Ouvéa () or Uvea is a
commune in the
Loyalty Islands Province of
New Caledonia
New Caledonia ( ; ) is a group of islands in the southwest Pacific Ocean, southwest of Vanuatu and east of Australia. Located from Metropolitan France, it forms a Overseas France#Sui generis collectivity, ''sui generis'' collectivity of t ...
, an
overseas territory of France in the
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...
. The settlement of
Fayaoué , on Ouvéa Island, is the administrative centre of the commune.
Geography
Ouvéa is made up of
Ouvéa Island, the smaller
Mouli Island and
Faiava Island, and several
islet
An islet ( ) is generally a small island. Definitions vary, and are not precise, but some suggest that an islet is a very small, often unnamed, island with little or no vegetation to support human habitation. It may be made of rock, sand and/ ...
s around these three. All lie among the Loyalty Islands, to the northeast of New Caledonia's mainland.
Important Bird Area
Ouvea has been recognised as an
Important Bird Area (IBA) by
BirdLife International
BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding i ...
because it supports populations of
red-bellied fruit doves,
Ouvea parakeets,
grey-eared honeyeaters,
New Caledonian friarbirds,
cardinal myzomelas,
fan-tailed gerygones,
long-tailed trillers,
streaked fantails,
Melanesian flycatchers and
striated starlings.
Climate
Ouvéa has a
tropical monsoon climate (
Köppen climate classification
The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...
''Am''). The average annual temperature in Ouvéa 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 July, at around . The highest temperature ever recorded in Ouvéa was on 7 February 2016; the coldest temperature ever recorded was on 10 August 1981.
History
Ouvéa is a
Polynesian outlier originally settled by
Polynesian navigators who named it for their home island,
Uvea Island. Some of their descendants still speak the
West Uvean language.
Kanak activism
In April 1988, a hostage taking took place on Ouvéa. Four
gendarmes were killed and twenty-seven were held hostage in a cave by supporters of the
Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front
The Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front (, FLNKS) is a pro-independence alliance of political parties in New Caledonia. It was founded in 1984 at a congress of various political parties. Its supporters are mostly from the Kanak indig ...
. 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. Eighteen
Kanaks 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.
Languages
The native languages of Ouvéa are the
Melanesian Iaai and the
Polynesian Faga 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.
References
Communes of New Caledonia
Polynesian outliers
Loyalty Islands
Important Bird Areas of New Caledonia
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