| Market |
| Population: 256,275 (one main island; 6 of the Loyalty Islands are inhabited) |
| Half the populatiuon lives in Noumea the capital |
| Languages: French (official); forty other languages in use |
| The economy is dependent on nickel mining, tourism and subsidies from France |
| 65,900 land line telephones |
| 208,000 cellular phones |
| 85,000 internet users |
| very seismically active area with volcanoes, hurricanes, earthquakes and tsunamis |