Lifou () is a commune 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 Loyalty Islands Province of

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 ...

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

Lifou is made up of

Lifou Island Lifou Island, historically spelt Lifu or Lefu in English, and known as Drehu in the local language, is the largest, most populous and most important island of the Loyalty Islands, in the archipelago of New Caledonia, an French overseas territor ...

, the largest and most heavily populated of the

Loyalty Islands Loyalty Islands Province (, ) is one of the three top-level administrative subdivisions of New Caledonia. It encompasses the Loyalty Islands () archipelago in the Pacific Ocean, located northeast of the New Caledonian mainland of Grande Terre. ...

, its smaller neighbour Tiga Island, and several uninhabited

islet An islet ( ) is generally a small island. Definitions vary, and are not precise, but some suggest that an islet is a very small, often unnamed, island with little or no vegetation to support human habitation. It may be made of rock, sand and/ ...

s in between these two. All these islands lie among the Loyalty Islands, northeast of New Caledonia's mainland. At , Lifou Island is the largest atoll in the world. The town of Wé, on Lifou Island, is the administrative centre of the commune of Lifou as well as the provincial seat of the Loyalty Islands Province.

Climate

Lifou has a

tropical rainforest climate A tropical rainforest climate or equatorial climate is a tropical climate sub-type usually found within 10 to 15 degrees latitude of the equator. There are some other areas at higher latitudes, such as the coast of southeast Florida, United States ...

(

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 ...

: ''Af'') that closely borders a

tropical 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 ' ...

(

: ''Am''). The average annual temperature in Lifou 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 Lifou was on 7 February 2016; the coldest temperature ever recorded was on 27 July 1985.

Geology

Like Maré and

Ouvéa Ouvéa () or Uvea is a commune in the Loyalty Islands Province of New Caledonia, an overseas territory of France in the Pacific Ocean. The settlement of Fayaoué , on Ouvéa Island, is the administrative centre of the commune. Geography Ouv ...

, the other Loyalty islands, Lifou is made of fossil coral. Lifou is a ''makatea'' ( raised coral atoll), 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 reefal cliffs. The coral rock exhibits high porosity and hence, neither Lifou nor any of the other Loyalty Islands have surface water. It does, however, have a large freshwater reservoir which can be accessed through caves. These caves were used in the past when searching for fresh water, and are very important to the island's mythology.

History

Economic

The first Europeans to have contact with Lifouans were whalers, who had very limited, and certainly not friendly, communications with them. Sandalwood traders also came to New Caledonia around 1841.

Religious

By the mid-19th century, there were Anglican missionaries at work on Lifou, although there had been natives and Polynesian immigrants doing religious work before then. In 1843, French Catholic missionaries arrived on Lifou; shortly afterward, the Anglicans and Catholics became involved in a religious war that lasted until the French takeover of Lifou in 1864. The missionaries even established a school on Lifou Island, and from 1840 to the early 20th century taught most of the population to read. In 1866, St. Anne Chapel was built in Inagoj. In recent years Lifouans have been referred to as "devout Christians."

Economy

Tourism

Lifou is a popular cruise port, with many cruises coming from

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. The most common port-of-call is Easo; the ships anchor just off the island and tender passengers ashore, being too large for the wharf there. Lifou is known for its snorkeling.

Farming

The Lifouans grow several crops, including yams, taro, and bananas; they also produce

copra Copra (from ; ; ; ) is the dried, white flesh of the coconut from which coconut oil is extracted. Traditionally, the coconuts are sun-dried, especially for export, before the oil, also known as copra oil, is pressed out. The oil extracted ...

Notable residents

* Christian Karembeu, a French footballer who won the

1998 FIFA World Cup The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the 16th FIFA World Cup, the Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams. The finals tournament was held in France from 10 June to 1 ...

with the French National side, is from Lifou. * Rosine Streeter, trade unionist, was born on Lifou.

Images of Lifou

File:lifou island.jpg , File:Loyalty islands Lifou map.png , File:Corail Lifou.JPG,

References

External links

Gallery of images from Lifou

Tourism in Loyalty Islands
{{authority control Communes of New Caledonia Loyalty Islands