New Caledonia 2009: Maps

This first map shows more than anything else the dispersion of political forces in New Caledonia, something which I alluded to in my post yesterday.

The key should be pretty straightforward, but here are the colours: red for UNI in the Nord and Islands, and for the FLNKS common list in the Sud. Blue for the RPCR, green for UC, orange for Future Together, purple for LKS, yellow for the FCCI (up there in Belep), brown for Labour (for lack of better, no need to take offense), the other oragie thingee for Caledonia Together, and gray didn’t get used (I think the map is already abstract art, no need to add to it).

In the Sud, the RPCR won Noumea (which was won by AE in 2004) and most of its suburbs. Caledonia Together had its base concentrated around La Foa, the city which Philippe Gomès (the leader of CE and President of the Sud Province) used to govern. In the Nord, it seems the UNI base is around Poindimié, where Paul Néaoutyine (the President of the Nord) is mayor. On the islands, the LKS’ strength remains in Maré, where it polled over 30% despite polling single-digits in Ouvéa and Lifou, the two other Loyalty Islands. The FCCI, despite becoming entirely irrelevant this year, still won its Belep stronghold.

This map is more useful and less abstract art. It shows the general loyalist vs. nat divide, and is obviously a quasi-identical reflection of the ethnicity map I posted in my very first post. However, Kanaks in the Sud seem to vote for loyalist parties in not huge numbers, but definitely in higher numbers than their northern compatriots. The Kanaks in the Sud also gave the non-sectarian parties (Ouverture Citoyenne) their best results. Ouverture Citoyenne won over 30% of the vote in Yaté and all of its double-digit results come from Kanak-majority communities. In the Nord and the Islands, the ethnic boundaries are strictly adhered to.