Everything about Lifou totally explained
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 doesn't 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's 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
Image:lifou island.jpg |Orbital photo of Lifou Island taken from space, November 1990. Courtesy of NASA.
Image:Loyalty islands Lifou map.png |Map of Lifou island
Further Information
Get more info on 'Lifou'.
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