Has “White Nouméa” Become More Kanak?

Abstract

During the entire period of the “Code de l’Indigénat” (Indigenous Code applied between 1887 and 1946), the Indigenous Kanak people were excluded from the capital city of the New Caledonian archipelago. With this city ban, the colonial administration contributed to the long-term marginalisation of the Kanak presence in Nouméa. In the aftermath of World War II and after the departure of American troops from the territory (1946), Nouméa resembled a small French regional town, without any real Pacific identity, and was thus nicknamed “White Nouméa” (in French “Nouméa la Blanche”). There was no sign at that time of the extraordinary demographic shift that would be underway in New Caledonia, and more specifically in the city of Nouméa, throughout the second half of the twentieth century.

This urban expansion was accompanied by ethnic redistribution in the city. After the institutional process of decolonisation that lasted for almost 20 years, the Kanak presence in the city (one inhabitant in four) became indisputable from a demographic point of view. Yet, the continuing urban marginalisation of Kanak people shows the limits of the framework that was extolled on signing the Nouméa Accord (1998) for living together and sharing a “common destiny”. The persistence of acute spatial, social and political inequalities raises the question of the place of the Indigenous people in Nouméa today.

1 Introduction

At the end of the Second World War, New Caledonia was a predominantly rural archipelago. Its capital, Nouméa, was a small town in this French overseas territory in the southern hemisphere. Created in 1854 under the name of Port-de-France to serve as an administrative and military centre for the French presence in New Caledonia, it took the name “Nouméa” on 2 June 1866. It developed with colonisation, notably due to the presence of the Bagne (prison), but also thanks to mining activity since the 1870s. The town population was essentially made up of Europeans and of a small diverse minority (Kanaks, Asians, other Pacific people, foreigners, etc.), and it had been stagnating at around 11,000 inhabitants since the start of the twentieth century (1901–1936) (Dussy 2005). Several factors may explain the slow demographic growth in that period. The policy of land grants encouraged people to relocate to rural areas (the “bush”). At the same time, the difficult economic situation observed from the end of the 1920s made many people return to mainland France (Dussy 2005).

After the withdrawal of American troops stationed there during the Second World War in 1945, Nouméa was again a small regional French town with no real and visible Pacific identity and was labelled “White Nouméa” (in French “Nouméa la Blanche”), in reference to the ethnic composition of its population. There was no sign of the extraordinary demographic shift that New Caledonia, and more specifically the city of Nouméa, was to go through in the second half of the twentieth century. The population of New Caledonia increased fourfold in more or less 70 years (1946–2019), rising from 62,700 in 1946 to 271,407 in 2019. Nouméa absorbed a large part of this population growth. Nouméa alone increased its population tenfold over the same period, which grew from 10,605 inhabitants in 1946 to 94,285 in 2019 (INSEE-ISEE 2020).

Nouméa’s strong demographic growth has contributed to the lasting transformation of the New Caledonian population. Indeed, New Caledonia has shifted from a predominantly rural society to a mainly urban one. This urban expansion has been accompanied by a large ethnic redistribution, in favour of Kanak people and other Pacific communities (Wallisian, Tahitian, Ni-Vanuatu, etc.). From 1887 to 1946, Kanak people had been subject to the “Code de l’Indigénat” (Indigenous Code), which forbade them from travelling outside Indigenous reserves and staying in Nouméa. Kanak people were granted freedom of movement and residence when that Code was abolished in 1946. While Kanak people represented approximately less than 10% of Nouméa’s population in 1946 (Terrier and Defrance 2012), one in four inhabitants declared to be of Kanak origin in 2019 (48,071 people, i.e. 26.4% of the population of the Greater Nouméa comprising the municipalities of Nouméa, Dumbéa, Païta and Mont-Dore) (INSEE-ISEE 2020). Was this significant increase in urban population among Kanak people a homogeneous phenomenon? What is the place of the Kanak people in Nouméa today? In order to answer these questions, I will first analyse the population growth that has contributed to the ethnic composition of the urban population in Nouméa. I will then argue that although this ethnic composition has fostered the emergence of a Kanak presence in the city, it has also been characterised by significant social-economic disparities.

2 From a Rural Archipelago to the Hyper-Centralisation of Nouméa

The second half of the twentieth century profoundly transformed the population distribution in New Caledonia, by changing the country from an essentially rural population into a territory hyper-centralised around Nouméa within a few decades. In that respect, a particularly significant social-demographic reorientation took place during the three decades that followed Second World War.

2.1 The Population Redistribution of Nouméa in the Context of the Post-war Boom and the Nickel Boom (1946–1976)

The demographic growth of the city of Nouméa was, first of all, part of a global post-war boom, characterised by economic wealth (especially in the tertiary sector), urban growth, and a population upswing. Thus, in the aftermath of the war, Nouméa benefited from an exodus from rural areas by settlers of European origin, Asians (Indochinese and Javanese) and Indigenous Kanak people. The abolition of the Indigenous Code in 1946 granted Kanak people freedom of movement and residence. Nouméa’s economic rise in the post-war period and its growing need for labour encouraged significant population growth from 10,605 inhabitants in 1946 to 56,078 inhabitants in 1976 (Fig. 11.2). This trend was based on two major components: natural increase (the difference between the numbers of births and deaths) and the net inflow in migration (both domestic and international).

Fig. 11.1

Map of the districts of the city of Nouméa. (Source: INSEE-ISEE 2011)

After a decline in the average annual population growth rate between 1963 and 1969 (3.03% in this period compared to 6.63% in 1956–1963 period), Nouméa experienced a second period of demographic growth during the “nickel boom” (1968–1972) (Terrier and Defrance 2012) (see Fig. 11.2).

Fig. 11.2

Population trend in Nouméa (1946–1976). (Source: INSEE-ISEE 2020. The results of the censuses between 1956 and 2019 are fully detailed on the ISEE website: https://www.isee.nc/population/recensement/structure-de-la-population-et-evolutions)

Internationally, the demand for nickel doubled in less than 10 years, and so did nickel prices. This led to the opening of new mining centres, the expansion of the Doniambo processing plant (SLN) and the immigration of an overseas workforce, estimated at 20,000 people during that period (Guiart 1996, p. 245). Prosperity spread to all sectors in New Caledonia (construction, trade and services) and promoted full employment. The 1976 census recorded 56,078 people living in Nouméa, that is, five times more than 30 years earlier (INSEE 1976). The average annual rate of population growth in the period 1969–1976 rose to 4.29% for the city of Nouméa alone. By way of comparison, in the rural areas, this rate was about half as high (2.34% per year) over that same period.¹ It is therefore estimated that during that period Nouméa attracted most of the international migration growth, which led to rapid demographic growth.

2.2 Natural Increase and Demographic Transition

While domestic and international migration was a determining factor in Nouméa’s demographic growth between 1946 and 1976, the natural increase (the difference between the numbers of births and deaths) of the city was also paramount.

During that period, the number of births in Nouméa increased 12-fold (202 births in 1945, compared to 2412 births in 1971), while the number of deaths increased too but in much smaller proportions (131 in 1945 compared to 539 in 1971). The increase in the death rate does not mean an increase in mortality. It merely reflects the consequence of the sharp increase of Nouméa’s population (Fig. 11.3).

Fig. 11.3

Trends in the number of births and deaths recorded in Nouméa (1945–1971). (Source: Archives de l’État civil, City of Nouméa 1957 and 1971)

This graph (Fig. 11.3) shows that the discrepancy between the increase in the number of births and deaths has contributed to a significant increase in the natural population surplus. Thus, the natural increase in Nouméa rose from 71 persons in 1945 to 1873 in 1975. This rapid growth of Nouméa’s natural population surplus is similar to the process of “demographic transition” that most countries have already been through. It is a historical process by which a population moves from a high death rate and birth rate to a low death rate (due to medical progress and life expectancy) and then a low birth rate.

2.3 Unprecedented Growth in the School Population

From a historical viewpoint, the demographic growth of a municipality is usually accompanied by the opening of many new schools. Conversely, a municipality with a decreasing population is often forced to close certain classes or even entire schools.

In the context of the aforementioned demographic transition (cf. above), Nouméa was no exception. From the end of Second World War, several primary schools opened in the outer suburbs of Nouméa, for instance: in the Orphelinat district in 1948 (Marguerite Lefrançois school), in Nouville in 1952 (Amélie Cosnier school) and in Faubourg Blanchot in 1953 (Paul Boyer school) (Fig. 11.1). Altogether, 29 public schools opened (or reopened) between 1945 and 1975. This contrasts with the few schools that existed up to 1945 (Fig. 11.4). In fact, 70% of the primary schools currently opened in Nouméa (for a total number of 41 primary schools, kindergarten excepted, according to the city of Nouméa’s archives) opened or reopened during the period spanning the years 1945–1975 (archives of Nouméa city hall, 1957 and 1971).

Fig. 11.4

Map of public primary schools in Nouméa from 1945 to 1975. (Source: Archives of Nouméa city hall 1957 and 1971)

The map shows that the emergence of schools progressively accompanied the population densification of the outer suburbs. The distribution of the number of new schools gradually accelerated in a concentric circle, reaching the northern margins of the city between 1965 and 1975, which clearly corresponds to the demographic “spike” of the nickel boom (see map above).

2.4 “Greater Nouméa”: The Birth of the Hyper-Centralisation of New Caledonia

The strong population growth of the city of Nouméa has contributed to a lasting change in the characteristics of the New Caledonian population, by concentrating the bulk of it in the capital, Nouméa. Similarly, to the well-known expression of Jean-François Gravier “Paris and the French Desert” (1976), the distribution of the New Caledonian population and the high concentration of activities and services in Nouméa has contributed to reproduce, little by little, a certain form of hyper-centralisation in New Caledonia, in the same manner as the Paris conurbation has vis-à-vis mainland France (Gay 2014).

During the periods of massive population influx, Nouméa was faced with a housing shortage and rent inflation. In the city, that period (particularly that of the “nickel boom”) coincided with a redistribution of the population towards residential suburbs in the north and south of the city. Faced with escalating prices, some people decided to settle in the outskirts of Greater Nouméa, in the municipalities of Païta, Dumbéa and Mont-Dore, feeding new migratory flows from the centre to the periphery. Indeed, in 1976, three out of four inhabitants of Greater Nouméa lived in the municipality of Nouméa, whereas in 1956, this ratio was nine out of ten (INSEE 1956, 1976). By way of comparison, in 2019, one out of every two inhabitants (51.7%, source: INSEE-ISEE 2020) of Greater Nouméa lives in Nouméa. This dual movement (rural neighbouring areas to Nouméa and Nouméa to the rural neighbourhood) marked the beginnings of what would later become the Greater Nouméa conurbation. The shift is quite clear across the archipelago (Fig. 11.5). Greater Nouméa – particularly with the fast-increasing population in the outlying municipalities of Dumbéa and Mont-Dore – accounted for the majority of the population in 1976 (74,335 people representing 55.8% of the total population; INSEE 1976).

Fig. 11.5

Evolution of the proportion of the population of Nouméa, Greater Nouméa, the bush and the islands between 1956 and 2014. (Source: INSEE-ISEE 2021)

Figure 11.5 shows that the proportion of the population of Nouméa alone tended to remain at around 42% between 1963 and 1983, while the proportion of the Greater Nouméa population continued to increase. Concomitantly, the proportion of the population living in the bush and on the Islands has been declining since 1945. The average annual variation rates (see Fig. 11.6) show a very strong increase in Dumbéa (+14.4% per year between 1956 and 1976) and in Mont-Dore (+11.1% per year between 1956 and 1976), while the rates recorded at the archipelago level are smaller (+3.4% per year between 1956 and 1976) (INSEE-ISEE 2021).

Fig. 11.6

Comparison of average annual variation rates of the population of Greater Nouméa between 1956 and 2014. (Source: INSEE-ISEE 2021). (The annual rate of change is the average population change per year. This is the population growth rate divided by the number of years between two censuses)

Between 1976 and 1996, the population growth of Greater Nouméa continued at a sustained rate (+2.37% per year between 1976 and 1996), mainly due to the outer municipalities (+6.17% per year for Dumbéa, +4.27% per year for Païta and + 3.4% per year for Mont-Dore) (INSEE 1976, INSEE-ITSEE 1996). Complex movements explain this increase over that period. The period after the economic boom (1976–1984) was first characterised by a short population decrease, followed by an upsurge. This increase of Nouméa’s population was partly due to workers from mining settlements moving back to the city once their contract had ended. From a demographic point of view, the subsequent period of the civil war, euphemistically called “Events” by the French state (1984–1988), was nuanced: on the one hand, the influx of refugees from the “bush” and the Islands, who concentrated mainly in Greater Nouméa, was counterbalanced by a negative international migration rate. On the other hand, the signing of the Matignon-Oudinot Accords (1988) and the restoration of peace helped to revitalise the population of Greater Nouméa, particularly in the outer municipalities.

Finally, between 1996 and 2014, the population growth continued thanks to a positive natural population increase and significant migration flows. It should be noted that within Greater Nouméa, Païta – the farthest and most northerly municipality of the conurbation – had the greatest population growth over that period (+5.5%/year) (INSEE-ITSEE 1996, INSEE-ISEE 2014). If Nouméa remains the central city of the conurbation (51.7% of the population of Greater Nouméa in 2019; INSEE-ISEE 2020), the development of the other municipalities is significant. In 60 years, the combined population of the three outer municipalities (Païta, Dumbéa and Mont-Dore) rose from 11.8% of the total population of Greater Nouméa in 1956 to 48.3% in 2019 (INSEE 1956, INSEE-ISEE, 2020). In addition, the statistical data highlight significant migration flows from Nouméa city centre to the inner suburbs. It is also worth highlighting the recent population growth of another “conurbation” in the North: the Voh-Koné-Pouembout (VKP) area, with an average population growth of 6.2% per year over the 2009–2014 period and a total population of 13,752 (INSEE-ISEE 2020).

The three municipalities of Voh, Koné and Pouembout (VKP) are located in the North Province, on the west coast, and include two mines, Kopéto in the south and Koniambo in the north. Following the example of Greater Nouméa, the strengthening of inter-communal collaboration in the VKP area is being sought on the basis of a common development and urban planning master plan. However, the VKP entity is recent, having emerged only in the last 20 years, with the “usine du Nord” (North smelter) project driving the development of the municipalities. The development of this agglomeration highlights a double challenge: not only that of rebalancing north/south on a territorial scale but also that of the west/east imbalance within the North Province (Kowasch 2012).

3 Kanak People and the City: Between Reconfiguration and Marginalisation

Since the end of Second World War, Nouméa has been profoundly transformed by “demographic booms”. This unprecedented urban expansion has been accompanied by a profound ethnic reconfiguration, giving rise to a cosmopolitan and multicultural city. From the founding of the city in 1854 to the end of the colonial period in 1946, the Kanak presence in Nouméa remained very marginal. Throughout that period, non-Europeans could only move around the city if they held a work contract, and they had to abide by a curfew. Kanak people were not counted in the population census until 1946, the year when they began to access French citizenship. Nevertheless, it was not until 1956, 10 years later, that all Kanak became French citizens. They represented less than 10% of the city’s population in 1945 (Terrier and Defrance 2012).

3.1 Kanak People: From the Indigenous Code to the Nickel Boom

It should be noted that, prior to 1946, in spite of the restrictions and prohibitions put in place by the Indigenous Code, the Kanak presence was fluctuating: between 6% and 13% of the Nouméa population during the first half of the twentieth century (Roux 1981) depending on the need for the workforce. The proportion of Kanak people in the Nouméa conurbation increased steadily from the 1950s onwards. From 10% in 1956, it grew significantly during the nickel boom of the 1960s (reaching 18% in 1969) and again in the years following the 1988 Matignon Accords. By 2019, the Kanak population accounted for one-fourth of the population of the four municipalities of Greater Nouméa (26,4%; INSEE-ISEE 2020).

The proportion of Kanak people living in urban areas to the total Kanak population has increased sharply over the last 60 years. It rose from 10% in 1956 to 43% in 2019 (INSEE-ISEE 2020). If one takes into account Kanak people living in Greater Nouméa but who declared in the census their usual residence in other municipalities, it is likely that half of the Kanak population now lives in urban and peri-urban areas (which can be defined simply as an area with a densely populated human settlement with an urban infrastructure, such as the municipalities of Greater Nouméa and/or the towns of certain rural municipalities (VKP, Bourail, Koumac, etc.) (Fig. 11.7).

Fig. 11.7

Evolution of the proportion of the Kanak population in Greater Nouméa in percent between 1956 and 2019. (Sources: INSEE 1956; INSEE-ISEE 2020)

Initially, at the end of the 1940s and in the 1950s, only individuals moved to Nouméa (Guiart 1996). Afterwards, family reunions gradually took place. In the 1960s, there was a noticeable concentration of Kanak people, forming pockets of population in which several individuals from the same extended family, clan or tribe stayed under the same roof. It was not uncommon in the 1960s and 1970s to see Kanak households of 20 or even 30 people, reflecting a form of solidarity between Kanak people in their efforts to settle in the city. At the time, there were still few Kanak people in Nouméa and renting an apartment or a villa necessitated holding a work contract. Kanak people who managed to get hired and who could have access to property rentals became gateways for other Kanak people – family, relatives and those they were connected to in the Kanak kinship system. The settlement of Kanak people in the city during that period was therefore supported by the dynamic of the Kanak customary kinship system (Guiart 1996) (Fig. 11.8).

Fig. 11.8

Postcard from 1950 to 1960. Kanak women’s sports event near Bir Hakeim Square, in front of the French military barracks Gally-Passebosc. (Source: Nouméa City Museum 2010)

Kanak people, mostly from the Loyalty Islands (Roux 1981), thus benefited from the emergence of paid employment and the job opportunities available in urban areas (particularly in the nickel and construction industries) in particular during the two economic booms: the post-war boom and the nickel boom (but not only, there have also been employment opportunities “outside” these booms). Nevertheless, it should be noted that in the 1970s, the first oil crisis and the nickel crisis led to a temporary reduction in Kanak migration to the city, and some, who were unemployed, returned to their tribes.

3.2 The Marginalisation of Kanak People in Greater Nouméa: The Failure of the “Closing the Gap” Policy?

In the aftermath of the civil war and the Matignon-Oudinot Accords (1988), the Kanak presence in the city is indisputable from demographic and land tenure points of view (Dussy 1998; Freyss 1995; Gravier 1976). However, it remains highly marginalised. In 1989, Kanak represented one out of five inhabitants (22%) of Greater Nouméa population and about 28% of the total Kanak population (INSEE-ITSEE 1989). As previously mentioned, in 2019, 26.4% of the population of Greater Nouméa was Kanak. This is 43% of the total Kanak population (source: INSEE- ISEE 2020).

From a demographic point of view, the Kanak urban population was young (2/3 were under 20 years of age; INSEE-ITSEE 1989), had a low level of school education and a high unemployment rate (Freyss 1995, p. 255) and lived mainly in the poor and working-class districts of the city (Montravel, Kaméré, etc.) (Fig. 11.1). To this day, and in spite of a desire for ethnic rebalancing policies² (in education as well as in social and economic aspects) and of affirmative action in favour of Kanak people, their marginalisation is still particularly visible in the space of Greater Nouméa for two main reasons: social and political.

3.3 Spatial Marginalisation

First of all, from a spatial point of view, while the increase of the Kanak urban population has been significant (see above), especially since the Matignon-Oudinot Accords (1988), it has not been uniform. In the city of Nouméa, an ethnic contrast has grown between the northern and the southern districts of the Nouméa peninsula.

In all of the north-western districts of the city of Nouméa, from the Nouville peninsula to the Kaméré peninsula, one inhabitant out of three is Kanak (Fig. 11.9). On the other hand, the southern districts of Nouméa (from the Quartier Latin and Trianon and south) appeared to have been deserted by the Kanak population (less than 5% of the population and less than 150 Kanak live in these suburbs). Between these two ends, the districts in the centre-east of the peninsula (Haut-Magenta, Aérodrome, PK4) record intermediate proportions of Kanak (the Kanak presence is between 20% and 30%) (INSEE-ISEE 2009). Beyond the boundaries of the city of Nouméa, the south of the municipality of Dumbéa appears to be the extension of the north-western suburbs of Nouméa, in which the Kanak population is very large. Apart from this, the Kanak presence still seems marginal in the other suburbs of Greater Nouméa. Indeed, the city of Nouméa alone concentrates more than two thirds of the Kanak population of the conurbation. Kanak populations are also concentrated in the peripheral communities in Mont-Dore (Saint-Louis, La Conception) and Païta (Bangou, Saint-Laurent, Naniouni and N’dé) (Fig. 11.9). Besides, except for the districts where the proportion of the Kanak population is significant, it still shows great spatial polarisation. In fact, in 2009 (INSEE-ISEE 2009), one in four Kanak people (about 10,000 Kanak people) of the conurbation (26.5%) lives in one of these four districts (out of the 66 administrative districts that make up the conurbation): Rivière-Salée, Koutio, Montravel and Normandie (Figs. 11.1 and 11.9).

Fig. 11.9

Map of the distribution of the Kanak population in Nouméa in 2009. (Source: INSEE-ISEE 2009)

This spatial distribution of the Kanak people in Greater Nouméa is a consequence of their double social and political marginalisation. This distribution corresponds to the stigmatised districts, which have elevated levels of juvenile delinquency. In fact, even if there is no “ethnic” data for the police and gendarmerie areas, there is a consensus on the prevalence of young Kanak in individuals apprehended for delinquency. Despite the policy of economic and ethnic rebalancing implemented since the Matignon-Oudinot (1988) and Nouméa (1998) agreements, the Customary Senate proposed in 2016 a “Marshall Plan to save Kanak society” (p. 4): “... [Kanak] people have been affected. Its youth and vital forces are victims of globalization and economic liberalism, which has been exacerbated over the past fifteen years, of the mode of consumption, of an unsuitable education system and of individualism …” (2016, p. 1) “… In the East Camp prison, more than 90% of the inmates are Kanak, 20% are illiterate and live below the poverty line, and there is massive school dropout” (2016, p. 2).

3.4 Social Marginalisation

From a social point of view, we can compare the distribution of the districts where the majority of Kanak people live and the socially marginalised districts of Greater Nouméa. Two social criteria illustrate this comparison: the unemployment rate and the level of qualifications. In 2009, the north-western part of Nouméa had the highest number of unemployed people (as did the Saint-Louis community) with rates above 15%, while the south of the Nouméa peninsula, where Kanak people have little presence, never exceeded 5%. This “geographical” correlation is confirmed when we focus on the data relating to the Kanak community specifically. Among the 6,800 people who were registered as unemployed in 2009 (the most recent year with data on ethnic distribution at the municipality level), 45% were Kanak (i.e. slightly more than 3,000). The unemployment rate among Kanak people living in Greater Nouméa was 10.6% (higher than the average of 8.6% for Greater Nouméa). It should be noted that the unemployment rate among Kanak people has declined, since it had been at 14.1% in the 1996 census (INSEE-ITSEE 1996, INSEE-ISEE 2009).

Moreover, the unemployment rate among Kanak varies according to where they live. Indeed, from a general point of view, Kanak who settle around the east or the centre of Nouméa (such as Rivière Salée, PK4, Aérodrome, Magenta, Ngéa and Vallée des Colons) are less likely to be unemployed (with unemployment rates of less than 10%, which is on par with the average unemployment rate amongst Kanak people in the conurbation) than those in the North-West. Other social indicators (such as qualifications, social-professional categories, household size) confirm this trend: the social advancement of Kanak people is likely to go hand in hand with a move to another district to live in. However, this spatial distribution can also be interpreted in different ways. Indeed, if someone has a job, then he/she can afford to settle around the east or the centre of Nouméa.

The level of school education is also indicative of the marginalisation of Kanak people. In 2009, 33,500 people in Greater Nouméa (about 30% of the total population; INSEE-ISEE 2009) did not have any qualifications. As with the unemployment rate, there is a dichotomy between the north-western suburbs of Nouméa and the rest of the peninsula. For example, the proportion of unqualified people (no qualification and/or in the process of obtaining one) exceeds 50% of the population in the largely Kanak-populated districts (inner-city, Ducos, Tindu, Nouville and Saint-Louis) (see Fig. 11.10). The percentage of people without qualification amongst the Kanak people of Greater Nouméa decreased from 59% in 1996 to 42% in 2009 (INSEE-ISEE 2009). Therefore, Kanak people represent 30% of the unqualified population of Greater Nouméa, which seems to be one of the causes of high unemployment rates (Gay 2014, p. 127).

Fig. 11.10

Map of the distribution of “unqualified” people in Greater Nouméa in 2014. (Source: INSEE-ISEE 2014)

In 2009, only 15.3% of Kanak people had, at minimum, the Baccalaureate (high school diploma), which is far from European standards (more than one in three Europeans in Greater Nouméa had, at minimum, that diploma). Despite such disparities, it is nevertheless worth noting the significant increase in the number of Kanak who passed their baccalaureate: it increased fivefold in 13 years (only 4.7% of the Kanak population in Greater Nouméa had a baccalaureate in 1996).

Ethnic inequalities in educational achievement persist and are accentuated at the extremes: non-graduates and vocational education graduates are overwhelmingly Kanak, and higher education graduates are overwhelmingly non-Kanak. The functioning of the New Caledonian school system implies that the vast majority of young Kanak are oriented towards technological and professional training as soon as they leave secondary school (Hadj et al. 2012).

3.5 Political Marginalisation

Finally, marginalisation of the Kanak people is also political and electoral. The last referendum on self-determination (held on 4 October 2020), like all other elections, confirmed the existence of a strong relationship between the distribution of the vote for independence in rural and urban municipalities and the distribution of the Kanak population.

While there is a real electoral distinction between Kanak and European settlements in rural areas, there are also significant disparities between polling places in the Greater Nouméa area. At the 2020 referendum, the ballots in favour of independence represented 23.3% of the votes in the city of Nouméa, half of which were cast in polling stations located in the north-western suburbs of the city (Fig. 11.11).

Fig. 11.11

Map of the votes for independence in the city of Nouméa at the referendum on self-determination held on 4 October 2020. (Source: official results of the High Commission of New Caledonia 2020)

The pro-independence political movement thus obtained its best scores within a triangle connecting the tip of the Kaméré peninsula to the Rivière Salée district and to the Vallée-du-Tir (Vdt) district to the south (Fig. 11.1). These are the districts where Kanak people have settled. On the other hand, the entire southern part of Nouméa, south of the Artillery district, where few Kanak people live, gather less than 10% of the votes in favour of independence (see above).

Moreover, while Kanak people are in the majority in the Congress, the Government of New Caledonia, and in the assemblies of the North Province and the Province of the Loyalty Islands, they are very little represented in the assembly of the South Province and in the city councils of Greater Nouméa (Fig. 11.12).

Fig. 11.12

Percentage of Kanak people in the four city councils of Greater Nouméa. (Source: INSEE-ISEE 2020; LNC 2020)

This inequality of political representation seems to be explained by the growing weight of votes by proxy, election after election, amongst Kanak people from the Loyalty Islands and the north-east of the main island Grande Terre. In these almost exclusively Kanak municipalities, there are sometimes more people registered on the electoral rolls than the number of residents on the census (Pantz 2019, p. 13). In spite of migrating to the city, Kanak city-dwellers have not changed their registration on the electoral rolls and remain registered as residing in their tribe. One could understand this maintenance of their registered residence on the electoral roll of the Loyalty Islands as the real and symbolic anchoring to the tribe to which they belong. Nevertheless, such practice contributes to the political marginalisation of the Kanak people in Nouméa. This can also be partly explained by the voting system (the majority system), which over-represents the lists that come first in the election at the expense of the losing lists, which are consequently under-represented, and that includes pro-independence lists with a Kanak majority.

The political marginalisation of Kanak people in Greater Nouméa is striking since only 27 (16.7%) out of 162 seats (in cumulative terms in the different municipal councils) are held by Kanak. This under-representation of Kanak and pro-independence people in city and town councils prevents a better consideration of Kanak identity in development and urban planning projects and especially in the choice of oronyms and toponyms for public places (Pantz 2015, p. 380–381). Political marginalisation is thus partly responsible for the lack of Kanak markers across the city’s urban landscape.

4 Conclusion

At the end of the Second World War and for the last 70 years, Nouméa has changed its status from a small regional town in the French overseas territories to that of a diverse and cosmopolitan agglomeration in the New Caledonian archipelago. The contemporary makeup of the Nouméan population has been progressively shaped by successive demographic booms and by an ethnic redistribution, notably in favour of Kanak and other Pacific communities (Wallisian, Tahitian, Ni-Vanuatu, etc.).

Nevertheless, this period of very strong population growth has also been characterised by deepening social and spatial inequalities amongst Nouméa’s population. Some authors (Roux 1981; Guiart 1996; Dussy 2005, 2012) have highlighted the fact that, over that period, managerial positions were mainly taken up by European populations (both New Caledonia- and overseas-born), while Pacific and Kanak people (with low levels of qualification) have been competing for low-skilled, menial jobs.

Despite the political will to close the gap since the Matignon-Oudinot Accords (1988), the persistence of major social and ethnic disparities in Nouméa has obliterated the cohabitation between different communities in some districts (Cugola 2017). In the aftermath of the first referendum (4 November 2018) that split the New Caledonian population, the prospect of a Common destiny – although extolled in the Nouméa Accord (1998) – has never seemed so remote in urban areas in the light of the deep social, ethnic and political inequalities in Greater Nouméa (cf. above). Regardless of the outcome of the two subsequent referenda that rejected independence, these issues will now need to be addressed.