The South Province () is one of three
administrative divisions
Administrative divisions (also administrative units, administrative regions, subnational entities, or constituent states, as well as many similar generic terms) are geographical areas into which a particular independent sovereign state is divi ...
in
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 ...
.
It corresponds to the southern and southwestern portion of the
New Caledonian mainland.
It is by far the most economically developed and most urbanized part of the
archipelago and indeed in the entire
Melanesian region. The South Province is also the only part of New Caledonia - and Melanesia - where ethnic
Melanesians do not constitute an absolute majority of the population.
The provincial assembly and executive are in
Nouméa. The administrative services of the French state, however, are located in
La Foa, with a Deputy Commissioner of the Republic (''commissaire délégué de la République''), akin to a
subprefect of
metropolitan France, in residence there. La Foa was chosen by the French central State in the late 1980s to counterbalance the overwhelming weight of Nouméa in New Caledonia
The central State administrative services in La Foa are not to be confused with the central State administrative services in Nouméa. The former manage local matters at the provincial level, whereas the latter, with the High Commissioner of the Republic in New Caledonia at their head, manage territorial matters for the whole of New Caledonia.
Provincial Assembly
Of the 40 seats in the provincial assembly, the
Rally-UMP holds 15, the
Caledonia Together has 12, the
Future Together has 5, the
Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front has 4, the
Movement for Diversity has 2, the Union for a Caledonian Destiny has 1 and there is 1
miscellaneous right (ex-
Rally for Caledonia).
Notable people
*
Ilaïsaane Lauouvéa - former assembly member
See also
*
Politics of New Caledonia
References
Provinces of New Caledonia
Geography of New Caledonia
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