Lifou is a commune of

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

in the

Loyalty Islands Province The Loyalty Islands Province (French language, French ''Province des îles Loyauté'') is one of three Administrative_divisions_of_New_Caledonia, administrative subdivisions of New Caledonia encompassing the Loyalty Island (french: Îles Loyauté) ...

of New Caledonia in the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contine ...

Geography

Lifou is made up of

Lifou Island Lifou Island, historically spelt Lifu or Lefu in English, and known as Drehu in the local language, is the largest, most populous and most important island of the Loyalty Islands, in the archipelago of New Caledonia, an overseas territory of ...

, the largest and most heavily populated of the

Loyalty Islands The Loyalty Islands Province (French ''Province des îles Loyauté'') is one of three administrative subdivisions of New Caledonia encompassing the Loyalty Island (french: Îles Loyauté) archipelago in the Pacific, which are located northeast o ...

, its smaller neighbour

Tiga Island Tiga Island, also called Tokanod, is a small island in the South Pacific Ocean. Tiga lies from Lifou Island, and from Maré Island in the Loyalty Islands. The Loyalty Islands are part of the greater archipelago of New Caledonia. Tiga is par ...

, and several uninhabited

islet An islet is a very small, often unnamed island. Most definitions are not precise, but some suggest that an islet has little or no vegetation and cannot support human habitation. It may be made of rock, sand and/or hard coral; may be perman ...

s in between these two. All these islands lie among the Loyalty Islands, northeast of New Caledonia's mainland. At , Lifou Island is the largest atoll in the world. The town of Wé, on Lifou Island, is the administrative centre of the commune of Lifou as well as the provincial seat of the

Climate

Lifou has a

tropical monsoon climate An area of tropical monsoon climate (occasionally known as a sub-equatorial, tropical wet climate or a tropical monsoon and trade-wind littoral climate) is a tropical climate sub-type that corresponds to the Köppen climate classification category ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, nota ...

''Am''). The average annual temperature in Lifou is . The average annual rainfall is with March as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in February, at around , and lowest in August, at around . The highest temperature ever recorded in Lifou was on 7 February 2016; the coldest temperature ever recorded was on 27 July 1985.

Geology

Like Maré and

Ouvéa Ouvéa () or Uvea is a commune in the Loyalty Islands Province of New Caledonia, an overseas territory of France in the Pacific Ocean. The settlement of Fayaoué , on Ouvéa Island, is the administrative centre of the commune. Geography Ouv� ...

, the other Loyalty islands, Lifou is made of fossil coral. Lifou is a ''makatea'' (

raised coral atoll A raised coral atoll or uplifted coral atoll is an atoll that has been lifted high enough above sea level by tectonic forces to protect it from scouring by storms and enable soils and diverse – often endemic – species of flora and fauna to d ...

), an ancient lagoon slowly raised by geological processes. Due to the uplift, Lifou consists of a wide, flat centre surrounded by cliffs which correspond to the ancient reefal cliffs. The coral rock exhibits high porosity and hence, neither Lifou nor any of the other Loyalty Islands have surface water. It does, however, have a large freshwater reservoir which can be accessed through caves. These caves were used in the past when searching for fresh water, and are very important to the island's mythology.

History

Economic

The first Europeans to have contact with Lifouans were whalers, who had very limited, and certainly not friendly, communications with them. Sandalwood traders also came to New Caledonia around 1841.

Religious

By the mid-19th century, there were Anglican missionaries at work on Lifou, although there had been natives and Polynesian immigrants doing religious work before then. In 1843, French Catholic missionaries arrived on Lifou; shortly afterward, the Anglicans and Catholics became involved in a religious war that lasted until the French takeover of Lifou in 1864. The missionaries even established a school on Lifou Island, and from 1840 to the early 20th century taught most of the population to read. In 1866, St. Anne Chapel was built in Inagoj. In recent years Lifouans have been referred to as "devout Christians."

Economy

Tourism

Lifou is a popular cruise port, with many cruises coming from Australia. The most common port-of-call is Easo; the ships anchor just off the island and tender passengers ashore, being too large for the wharf there. Lifou is known for its snorkeling.

Farming

The Lifouans grow several crops, including yams, taro, and bananas; they also produce

copra Copra (from ) is the dried, white flesh of the coconut from which coconut oil is extracted. Traditionally, the coconuts are sun-dried, especially for export, before the oil, also known as copra oil, is pressed out. The oil extracted from copr ...

Notable residents

Christian Karembeu Christian Lali Kake Karembeu (born 3 December 1970) is a French former professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder. He is currently the sporting director for Olympiacos. Karembeu represented Nantes, Sampdoria, Real Madrid, ...

, a French footballer who won the

1998 FIFA World Cup The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the 16th FIFA World Cup, the football world championship for men's national teams. The finals tournament was held in France from 10 June to 12 July 1998. The country was chosen as the host nation by FIFA for th ...

with the French National side, is from Lifou. * Rosine Streeter, trade unionist, was born on Lifou.

Images of Lifou

File:lifou island.jpg , File:Loyalty islands Lifou map.png , File:Corail Lifou.JPG,

References

External links

Gallery of images from Lifou

Tourism in Loyalty Islands
{{authority control Communes of New Caledonia Loyalty Islands