Lifou

French commune
nomcommune=Lifou
The cliffs of Xodre in Lifou
province=Loyalty Islands
(provincial seat)
map_size=270px
adjustable_

mapcaption=Location of the commune (in red) within New Caledonia
insee=98814
cp=98820
maire=Neko Hnepeune
mandat=
lat_long=
longitude=
latitude=
alt moy=30 m
alt mini=0 m
alt maxi=104 m
km²=1,207.1
sans=10,320
date-sans=2004 census
ethnic=Kanaks 96.9%
Europeans 2.6%
Polynesians 0.1%
Other 0.4%
date-ethnic=1996 census
dens=8.5
date-dens=2004 census

Lifou is a commune in the Loyalty Islands Province of New Caledonia, an overseas territory of France in the Pacific Ocean.

The commune of Lifou is made up of Lifou Island, the largest and most heavily populated of the Loyalty Islands, its smaller neighbour Tiga Island, and several uninhabited islets in between these two. All these islands lie among the Loyalty Islands, 190 km to the northeast of New Caledonia's mainland.

The town of Wé ("pronounced "weh"), on Lifou Island, is the administrative centre of the commune of Lifou as well as the provincial seat of the Islands Province.

Lifou Island is a popular cruise port with many cruises leaving from Australia calling into port at Easo ("pronounced "e-show"). The ships anchor up just off the island and tender passengers ashore.

Geography

Like Maré and Ouvéa, the two others Loyalty islands, Lifou is made of fossil coral. Lifou is a "makatea", an ancient lagoon slowly raised by geological processes. Due to the uplift, Lifou consists of a wide-flat centre surrounded by cliffs which correspond to the ancient recifal cliffs. The coral rock exhibits high porosity and hence, Lifou does not have any rivers, but does have a large fresh water reservoir which can be accessed through caves. In the past the caves were used when searching for fresh water, and subsequently now have a great importance in local island mythologies.

History

The first Europeans to have contact with Lifouians were whalers in the early 1800s. Sandalwood traders came and stripped Lifou of its forests. By the mid 1800s Missionaries almost had an inter-tribal religious war on their hands. At Lifou now there is still traces of their European contact, most villages have a Church and Western inventions such as electricity, cars, and other inventions are common.

Famous people

Christian Karembeu, French footballer, won the FIFA World Cup 1998 with the French National side.

Images of Lifou

External links

* [http://www.marcbaguelin.eu/gallerie2.php?ID=3&rubric=travels&langue=french Gallery of images from Lifou]
* [http://www.lifoufundive.com Diving in Lifou]
* [http://wikimapia.org/#lat=-20.9845212&lon=167.2338867&z=9&l=0&m=a&v=2&show=/3943622/Lifou-island Lifou in Wikimapia]
* [http://www.iles-loyaute.com/ Tourism in Loyalty Islands]