Voh is a
commune
A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to:
Administrative-territorial entities
* Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township
** Communes of ...
in the
North Province of
New Caledonia, an overseas territory 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 area ...
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 contin ...
.
It has become famous for the aerial photography of what is known as ''The Heart of Voh'', a large formation of vegetation that resembles a
heart
The heart is a muscular organ in most animals. This organ pumps blood through the blood vessels of the circulatory system. The pumped blood carries oxygen and nutrients to the body, while carrying metabolic waste such as carbon dioxide to t ...
seen from above. Photographer
Yann Arthus-Bertrand
Yann Arthus-Bertrand (born 13 March 1946) is a French environmentalist, activist, journalist and photographer. He has also directed films about the impact of humans on the planet. He is especially well known for his book ''Earth from Above'' (19 ...
contributed to its popularity by using a photograph of the 'heart' as the dust jacket art to his books ''The Earth from the Air'' and ''Earth from Above''.
Voh is also the closest large settlement to the enormous
Koniambo mine
The Koniambo mine is a large mine in the north of New Caledonia in the North Province. It is closest to the small town of Voh, on the west coast of the island. Nickel is found on the Koniambo Massif, and taken by conveyor to a new smelter on th ...
, and it hosted indentured Vietnamese mineworkers from the late 1800s until the 1940s, termed the Chân Dăng.
Colonial establishment
In 1865 Kanak warriors killed workers constructing a fort at Pouangué (Gatope), and it was abandoned in 1869. In 1891 the French administration decided the vallée de Voh would be a good place for French free settlers. Land for farming was reportedly renounced voluntarily by the Kanak inhabitants, on the right bank of the river. At this time, there were no roads. Some 950 ha was surveyed by Piarchi, and lots of 0.15 ha to 380 ha were handed out for housing and livestock farming. By late 1892 23 Europeans including Georges Weiss, Jean-François Jocteur, Alexandre Paulaud and Claude Rousson, Jean-Baptiste Mirandon and former army officers Pancrace Mainard and Marin Poncet arrived and began building and farming. The settlement later expanded to the left bank of the river, and Governor Paul Feillet visited in 1894. Settlers soon turned to coffee production. The town now features a Musée du Café.
Today
Mining has brought new wealth to the region, the growth of employment and new housing, and problems associated with the temporary workforce.
People of Voh
Its most famous son is
André Dang Van Nha who was born in the Vietnamese labour camp in 1936, and who now has a controlling interest, as head of SMSP, in the huge Koniambo mine.
[Pitoiset, A. and C. Wéry. 2008. ''Mystère Dang''. Noumea: Le Rayon Vert.] His father, killed building a wharf in 1937, is buried in the Voh cemetery.
References
External links
yannarthusbertrand.com- main page featuring Arthus-Bertrand's photograph of ''The Heart of Voh''.
Communes of New Caledonia
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