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Houaïlou () is a commune in the North Province of
Local Kanak tribes have traditionally operated a semi subsistence economy, with some waged labour, migrant income, and substantial cultivation. Houaïlou's farmers produce
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
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
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 ...
.
Geography
Climate
Houaïlou has atropical 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 subtype that corresponds to the Köppen climate classification category ' ...
(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 Houaïlou 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 Houaïlou was on 5 March 1952; the coldest temperature ever recorded was on 3 August 1985.
Demographics
The town is part of the Ajië-Aro Kanak cultural grouping, and Ajië is the local language. Over 90% of the population identified as Kanak in the 2014 census. There are some European mine workers and farmers, and a small number of Polynesians, and Asian from different countries.Economy
The formal economy is based almost exclusively on nickel mining operations, with two local mines - Maï at Poro the Ballande mines at Bâ. Locals can train for mining jobs at the CFTMC in Poro. Service activities include the local administration and gendarmerie, schools, several small shops and other facilities.
Local Kanak tribes have traditionally operated a semi subsistence economy, with some waged labour, migrant income, and substantial cultivation. Houaïlou's farmers produce Lychee
Lychee ( , ; ''Litchi chinensis''; ) is a monotypic taxon and the sole member in the genus ''Litchi'' in the soapberry family, Sapindaceae.
There are three distinct subspecies of lychee. The most common is the Indochinese lychee found in So ...
s, a fruit introduced by a colonist from Réunion, Jolimont Kabar. There is a ''Fête du letchi'' each December, although production is unreliable in this climate and the festival is sometimes cancelled.
Notable people
* Georges Baudoux (1870-1949), author, lived in Houaïlou from 1928 to 1948 *Maurice Leenhardt Maurice Leenhardt (9 March 1878 – 26 January 1954), was a French pastor and ethnologist specialising in the Kanak people of New Caledonia.
Life
Leenhardt was born in Montauban.
At the beginning of the twentieth century, Protestant authorities co ...
(1878-1954), Protestant missionary, translator, and later anthropologist, built up the Protestant mission Dö Nèvâ 3 km upstream in the Houaïlou valley in 1902, and lived there until 1922.
* Delin Wéma, anti-independence Kanak politician. Minister of Education in the New Caledonia government, 1984–1985.
References