliorer la situation économique de la Nouvelle-Calédonie ?

Une des solutions à court terme envisagées est de spécialiser la Nouvelle-Calédonie dans la production de nickel de qualité pour les batteries de voitures électriques.

Outlines

00:00

😊 La démographie de la Nouvelle-Calédonie

La Nouvelle-Calédonie est composée de trois communautés principales : les Kanaks (39% de la population), les Caldoches d'origine européenne (27%) et les Wallisiens-Futuniens (8%). Il y a eu des tensions historiques entre les Kanaks, qui veulent l'indépendance, et les autres communautés. Des événements violents ont eu lieu dans les années 1980 avant les accords de Matignon en 1988 et l'accord de Nouméa en 1998, qui ont accordé plus d'autonomie à la Nouvelle-Calédonie.

05:01

😮‍💨 Le territoire et les provinces de la Nouvelle-Calédonie

La Nouvelle-Calédonie est composée d'îles, dont la Grande Terre, les îles Loyauté et les îles Belep. Elle est divisée en 3 provinces : Province Sud (75% de la population), Province Nord (18%) et Province des îles Loyauté (7%). Il existe également des aires coutumières gérées par les Kanaks. Il y a de fortes disparités entre le nord et le sud.

10:01

🏙 Réseau urbain hyper-centralisé

La Nouvelle-Calédonie est hyper-centralisée autour de Nouméa (182 000 habitants, 2/3 de la population). Il n'y a qu'une petite ville qui se développe dans le nord (axe VKP). L'objectif est de créer un contrepoids à Nouméa pour revitaliser cette région.

💰 Une économie trop dépendante du nickel

L'économie de la Nouvelle-Calédonie dépend essentiellement de l'extraction et l'exportation du nickel (3 usines métallurgiques). Mais le pays souffre de son isolement, de sa faible population, et de ses coûts énergétiques élevés. Il est concurrencé par l'Indonésie. Des solutions sont recherchées pour diversifier l'économie.

Keywords

💡Kanak

Les Kanaks sont le peuple autochtone de la Nouvelle-Calédonie. Ils représentent 39% de la population selon les statistiques ethniques officielles. Ils militent pour l'indépendance du pays face aux Caldoches, les Européens installés sur l'île. Cette tension entre Kanaks et Caldoches est une problématique centrale abordée dans la vidéo.

💡Caldoche

Les Caldoches sont les Européens, principalement d'origine française, installés en Nouvelle-Calédonie. Ils représentent 27% de la population. Contrairement aux Kanaks, ils ne veulent pas l'indépendance du territoire et souhaitent rester sous la souveraineté de la France.

💡référendum

Trois référendums sur l'indépendance de la Nouvelle-Calédonie ont été organisés en 2018, 2020 et 2021, conformément aux Accords de Nouméa. À chaque fois, le « non » à l'indépendance l'a emporté, notamment grâce aux votes des Caldoches.

💡nickel

La Nouvelle-Calédonie possède d'importantes ressources en nickel qui représentent la seule richesse exportable du territoire. L'économie calédonienne est donc totalement dépendante des cours mondiaux du nickel. Or ces derniers sont volatils, ce qui fragilise le pays.

💡énergie

À cause de son isolement géographique et de sa faible densité de population, le coût de l'énergie est très élevé en Nouvelle-Calédonie. Cela nuit à la compétitivité des usines métallurgiques de nickel du pays par rapport à l'Indonésie.

💡Accords de Matignon

Signés en 1988, les Accords de Matignon visaient à rétablir la paix civile en Nouvelle-Calédonie et à préparer progressivement l'émancipation et l’autodétermination du territoire.

💡Accords de Nouméa

Signés en 1998, les Accords de Nouméa prévoient un transfert de compétences de l’État vers la Nouvelle-Calédonie et l'organisation de trois référendums sur l'indépendance du territoire d'ici 2022.

💡Nouméa

Nouméa est la capitale et principal centre urbain de Nouvelle-Calédonie. Elle concentre les deux tiers de la population totale du territoire et la quasi totalité des activités économiques.

💡VKP

Le pôle urbain de VKP (Voh-Koné-Pouembout) constitue le deuxième centre économique de Nouvelle-Calédonie après Nouméa. Il est situé au nord, province colonisée majoritairement par les Européens.

💡crise

En 2024, la Nouvelle-Calédonie est plongée dans une crise économique, sociale et politique. Cela s'explique par sa dépendance au nickel, le manque d'alternatives économiques viables et les tensions ethniques toujours vives.

Highlights

La Nouvelle-Calédonie est confrontée à une crise économique et sociale

La population est peu nombreuse, le taux de natalité trop bas et l'émigration augmente

La Nouvelle-Calédonie manque de médecins et d'enseignants et devient un désert médical

La Nouvelle-Calédonie dépend trop de l'exportation du nickel, ce qui la rend vulnérable aux fluctuations des prix

L'Indonésie produit le nickel à des prix imbattables, la Nouvelle-Calédonie ne peut pas concurrencer à cause de ses coûts énergétiques

La solution à court terme serait de se spécialiser dans la production de nickel de qualité batterie pour les voitures électriques

Il y a un déséquilibre démographique entre le Nord et le Sud

Les Kanaks sont majoritaires dans le Nord, les Caldoches dans le Sud

La province Sud concentre 75% de la population sur 18% du territoire

Nouméa et sa région concentrent les 2/3 de la population

La Nouvelle-Calédonie a connu une crise indépendantiste violente dans les années 1980

La France veut garder la Nouvelle-Calédonie pour des raisons géostratégiques et la présence d'une population non-indépendantiste

Le territoire est divisé en 3 provinces et 8 aires coutumières gérées par les Kanaks

Il y a eu 3 référendums pour l'indépendance de 2018 à 2021, le non à l'indépendance l'a emporté à chaque fois

La Nouvelle-Calédonie a l'un des taux de pollution les plus élevés au monde à cause de l'industrie du nickel

Transcripts

This is New Caledonia.

This is a country that has a pretty big problem.

And we're going to see that on video.

This will be an opportunity to discuss the general geography of this very special country

in the South Pacific.

New Caledonia is an archipelago made up of a large island

called Grande Terre.

This archipelago belongs to France which colonized it

from the second half of the 19th century.

France sent settlers there at different periods.

But the island was already populated by natives.

Chapter 1: Demography

We therefore find ourselves with a society made up of two main peoples.

On the one hand, the Kanaks are the name the natives give themselves.

According to official ethnic statistics, Kanaks represent 39% of the population.

On the other side, there are the Caldoches,

the name given to the European population,

they represent 27% of the population.

There remains a third of the population that we do not classify

in any of these categories

since we find the mixed race and those who consider themselves

not belonging to any ethnic group, and then there are the other important ethnic groups.

Particularly the Polynesians who represent 10% of the population.

And Asians who are 3%.

The largest large Polynesian community are the Wallisians and Futunians

who represent 8% of the total population.

They come from Wallis and Futuna and migrated especially since the 1960s

with the nickel boom.

And we're going to talk about this nickel.

But first I must conclude for the people.

In total, there are 271,000 inhabitants in New Caledonia according to 2019 statistics.

We can therefore estimate that there are around 20,000 Wallisians and Futunians in New Caledonia.

That's double the number of inhabitants in Wallis and Futuna.

So yes, from the 1960s, the islands of Wallis and Futuna,

also belonging to France, were emptied for the benefit of New Caledonia.

We can therefore say that there are worse situations in the world,

when we see that certain territories are becoming dangerously depopulated

due to a lack of economic stability.

But let's stay on the population for a moment.

We can say that there are three large communities:

The Kanaks, the Caldoches and the Wallisiens-Futuniens.

These three communities coexist but not without problems.

The Kanaks are the indigenous people, they want the independence of New Caledonia.

But the Caldoches, just like the Wallisians, don't want it.

The Kanaks, even if they form the largest community,

remain a minority compared to the rest of the population.

In the 1980s, New Caledonia experienced a major decolonial crisis.

We talk about Events.

In 1984, the various independence movements

united under the banner of the Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front.

To protest and obtain more independence.

The height of events took place in 1988 with the hostage-taking in Ouvéa.

Police officers are taken hostage and the army must intervene.

Right during the French presidential elections.

The Matignon Accords in June 1988

with the independence leaders made it possible to calm things down

and propose a series of policies

to gradually establish the independence of the country.

At 52, Jean-Marie Tjibaou was the national hero of Kanak independence

and participated in the agreements.

But he was killed the following year by a member of the Liberation Front,

who was against the Accords.

In 1998, the Nouméa Accords took place,

which were provided for by the Matignon Accords.

The agreements allow New Caledonia

to obtain even more autonomy in different areas.

With the possibility of three referendums for independence in twenty years.

In 2018, twenty years after the Nouméa Accords,

the first referendum for independence took place.

Big turnout and No to independence won by 56%, unsurprisingly.

Indeed, Kanaks are a minority in the country.

In October 2020, a second referendum took place.

The No wins by 53% this time.

A third referendum is organized in December 2021.

No wins by 96%.

It was boycotted by separatists

who considered that the referendum came too early

and in the midst of a social crisis due to the Covid pandemic.

But why does France want to maintain New Caledonia?

For two main reasons.

The first is geostrategic of course.

New Caledonia is an essential strategic position for France.

It allows it to have an immense maritime territory

and to be close to Australia

and the Asian Pacific coast.

It is also a military naval base.

And that allows France to have diplomatic influence

in a region of the world far from Europe.

This is extremely beneficial for France.

The second reason is the presence of an anti-independence population

who have lived there for several decades.

And following the trauma of the Algerian War

where around 800,000 people had to be repatriated from Algeria to France,

France does not want to relive a similar tragedy.

Even if in this case, the population is much smaller.

We could find a third reason which is the presence of resources.

But in reality no. But I'll talk about that later.

Chapter 2: Territory

Let's see how this New Caledonia is structured.

It is made up of a main island called Grande Terre.

There are three islands to the northeast, these are the Loyalty Islands.

There are islands to the north: The Belep Islands.

There is an island to the south: The Isle of Pines.

There are also other islands which belong to New Caledonia

but which are far away.

It is a sort of overseas territory within New Caledonia.

New Caledonia is divided into three provinces.

The South Province which has 203,000 inhabitants.

Or 75% of the total population of the territory.

The Northern Province which has 50,000 inhabitants.

Or 18% of the population.

The Loyalty Islands Province which has 18,000 inhabitants.

Or 7% of the population.

New Caledonia is officially considered an overseas collectivity.

But the three provinces of New Caledonia are also considered

overseas communities.

This is a fairly unique case in French overseas territories.

Each province has an elected assembly.

We can sometimes say that France is a federation which ignores itself

with this New Caledonia.

Indeed, New Caledonia has such autonomy that there is a form of federalism.

The Provinces are then divided into communes. There are 33 municipalities.

14 municipalities in the South Province.

17 municipalities in the Northern Province.

And 3 municipalities in the Province of the Islands.

If you counted correctly, that makes 34.

But in reality, it's because the commune of Poya straddles two provinces.

This is a special case.

But there are still complications.

Indeed, in addition to the provinces,

New Caledonia is divided into customary areas!

To the north, we have the customary area of ​​Hoot ma Waap.

Which includes 8 municipalities in the northern province.

Then there is the Paici-Camuki area.

Which includes 6 municipalities in the northern province. Including Poya.

Then there is the Ajië-Aro area.

Which includes 3 municipalities in the southern province, including Poya.

And a commune in the northern province.

Poya is divided between two customary areas.

Then there is the Xaracuu area.

Which includes 2 municipalities in the northern province.

And 5 municipalities in the southern province.

And finally, in the very south, there is the Djubéa-Kaponé area.

6 municipalities in the Southern province.

We therefore find ourselves with two customary areas which straddle the two provinces.

In the province of the Loyalty Islands, made up of three municipalities.

Each commune forms a customary area.

Iaai, Drehu and Nengone.

There are therefore 8 customary areas in total.

The Customary Areas manage all administrative matters related to Kanak customs.

It is the Kanak tribes who are concerned by customary areas.

There is a customary Senate which manages customary areas.

Customary areas are then subdivided into customary districts

which are in turn composed of one or more tribes.

In short, there are big differences between the north and the south in New Caledonia.

For example, in the first referendum,

we can see that the entire west coast of the Southern Province voted against independence.

Whereas everywhere else, it was the for who won.

Except the communes of Pououbli and Koumac.

To understand, just look at the ethnic statistics.

In Pouembo, the Kanaks and the Caldoches form approximately the same proportions.

In Koumac, the Caldoches are the main ethnic group.

This is an isolated case in the north of the country.

Then there are very Kanak areas. Like Canala and its 95% Kanaks.

And not far away, we find Farino and its only 6% Kanaks.

But we will see that with the different cities and the urban network.

Chapter 3: Urban network

New Caledonia is a hypercentralized country. Nouméa is the capital.

The commune of Nouméa has 94,000 inhabitants.

With neighboring municipalities,

it forms Greater Nouméa which has 182,000 inhabitants.

That’s two thirds of the country’s population!

It is the equivalent of Iceland in terms of proportion.

Even in terms of population, Iceland is slightly more populated.

We therefore have a first problem with New Caledonia.

This is because the entire population is concentrated in one place.

There is only one economic center that is developing.

And everything else is late.

New Caledonia is then a continuity of small isolated towns

along the west coast.

We start with Païta which is considered

part of the Nouméa metropolitan area.

But which developed as a separate urban unit.

Païta still has 20,000 inhabitants.

The highway from Nouméa stops at the end of the main urban unit.

Then, it becomes a simple road called Territorial Route 1

which runs along the entire west coast.

Then, we arrive at Boulouparis.

Town of 3000 inhabitants where Kanaks are only 30%.

We move towards the north and pass through La Foa. 3500 inhabitants.

30% Kanaks there too.

Then again to the north, we find Bourail, 5500 inhabitants. 36% Kanaks.

There is a large community of Kabyle and Algerian Arab origin in this city.

We arrive in the northern province where there are two main towns.

That of Koné, capital of the Northern Province. And that of Koumac.

Koumac has 4000 inhabitants.

While Koné forms an agglomeration with its two neighboring communes

Voh and Pouembo.

They form the VKP axis which has 13,000 inhabitants in 2019.

Its population has surely increased rapidly since then.

Chapter 4: economy

As we have seen, a small town

is developing in the north of New Caledonia.

The goal is to create a counterbalance to Nouméa

and create an attractive center in the North.

So sparsely populated and in a phase of depopulation.

There is therefore a desire to try to revitalize a region in difficulty.

For this, New Caledonia benefits from its nickel resources.

There are three metallurgical factories for nickel.

The first is the Nickel Company. SLN is based in Nouméa.

It is the historic factory of New Caledonia.

The second is Koniambo Nickel SAS. The KNS is based in Voh near Koné.

It is she who allows the development of this small town.

It has been operating since 2014.

The third is Prony Resources New Caledonia.

The PRNC is located in the far south of Grande-Terre.

There are therefore three factories,

they allow nickel to be extracted and exported to the whole world.

Nickel is a relatively inexpensive metal.

Around 10,000 dollars per tonne in 2024.

Compared to triple for cobalt for example.

Or quadruple for aluminum.

Nickel is needed to make batteries.

Particularly batteries for electric cars

which have become a whole new market.

It is estimated that in 2030, 85% of new cars sold

will be electric cars.

The demand for nickel will only increase.

However, there are several problems for New Caledonia.

First of all, the country is totally dependent on this single resource.

It doesn't export anything else. It is therefore dependent on the volatility of the nickel price.

If the nickel falls, the economy falls.

Second, other countries are doing much better in exporting nickel.

Notably Indonesia, which has become

a leading country in the production of this metal in just a few years.

And who sells them at unbeatable prices.

Third, New Caledonia is geographically isolated,

and it is sparsely populated.

And the country's small population is a problem.

Indeed, the more populated a country is, the more energy infrastructure there is.

The more energy production there is for a large population

, the less expensive this energy is per capita.

And New Caledonia is very sparsely populated with less than 300,000 inhabitants.

But it is obliged to have infrastructures specially designed

for this small population but also for the entire nickel industry.

In short, New Caledonia's problem is energy costs.

Thus, New Caledonia cannot get by with this wealth that is Nickel.

We know that nickel will increase in value in the coming years

and that we should continue

but for the moment New Caledonia is on the brink of the abyss.

The energy consumed is too high

and price fluctuations in recent years have only made the situation worse.

With the economic crisis due to the war in Ukraine,

many energy costs have increased.

In any case, the country's three metallurgical factories

are all in deficit and the French state tries to save them every year

by injecting large sums of money.

But until when ?

In 2024, prices continued to fall.

And what doesn't help matters

is that science is making progress

and it is making progress in becoming less dependent on nickel

in the creation of batteries.

So there might not be another nickel boom.

Today, New Caledonia is a country in crisis.

Economic crisis, social crisis.

Its population is low, its birth rate has just reached a level too low

to be renewed and emigration is increasing.

It is therefore a country which will begin to depopulate in the coming years.

With these crises, the country is unable to attract new populations,

particularly qualified populations.

New Caledonia is therefore becoming a medical desert and lacks teachers.

And what's more, the country cannot accommodate too many inhabitants either.

Already for the social crisis that it would generate

with the differences between natives and settlers.

But also because there is little cultivable land in the area.

New Caledonia is not at all self-sufficient.

In short, with this low population for such a large territory,

i.e. 15 inhabitants per km²,

New Caledonia must spend a lot of money in terms of energy.

Whether for electricity or for transport.

Which makes it one of the countries that pollutes the most per capita in the world,

particularly because of the nickel industry.

Conclusion

New Caledonia has very few inhabitants and everything is extremely expensive

for each inhabitant due to its isolation.

Its economy is too dependent on the price of nickel

and in recent years, Indonesia has maximized its productivity

to lower the cost of nickel.

New Caledonia cannot compete with Indonesia

because of its isolation and its energy costs.

Are there any solutions to this?

For the moment, the French government is constantly trying

to give money to remove the debts of nickel companies,

but the latter are withdrawing more and more.

We could see this with the withdrawal of the company Glencore,

one of the main nickel shareholders in this country.

Shareholder of Anglo-Swiss origin.

Is there a solution for this country?

Apart from varying its economy, which is easier said than done,

one of the short-term solutions that is being considered would

be to ensure that New Caledonia specializes directly

in the production of battery quality nickel

for electric cars.

For the moment, nickel is imported from New Caledonia

and it is in Australia that there is the know-how to transform it.

But here again, nickel processing remains dependent on nickel

and this is not a good thing in the face of price volatility.

Well, that’s all I had to say about New Caledonia!

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See you next time !