1 New Caledonia Land Register (DITTT) data, which exclude lakes and ponds larger than 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) as well as the estuaries of rivers.
Ouvéa is made up of Ouvéa Island, the smaller Mouli Island and Faiava Island, and several islets around these three. All lie among the Loyalty Islands, to the northeast of New Caledonia's mainland.
Ouvéa has a tropical monsoon climate (Köppen climate classificationAm). The average annual temperature in Ouvéa is 24.6 °C (76.3 °F). The average annual rainfall is 1,345.3 mm (52.96 in) with March as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in February, at around 27.4 °C (81.3 °F), and lowest in July, at around 21.6 °C (70.9 °F). The highest temperature ever recorded in Ouvéa was 35.3 °C (95.5 °F) on 7 February 2016; the coldest temperature ever recorded was 6.4 °C (43.5 °F) on 10 August 1981.
Climate data for Ouvéa (Ouloup, 1991–2020 averages, extremes 1971−present)
In April 1988, a hostage taking took place on Ouvéa. Four gendarmes were killed and twenty-seven were held hostage in a cave by supporters of the Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front. Twelve of the captured gendarmes were released after a while, but six members of a French anti-terrorist squad were also taken hostage. When negotiations to release the hostages did not succeed, French security forces besieged the cave and freed them. Eighteen Kanaks and two gendarmes were left dead. In the aftermath it was alleged that three Kanaks had been executed or left to die after being arrested.
Languages
The native languages of Ouvéa are the MelanesianIaai and the PolynesianFaga Uvea, which is the only Polynesian language that has taken root in New Caledonia. Speakers of Faga Uvea have fully integrated into the Kanak society and consider themselves Kanak.
Orbital photo of Ouvéa (islands of Ouvéa, Mouli, Faiava, and surrounding islets), taken from space, November 1990. Courtesy of NASA.
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