A beta particle, also called beta ray or beta radiation (symbol β), is a high-energy, high-speed electron or positron emitted by the radioactive decay of an atomic nucleus during the process of beta decay. There are two forms of beta decay, β− decay and β+ decay, which produce electrons and positrons respectively.[1]
Beta particles with an energy of 0.5 MeV have a range of about one metre in air; the distance is dependent on the particle energy.
Beta particles are a type of ionizing radiation and for radiation protection purposes are regarded as being less ionising than alpha particles, but more ionising than gamma rays. The higher the ionising effect, the greater the damage to living tissue.
Beta decay modes
β− decay (electron emission)

An unstable atomic nucleus with an excess of neutrons may undergo β− decay, where a neutron is converted into a proton, an electron, and an electron antineutrino (the antiparticle of the neutrino):
n → p + e−
 + ν
e
This process is mediated by the weak interaction. The neutron turns into a proton through the emission of a virtual W− boson. At the quark level, W− emission turns a down quark into an up quark, turning a neutron (one up quark and two down quarks) into a proton (two up quarks and one down quark).
The virtual W− boson then decays into an electron and an antineutrino.
β− decay commonly occurs among the neutron-rich fission byproducts produced in nuclear reactors. Free neutrons also decay via this process. Both of these processes contribute to the copious quantities of beta rays and electron antineutrinos produced by fission-reactor fuel rods.
β+ decay (positron emission)

Unstable atomic nuclei with an excess of protons may undergo β+ decay, also called positron decay, where a proton is converted into a neutron, a positron, and an electron neutrino:
p → n + e+
 + ν
e
Beta-plus decay can only happen inside nuclei when the absolute value of the binding energy of the daughter nucleus is greater than that of the parent nucleus, i.e., the daughter nucleus is a lower-energy state.
Beta decay schemes

The accompanying decay scheme diagram shows the beta decay of Cs-137. Cs-137 is noted for a characteristic gamma peak at 661 KeV, but this is actually emitted by the daughter radionuclide Ba-137m.  The diagram shows the type and energy of the emitted radiation, its relative abundance, and the daughter nuclides after decay.
Phosphorus-32 is a beta emitter widely used in medicine and has a short half-life of 14.29 days[2] and decays into sulfur-32 by beta decay as shown in this nuclear equation:

32
15P→32
16S1+
+e−
+ν
e
1.709 MeV of energy is released during the decay.[2] The kinetic energy of the electron varies with an average of approximately 0.5 MeV and the remainder of the energy is carried by the nearly undetectable electron antineutrino. In comparison to other beta radiation-emitting nuclides the electron is moderately energetic. It is blocked by around 1 m of air or 5mm of acrylic glass.
Interaction with other matter
Of the three common types of radiation given off by radioactive materials, alpha, beta and gamma, beta has the medium penetrating power and the medium ionising power. Although the beta particles given off by different radioactive materials vary in energy, most beta particles can be stopped by a few millimeters of aluminium. However, this does not mean that beta-emitting isotopes can be completely shielded by such thin shields: as they decelerate in matter, beta electrons emit secondary gamma rays, which are more penetrating than betas per se. Shielding composed of materials with lower atomic weight generates gammas with lower energy, making such shields somewhat more effective per unit mass than ones made of high-Z materials such as lead.
Being composed of charged particles, beta radiation is more strongly ionizing than gamma radiation. When passing through matter, a beta particle is decelerated by electromagnetic interactions and may give off bremsstrahlung x-rays.
In water, beta radiation from many nuclear fission products typically exceeds the speed of light in that material (which is 75% that of light in vacuum),[3] and thus generates blue Cherenkov radiation when it passes through water. The intense beta radiation from the fuel rods of pool-type reactors can thus be visualized through the transparent water that covers and shields the reactor (see illustration at right).
Detection and measurement

The ionizing or excitation effects of beta particles on matter are the fundamental processes by which radiometric detection instruments detect and measure beta radiation. The ionization of gas is used in ion chambers and Geiger-Müller counters, and the excitation of scintillators is used in scintillation counters.
The following table shows radiation quantities in SI and non-SI units:

The gray (Gy),  is the SI unit of absorbed dose, which is the amount of radiation energy deposited in the irradiated material. For beta radiation this is numerically equal to the equivalent dose measured by the sievert, which indicates the stochastic biological effect of low levels of radiation on human tissue. The radiation weighting conversion factor from absorbed dose to equivalent dose is 1 for beta, whereas alpha particles have a factor of 20, reflecting their greater ionising effect on tissue.
The rad is the deprecated CGS unit for absorbed dose and the rem is the deprecated CGS unit of equivalent dose, used mainly in the USA.
Uses
Beta particles can be used to treat health conditions such as eye and bone cancer and are also used as tracers. Strontium-90 is the material most commonly used to produce beta particles.
Beta particles are also used in quality control to test the thickness of an item, such as paper, coming through a system of rollers. Some of the beta radiation is absorbed while passing through the product. If the product is made too thick or thin, a correspondingly different amount of radiation will be absorbed. A computer program monitoring the quality of the manufactured paper will then move the rollers to change the thickness of the final product.
An illumination device called a betalight contains tritium and a phosphor. As tritium decays, it emits beta particles; these strike the phosphor, causing the phosphor to give off photons, much like the cathode ray tube in a television. The illumination requires no external power, and will continue as long as the tritium exists (and the phosphors do not themselves chemically change); the amount of light produced will drop to half its original value in 12.32 years, the half-life of tritium.
Beta-plus (or positron) decay of a radioactive tracer isotope is the source of the positrons used in positron emission tomography (PETscan).
History
Henri Becquerel, while experimenting with fluorescence, accidentally found out that uranium exposed a photographic plate, wrapped with black paper, with some unknown radiation that could not be turned off like X-rays.
Ernest Rutherford continued these experiments and discovered two different kinds of radiation:
alpha particles that did not show up on the Becquerel plates because they were easily absorbed by the black wrapping paper
beta particles which are 100 times more penetrating than alpha particles.
He published his results in 1899.[4]
In 1900, Becquerel measured the mass-to-charge ratio (m/e) for beta particles by the method of J. J. Thomson used to study cathode rays and identify the electron. He found that e/m for a beta particle is the same as for Thomson's electron, and therefore suggested that the beta particle is in fact an electron.
Health
Beta particles are moderately penetrating in living tissue, and can cause spontaneous mutation in DNA.
Beta sources can be used in radiation therapy to kill cancer cells.
See also
Electron irradiation
Particle physics
n (neutron) rays
δ (delta) rays
ε (epsilon) rays

Further reading

 University of Virginia Lecture Notes
 at Idaho State University
 at NextEnergyNews.com
 at the Wayback Machine(archived October 5, 2007)
 at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory


Coordinates:

New Caledonia (/ˌkælɪˈdoʊniə/; French: Nouvelle-Calédonie)[nb 1] is a special collectivity of France in the southwest Pacific Ocean, located to the south of Vanuatu, about 1,210km (750mi) east of Australia and 20,000km (12,000mi) from Metropolitan France.[3] The archipelago, part of the Melanesia subregion, includes the main island of Grande Terre, the Loyalty Islands, the Chesterfield Islands, the Belep archipelago, the Isle of Pines, and a few remote islets.[4] The Chesterfield Islands are in the Coral Sea. Locals refer to Grande Terre as Le Caillou ("the pebble").[5]
New Caledonia has a land area of 18,576km2 (7,172sqmi). Its population of 268,767 (August 2014 census)[6] consists of a mix of Kanak people (the original inhabitants of New Caledonia), people of European descent (Caldoches and Metropolitan French), Polynesian people (mostly Wallisians), and Southeast Asian people, as well as a few people of Pied-Noir and North African descent. The capital of the territory is Nouméa.[3]
History
The earliest traces of human presence in New Caledonia date back to the Lapita period c. 1600 BC to c. 500 AD.[7] The Lapita were highly skilled navigators and agriculturists with influence over a large area of the Pacific.[8]

British explorer Captain James Cook was the first European to sight New Caledonia, on 4 September 1774, during his second voyage.[9] He named it "New Caledonia", as the northeast of the island reminded him of Scotland.[9] The west coast of Grande Terre was approached by the Comte de Lapérouse in 1788, shortly before his disappearance, and the Loyalty Islands were first visited between 1793 and 1796 when Mare, Lifou, Tiga, and Ouvea were mapped by William Raven.[10] The English whaler encountered the island named then Britania, and today known as Maré (Loyalty Is.), in November 1793.[11] From 1796 until 1840, only a few sporadic contacts with the archipelago were recorded. About fifty American whalers (identified by Robert Langsom from their log books) have been recorded in the region (Grande Terre, Loyalty Is., Walpole and Hunter) between 1793 and 1887.[11] Contacts became more frequent after 1840, because of the interest in sandalwood.[7]
As trade in sandalwood declined, it was replaced by a new business enterprise, "blackbirding", a euphemism for taking Melanesian or Western Pacific Islanders from New Caledonia, the Loyalty Islands, New Hebrides, New Guinea, and the Solomon Islands into indentured or forced labour in the sugar cane plantations in Fiji and Queensland by various methods of trickery and deception.[12] Blackbirding was practiced by both French and British-Australian traders, but in New Caledonia's case, the trade in the early decades of the twentieth century involved relocating children from the Loyalty Islands to the Grand Terre for labour in plantation agriculture. New Caledonia's primary experience with blackbirding revolved around a trade from the New Hebrides (now Vanuatu) to the Grand Terre for labour in plantation agriculture, mines, as well as guards over convicts and in some public works.  The historian Dorothy Shineberg's milestone study, The People Trade, discusses this 'migration'. In the early years of the trade, coercion was used to lure Melanesian islanders onto ships. In later years indenture systems were developed; however, when it came to the French slave trade, which took place between its Melanesian colonies of the New Hebrides and New Caledonia, very few regulations were implemented. This represented a departure from the British experience, since increased regulations were developed to mitigate the abuses of blackbirding and 'recruitment' strategies on the coastlines.
The first missionaries from the London Missionary Society and the Marist Brothers arrived in the 1840s.[13]  In 1849, the crew of the American ship Cutter was killed and eaten by the Pouma clan.[14] Cannibalism was widespread throughout New Caledonia.[15]
French dependency
On 24 September 1853, under orders from Emperor Napoleon III, Admiral Febvrier Despointes took formal possession of New Caledonia. Captain Louis-Marie-François Tardy de Montravel founded Port-de-France (Nouméa) on 25 June 1854.[9] A few dozen free settlers settled on the west coast in the following years.[9] New Caledonia became a penal colony in 1864, and from the 1860s until the end of the transportations in 1897, France sent about 22,000 criminals and political prisoners to New Caledonia. The Bulletin de la Société générale des prisons for 1888 indicates that 10,428 convicts, including 2,329 freed ones, were on the island as of 1 May 1888, by far the largest number of convicts detained in French overseas penitentiaries.[16] The convicts included many Communards, arrested after the failed Paris Commune of 1871, including Henri de Rochefort and Louise Michel.[17] Between 1873 and 1876, 4,200 political prisoners were "relegated" to New Caledonia.[9] Only 40 of them settled in the colony; the rest returned to France after being granted amnesty in 1879 and 1880.[9]

In 1864 nickel was discovered on the banks of the Diahot River; with the establishment of the Société Le Nickel in 1876, mining began in earnest.[18] To work the mines the French imported labourers from neighbouring islands and from the New Hebrides, and later from Japan, the Dutch East Indies, and French Indochina.[17] The French government also attempted to encourage European immigration, without much success.[17]
The indigenous population or Kanak people were excluded from the French economy and from mining work, and ultimately confined to reservations.[17] This sparked a violent reaction in 1878, when High Chief Atal of La Foa managed to unite many of the central tribes and launched a guerrilla war that killed 200 Frenchmen and 1,000 Kanaks.[18] A second guerrilla war took place in 1917, with Catholic missionaries like Maurice Leenhardt functioning as witnesses to the events of this war. Leenhardt would pen a number of ethnographic works on the Kanak of New Caledonia. Noel of Tiamou led the 1917 rebellion, which resulted in a number of orphaned children, one of whom was taken into the care of Protestant missionary Alphonse Rouel. This child, Wenceslas Thi, would become the father of Jean-Marie Tjibaou[19] (1936–1989).
Europeans brought new diseases such as smallpox and measles, which caused the deaths of many natives.[14] The Kanak population declined from around 60,000 in 1878 to 27,100 in 1921, and their numbers did not increase again until the 1930s.[18]
In June 1940, after the fall of France, the Conseil General of New Caledonia voted unanimously to support the Free French government, and in September the pro-Vichy governor was forced to leave for Indochina.[18] In March 1942, with the assistance of Australia,[20] the territory became an important  Allied base,[18] and the main South Pacific Fleet base of the United States Navy in the South Pacific moved to Noumea in 1942–1943.[21] The fleet that turned back the Japanese navy in the Battle of the Coral Sea in May 1942 was based at Nouméa.[18]
American troops numbered as many as 50,000, the equivalent of the contemporary population.[9]
French overseas territory
In 1946, New Caledonia became an overseas territory.[9] By 1953, French citizenship had been granted to all New Caledonians, regardless of ethnicity.[22]
The European and Polynesian populations gradually increased in the years leading to the nickel boom of 1969–1972, and the indigenous Kanak Melanesians became a minority, though they were still the largest ethnic group.[22]
Between 1976 and 1988, conflicts between French government actions and the Kanak independence movement saw periods of serious violence and disorder.[9] In 1983, a statute of "enlarged autonomy" for the territory proposed a five-year transition period and a referendum in 1989. In March 1984, the Kanak resistance, Front Indépendantiste, seized farms and the Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front (FLNKS) formed a provisional government. In January 1985, the French Socialist government offered sovereignty to the Kanaks and legal protection for European settlers. The plan faltered as violence escalated. The government declared a state of emergency; however, regional elections went ahead, and the FLNKS won control of three out of four provinces. The centre-right government elected in France in March 1986 began eroding the arrangements established under the Socialists, redistributing lands mostly without consideration of native land claims, resulting in over two-thirds going to Europeans and less than a third to the Kanaks. By the end of 1987, roadblocks, gun battles and the destruction of property culminated in the Ouvéa cave hostage taking, a dramatic hostage crisis on the eve of the presidential elections in France. Pro-independence militants on Ouvéa killed four gendarmes and took 27 hostage. The military response resulted in nineteen Kanak deaths and another three deaths in custody.[23]
The Matignon Agreements, signed on 26 June 1988, ensured a decade of stability. The Nouméa Accord signed 5 May 1998, set the groundwork for a 20-year transition that gradually transfers competences to the local government.[9]
Following the timeline set by the Nouméa Accord that stated a vote must take place by the end of 2018, the groundwork was laid for a referendum on full independence from France at a meeting chaired by the French Prime Minister Édouard Philippe on 2 November 2017, to be held by November 2018. Voter list eligibility had been a subject of a long dispute, but the details have since been resolved.[24] On 20 March 2018, the government announced a referendum that was held on 4 November 2018,[25] with independence being rejected.[26]
Politics

New Caledonia is a territory sui generis to which France has gradually transferred certain powers.[27] As such its   citizens have French nationality and vote for the president of France. They have the right to vote in elections to the European Parliament. It is governed by a 54-member Territorial Congress, a legislative body composed of members of three provincial assemblies.[28] The French State is represented in the territory by a High Commissioner.[28] At a national level, New Caledonia is represented in the French Parliament by two deputies and two senators.[29] At the 2012 French presidential election, the voter turnout in New Caledonia was 61.19%.[30]
For 25 years, the party system in New Caledonia was dominated by the anti-independence The Rally–UMP.[28] This dominance ended with the emergence of a new party, Avenir Ensemble, also opposed to independence, but considered more open to dialogue with the Kanak movement,[28] which is part of the Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front, a coalition of several pro-independence groups.[28]
Customary authority
The Kanak society has several layers of customary authority, from the 4,000–5,000 family-based clans to the eight customary areas (aires coutumières) that make up the territory.[31] Clans are led by clan chiefs and constitute 341 tribes, each headed by a tribal chief. The tribes are further grouped into 57 customary chiefdoms (chefferies), each headed by a head chief, and forming the administrative subdivisions of the customary areas.[31]

The Customary Senate is the assembly of the various traditional councils of the Kanaks, and has jurisdiction over the law proposals concerning the Kanak identity.[32] The Customary Senate is composed of 16 members appointed by each traditional council, with two representatives per each customary area.[32] In its advisory role, the Customary Senate must be consulted on law proposals "concerning the Kanak identity" as defined in the Nouméa Accord.[32] It also has a deliberative role on law proposals that would affect identity, the civil customary statute, and the land system.[32] A new president is appointed each year in August or September, and the presidency rotates between the eight customary areas.[32]
Kanak people have recourse to customary authorities regarding civil matters such as marriage, adoption, inheritance, and some land issues.[31] The French administration typically respects decisions made in the customary system.[31] However, their jurisdiction is sharply limited in penal matters, as some matters relating to the customary justice system, including the use of corporal punishment, are seen as clashing with the human rights obligations of France.[31]
Military
The Armed Forces of New Caledonia (French: Forces armées de Nouvelle-Calédonie) FANC, include about 2,000 soldiers, mainly deployed in Koumac, Nandaï, Tontouta, Plum, and Nouméa.[33] The land forces consist of a regiment of the Troupes de marine, the Régiment d'infanterie de marine du Pacifique. The naval forces include two P400-class patrol vessels, a BATRAL, and a patrol boat of the Maritime Gendarmerie.[33] The air force is made up of three Casa transport aircraft, four Puma helicopters and a Fennec helicopter, based in Tontouta.[33] In addition, 760 gendarmes are deployed on the archipelago.[33]
Status
Since 1986, the United Nations Committee on Decolonization has included New Caledonia on the United Nations list of Non-Self-Governing Territories.[34] An independence referendum was held the following year, but independence was rejected by a large majority.
Under the Nouméa Accord, signed in 1998 following a period of secessionist unrest in the 1980s and approved in a referendum, New Caledonia held a second referendum on independence on 4 November 2018,[35][36] where 56.9% of voters chose to remain with France.[37]
The official name of the territory, Nouvelle-Calédonie, could be changed in the near future due to the accord, which states that "a name, a flag, an anthem, a motto, and the design of banknotes will have to be sought by all parties together, to express the Kanak identity and the future shared by all parties."[38] To date, however, there has been no consensus on a new name for the territory, although Kanak Republic is popular among 40% of the population.[39]  New Caledonia has increasingly adopted its own symbols, choosing an anthem, a motto, and a new design for its banknotes.[40] In July 2010, New Caledonia adopted the Kanak flag, alongside the existing French tricolor, as dual official flags of the territory.[41] The adoption made New Caledonia one of the few countries or territories in the world with two official national flags.[41] The decision to use two flags has been a constant battleground between the two sides and led the coalition government to collapse in February 2011.[42]
Administrative divisions

The institutional organization is the result of the organic law and ordinary law passed by the Parliament on 16 February 1999.[27]
The archipelago is divided into three provinces:
South Province (province Sud). Provincial capital: Nouméa. Area 9,407km2. Population: 183,007 inhabitants (2009).
North Province (province Nord). Provincial capital: Koné. Area: 7,348km2. Population: 45,137 inhabitants (2009).
Loyalty Islands Province (province des îles Loyauté). Provincial capital: Lifou. Area: 1,981km2. Population: 17,436 inhabitants (2009).
New Caledonia is further divided into 33 municipalities:[27]  One commune, Poya, is divided between two provinces. The northern half of Poya, with the main settlement and most of the population, is part of the North Province, while the southern half of the commune, with only 127 inhabitants in 2009, is part of the South Province. The communes, with 2015 populations in brackets, and administrative centres, are as follows:

 South Province
Thio (3,287) Thio
Yaté (2,683) Yaté
L'Île-des-Pins (2,921) Vao
Le Mont-Dore (27,939) Mont-Dore
Nouméa (101,909) Nouméa *
Dumbéa (32,290) Dumbéa
Païta (21,583) Païta
Boulouparis (3,300) Boulouparis
La Foa (4,035) La Foa
Sarraméa (856) Sarraméa
Farino (636) Farino
Moindou (869) Moindou
Bourail (6,448) Bourail
Poya (southern part) **
 North Province
Poya (northern part) (3,541) PoyaPouembout (2,872) PouemboutKoné (8,331) Koné *Voh (3,813) VohKaala-Gomen (2,530) Kaala-GomenKoumac (4,766) KoumacPoum (2,069) PoumBelep (1,601) WaalaOuégoa (3,198) OuégoaPouébo (4,036) PouéboHienghène (3,897) HienghèneTouho (3,112) TouhoPoindimié (6,358) PoindimiéPonérihouen (4,153) PonérihouenHouaïlou (6,273) HouaïlouKouaoua (1,859) KouaouaCanala (5,869) Canala
 Loyalty Islands Province
Ouvéa (8,302) FayaouéLifou (22,835) Wé *Maré (12,424) Tadine
Notes: * provincial capital.  ** The population of the southern part of Poya commune is included in that for the northern part.
Geography

New Caledonia is part of Zealandia, a fragment of the ancient Gondwana super-continent. It is speculated that New Caledonia separated from Australia roughly 66 million years ago, subsequently drifting in a north-easterly direction, reaching its present position about 50 million years ago.[43]
The mainland is divided in length by a central mountain range whose highest peaks are Mont Panié (1,629 metres (5,344ft)) in the north and Mont Humboldt (1,618m (5,308ft)) in the southeast.[44] The east coast is covered by a lush vegetation.[44] The west coast, with its large savannahs and plains suitable for farming, is a drier area. Many ore-rich massifs are found along this coast.[44]
The Diahot River is the longest river of New Caledonia, flowing for some 100 kilometres (62mi).[45] It has a catchment area of 620km2 (240sqmi) and opens north-westward into the Baie d'Harcourt, flowing towards the northern point of the island along the western escarpment of the Mount Panié.[45][46] Most of the island is covered by wet evergreen forests, while savannahs dominate the lower elevations.[47] The New Caledonian lagoon, with a total area of 24,000 square kilometres (9,300sqmi) is one of the largest lagoons in the world. It is surrounded by the New Caledonia Barrier Reef.[44]
Climate
The climate is tropical, with a hot and humid season from November to March with temperatures between 27°C and 30°C,[44] and a cooler, dry season from June to August with temperatures between 20°C and 23°C,[44] linked by two short interstices.[9] The tropical climate is strongly moderated by the oceanic influence and the trade winds that attenuate humidity, which can be close to 80%.[44]  The average annual temperature is 23°C, with historical extremes of 2.3°C and 39.1°C.[9]
The rainfall records show that precipitation differs greatly within the island. The 3,000 millimetres (120in) of rainfall recorded in Galarino are three times the average of the west coast. There are also dry periods, because of the effects of El Niño.[9] Between December and April, tropical depressions and cyclones can cause winds to exceed a speed of 100 kilometres per hour (62mph), with gusts of 250 kilometres per hour (160mph) and very abundant rainfall.[9] The last cyclone affecting New Caledonia was Cyclone Cook, in January 2017.
Environment

New Caledonia has many unique taxa, especially birds and plants.[48] It has the richest diversity in the world per square kilometre.[48] In its botany not only species but entire genera and even families are unique to the island, and survive nowhere else. The biodiversity is caused by Grande Terre's central mountain range, which has created a variety of niches, landforms and micro-climates where endemic species thrive.[48]
Bruno Van Peteghem was in 2001 awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize for his efforts on behalf of the Caledonian ecological protection movement in the face of "serious challenges" from Jacques Lafleur's RPCR party.[49] Progress has been made in a few areas in addressing the protection of New Caledonia's ecological diversity from fire, industrial and residential development, unrestricted agricultural activity and mining (such as the judicial revocation of INCO's mining license in June 2006 owing to claimed abuses).[50]
Flora

New Caledonia's fauna and flora derive from ancestral species isolated in the region when it broke away from Gondwana many tens of millions of years ago.[51] Not only endemic species have evolved here, but entire genera and even families are unique to the islands.
More of tropical gymnosperm species are endemic to New Caledonia than to any similar region on Earth. Of the 44 indigenous species of gymnosperms, 43 are endemic, including the only known parasitic gymnosperm (Parasitaxus usta).[52] Also, of the 35 known species of Araucaria, 13 are endemic to New Caledonia.[48] New Caledonia also has the world's most divergent lineage of flowering plant, Amborella trichopoda, which is at, or near, the base of the clade of all flowering plants.
The world's largest extant species of fern, Cyathea intermedia, also is endemic to New Caledonia. It is very common on acid ground, and grows about one meter (yard) per year on the east coast, usually on fallow ground or in forest clearings. There also are other species of Cyathea, notably Cyathea novae-caledoniae.[53]
New Caledonia also is one of five regions on the planet where species of southern beeches (Nothofagus) are indigenous; five species are known to occur here.[52]
New Caledonia has its own version of maquis (maquis minier) occurring on metalliferous soils, mostly in the south.[47] The soils of ultramafic rocks (mining terrains) have been a refuge for many native flora species which are adapted to the toxic mineral content of the soils, to which most foreign species of plants are poorly suited, which has therefore prevented invasion into the habitat or displacement of indigenous plants.[52]
Fauna

New Caledonia is home to the New Caledonian crow, a bird noted for its tool-making abilities, which rival those of primates.[54] These crows are renowned for their extraordinary intelligence and ability to fashion tools to solve problems, and make the most complex tools of any animal yet studied apart from humans.[55]
The endemic kagu,[56] agile and able to run quickly, is a flightless bird, but it is able to use its wings to climb branches or glide. It is the surviving member of monotypic family Rhynochetidae, order Gruiformes.[57]
There are 11 endemic fish species and 14 endemic species of decapod crustaceans in the rivers and lakes of New Caledonia. Some, such as Neogalaxias, exist only in small areas.[58] The nautilus—considered a living fossil and related to the ammonites, which became extinct at the end of the Mesozoic era—occurs in Pacific waters around New Caledonia.[58] There is a large diversity of marine fish in the surrounding waters, which are within the extents of the Coral Sea.
Several species of New Caledonia are remarkable for their size: Ducula goliath is the largest extant species of pigeon; Rhacodactylus leachianus, the largest gecko in the world; Phoboscincus bocourti the largest skink in the world, thought to be extinct but rediscovered in 2003.[58]
Demographics

Historical populationsYearPop.±% p.a. 1956 68,480— 1963 86,519+3.40% 1969 100,579+2.54% 1976 133,233+4.10% 1983 145,368+1.25% 1989 164,173+2.05% 1996 196,836+2.63% 2009 245,580+1.72% 2017 278,500+1.58%ISEE[6][59]
At the last census in 2014, New Caledonia had a population of 268,767.[6] Of these, 17,436 live in the Loyalty Islands Province, 45,137 in the North Province, and 183,007 in the South Province.[3] Population growth has slowed down since the 1990s, but remains strong with a yearly increase of 1.7% between 1996 and 2009.[60]
Natural growth is responsible for 85% of the population growth, while the remaining 15% is attributable to net migration.[60] The population growth is strong in South Province (2.3% per year between 1996 and 2009), moderate in North Province (0.7%), but negative in the Loyalty Islands, which are losing inhabitants (−1.3%).[60]
Over 40% of the population is under 20,[3] although the ratio of older people on the total population is increasing.[60] Two residents of New Caledonia out of three live in Greater Nouméa.[60] Three out of four were born in New Caledonia.[60] The total fertility rate went from 3.2 children per woman in 1990 to 2.2 in 2007.[60]
Ethnic groups
At the 2014 census,[61] 39.1% of the population reported belonging to the Kanak community (down from 40.3% at the 2009 census[62]), 27.2% to the European (Caldoche and Zoreille) community (down from 29.2% at the 2009 census), and 8.7% declared their community as "Caledonian" and other (up from 6.0% at the 2009 census). Most of the people who self-identified as "Caledonian" are thought to be ethnically European.[63]
The other self-reported communities were Wallisians and Futunians (8.2% of the total population, down from 8.7% at the 2009 census), Indonesians (3.4% of the total population, up from 1.6% at the 2009 census),  Tahitians (2.1% of the total population, up from 2.0% at the 2009 census), Ni-Vanuatu (1.0%, up from 0.9% at the 2009 census), Vietnamese (0.9%, down from 1.0% at the 2009 census), and other Asians (primarily ethnic Chinese; 0.4% of the total population, down from 0.8% at the 2009 census).
Finally 8.6% of the population reported belonging to multiple communities (mixed race) (up from 8.3% at the 2009 census), and 2.5% refused to report any community (up from 1.2% at the 2009 census). The question on community belonging, which had been left out of the 2004 census, was reintroduced in 2009 under a new formulation, different from the 1996 census, allowing multiple choices (mixed race) and the possibility to clarify the choice "other".[64]

The Kanak people, part of the Melanesian group, are indigenous to New Caledonia.[65] Their social organization is traditionally based around clans, which identify as either "land" or "sea" clans, depending on their original location and the occupation of their ancestors.[65] According to the 2009 census, the Kanak constitute 94% of the population in the Loyalty Islands Province, 74% in the North Province and 27% in the South Province.[65] The Kanak tend to be of lower socio-economic status than the Europeans and other settlers.[65]
Europeans first settled in New Caledonia when France established a penal colony on the archipelago.[65] Once the prisoners had completed their sentences, they were given land to settle.[65] According to the 2009 census, of the 71,721 Europeans in New Caledonia 32,354 were native-born, 33,551 were born in other parts of France, and 5,816 were born abroad.[66] The Europeans are divided into several groups: the Caldoches are usually defined as those born in New Caledonia who have ancestral ties that span back to the early French settlers.[63] They often settled in the rural areas of the western coast of Grande Terre, where many continue to run large cattle properties.[63]

Distinct from the Caldoches are those were born in New Caledonia from families that had settled more recently, and are called simply Caledonians.[8] The Metropolitan French-born migrants who come to New Caledonia are called Métros or Zoreilles, indicating their origins in metropolitan France.[8] There is also a community of about 2,000[8] pieds noirs, descended from European settlers in France's former North African colonies;[67] some of them are prominent in anti-independence politics, including Pierre Maresca, a leader of the RPCR.[68]
A 2015 documentary by Al Jazeera English asserted that up to 10% of New Caledonia's population is descended from around 2,000 Arab-Berber people deported from French Algeria in the late 19th century to prisons on the island in reprisal for the Mokrani Revolt in 1871. After serving their sentences, they were released and given land to own and cultivate as part of colonisation efforts on the island. As the overwhelming majority of the Algerians imprisoned on New Caledonia were men, the community was continued through intermarriage with women of other ethnic groups, mainly French women from nearby women's prisons. Despite facing both assimilation into the Euro-French population and discrimination for their ethnic background, descendants of the deportees have succeeded in preserving a common identity as Algerians, including maintaining certain cultural practices (such as Arabic names) and in some cases Islamic religion. Some travel to Algeria as a rite of passage, though obtaining Algerian citizenship is often a difficult process. The largest population of Algerian-Caledonians lives in the commune of Bourail (particularly in the Nessadiou district, where there is an Islamic cultural centre and cemetery), with smaller communities in Nouméa, Conné, Blambut, and Surianté.[69]
Languages

The French language began to spread with the establishment of French settlements, and French is now spoken even in the most secluded villages. The level of fluency, however, varies significantly across the population as a whole, primarily due to the absence of universal access to public education before 1953, but also due to immigration and ethnic diversity.[70] At the 2009 census, 97.3% of people aged 15 or older reported that they could speak, read and write French, whereas only 1.1% reported that they had no knowledge of French.[71] Other significant language communities among immigrant populations are those of Wallisian and Javanese language speakers.
The 28 Kanak languages spoken in New Caledonia are part of the Oceanic group of the Austronesian family.[72] Kanak languages are taught from kindergarten (four languages are taught up to the bachelor's degree) and an academy is responsible for their promotion.[73] The three most widely spoken indigenous languages are Drehu (spoken in Lifou), Nengone (spoken on Maré) and Paicî (northern part of Grande Terre).[73] Others include Iaai (spoken on Ouvéa). At the 2009 census, 35.8% of people aged 15 or older reported that they could speak (but not necessarily read or write) one of the indigenous Melanesian languages, whereas 58.7% reported that they had no knowledge of any of them.[71]
Religion
The predominant religion is Christianity; half of the population is Roman Catholic, including most of the Europeans, Uveans, and Vietnamese and half of the Melanesian and Polynesian minorities.[22] Roman Catholicism was introduced by French colonists. The island also has numerous Protestant churches, of which the Free Evangelical Church and the Evangelical Church in New Caledonia and the Loyalty Islands have the largest number of adherents; their memberships are almost entirely Melanesian.[22] Protestantism gained ground in the late 20th century and continues to expand. There are also numerous other Christian groups and small numbers of Muslims.[22] See Islam in New Caledonia and Bahá'í Faith in New Caledonia. Noumea is the seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Nouméa
Education
Education in New Caledonia is based on the French curriculum and delivered by both French teachers and French–trained teachers. Under the terms of the 1998 Nouméa Accord, primary education is the responsibility of the three provinces. As of 2010, secondary education was in the process of being transferred to the provinces.[74] The majority of schools are located in Nouméa but some are found in the islands and the north of New Caledonia. When students reach high school age, most are sent to Nouméa to continue their secondary education. Education is compulsory from the age of six years.[75]
New Caledonia's main tertiary education institution is the University of New Caledonia (Université de la Nouvelle-Calédonie), which was founded in 1993 and comes under the supervision of the Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation. It is based in Nouméa and offers a range of vocational, Bachelor, MA, and PhD programmes and courses. The University of New Caledonia consists of three academic departments, one institute of technology, one PhD school, and one teacher's college. As of 2013, the University has approximately 3,000 students, 107 academics, and 95 administrative and library staff.[76][74] Many New Caledonian students also pursue scholarships to study in metropolitan France. As part of the Nouméa Accord process, a Cadre Avenir provides scholarships for Kanak professionals to study in France.[74]
Economy

New Caledonia has one of the largest economies in the South Pacific, with a GDP of US$9.89 billion in 2011.[2] The nominal GDP per capita was US$38,921 (at market exchange rates) in 2011.[2] It is higher than New Zealand's, though there is significant inequality in income distribution,[79] and long-standing structural imbalances between the economically dominant South Province and the less developed North Province and Loyalty Islands.[28] The currency in use in New Caledonia is the CFP franc, pegged to the euro at a rate of 1,000 CFP to 8.38 euros. It is issued by the Institut d'Emission d'Outre-Mer.[80]
Real GDP grew by 3.8% in 2010 and 3.2% in 2011, boosted by rising worldwide nickel prices and an increase in domestic demand due to rising employment, as well as strong business investments.[2] In 2011, exports of goods and services from New Caledonia amounted to 2.11billion US dollars, 75.6% of which were mineral products and alloys (mainly nickel ore and ferronickel).[2] Imports of goods and services amounted to 5.22billion US dollars.[2] 22.1% of the imports of goods came from Metropolitan France and its overseas departments, 16.1% from other countries in the European Union, 14.6% from Singapore (essentially fuel), 9.6% from Australia, 4.5% from the United States, 4.2% from New Zealand, 2.0% from Japan, and 27.0% from other countries.[81] The trade deficit in goods and services stood at 3.11 billion US dollars in 2011.[2]
Financial support from France is substantial, representing more than 15% of the GDP, and contributes to the health of the economy.[82] Tourism is underdeveloped, with 100,000 visitors a year, compared to 400,000 in the Cook Islands and 200,000 in Vanuatu.[40] Much of the land is unsuitable for agriculture, and food accounts for about 20% of imports.[82] According to FAOSTAT, New Caledonia is one of world's largest producers of: yams (33rd); taro (44th); plantains (50th); coconuts (52nd).[83] The exclusive economic zone of New Caledonia covers 1.4million square kilometres (0.54million square miles).[4] The construction sector accounts for roughly 12% of GDP, employing 9.9% of the salaried population in 2010.[79] Manufacturing is largely confined to small-scale activities such as the transformation of foodstuffs, textiles and plastics.[79]
Nickel sector

New Caledonian soils contain about 25% of the world's nickel resources.[84] The late-2000s recession has gravely affected the nickel industry, as the sector faced a significant drop in nickel prices (−31.0% year-on-year in 2009) for the second consecutive year.[85] The fall in prices has led a number of producers to reduce or stop altogether their activity, resulting in a reduction of the global supply of nickel by 6% compared to 2008.[85]
This context, combined with bad weather, has forced the operators in the sector to revise downwards their production target.[85] Thus, the activity of mineral extraction has declined by 8% in volume year on year.[85] The share of the nickel sector as a percentage of GDP fell from 8% in 2008 to 5% in 2009.[85] A trend reversal and a recovery in demand have been recorded early in the second half of 2009, allowing a 2.0% increase in the local metal production.[85]
Historically, nickel was transported by wire ropeway to ships waiting offshore.
Culture

Wood carving, especially of the houp (Montrouziera cauliflora), is a contemporary reflection of the beliefs of the traditional tribal society, and includes totems, masks, chambranles, or flèche faîtière,[86] a kind of arrow that adorns the roofs of Kanak houses. Basketry is a craft widely practiced by tribal women, creating objects of daily use.[86]
The Jean-Marie Tjibaou Cultural Centre, designed by Italian architect Renzo Piano and opened in 1998, is the icon of the Kanak culture.[86]
The Kaneka is a form of local music, inspired by reggae and originating in the 1980s.[86]
The Mwâ Ka is a 12m totem pole commemorating the French annexation of New Caledonia, and was inaugurated in 2005.[87]
Media
Les Nouvelles Calédoniennes[88] is the only daily newspaper in the archipelago.[89][90] A monthly publication, Le Chien bleu, parodies the news from New Caledonia.[91]
There are five radio stations: the public service broadcaster RFO radio Nouvelle-Calédonie, Océane FM (the collectivity's newest station), the youth-oriented station NRJ, Radio Djiido (established by Jean-Marie Tjibaou), and Radio Rythmes Bleus.[90] The last two stations are primarily targeted to the various Kanak groups who are indigenous to New Caledonia ("Djiido" is a term from the Fwâi language, spoken in Hienghène in the North Province, denoting a metal spike used to secure straw thatching to the roof of a traditional Kanak house).
As for television, the public service broadcaster France Télévision operates a local channel, Réseau Outre-Mer 1re, along with France 2, France 3, France 4, France 5, France Ô, France 24 and Arte.[92] Canal Plus Calédonie carries 17 digital channels in French, including Canal+ and TF1.[93] Analogue television broadcasts ended in September 2011, completing the digital television transition in New Caledonia.[94] Bids for two new local television stations, NCTV and NC9, were considered by the French broadcasting authorities.[95] NCTV was launched in December 2013.[96]
The media are considered to be able to operate freely, but Reporters Without Borders raised concerns in 2006 about "threats and intimidation" of RFO staff by members of a pro-independence group.[97]
Sports

The largest sporting event to be held in New Caledonia is a round of the FIA Asia Pacific Rally Championship (APRC).
The New Caledonia football team began playing in 1950, and was admitted into FIFA, the international association of football leagues, in 2004.[99] Prior to joining FIFA, New Caledonia held observer status with the Oceania Football Confederation, and became an official member of the OFC with its FIFA membership. They have won the South Pacific Games five times, most recently in 2007, and have placed third on two occasions in the OFC Nations Cup. Christian Karembeu is a prominent New Caledonian former footballer. The under-17 team qualified for the FIFA under 17 World Cup in 2017.
Horse racing is also very popular in New Caledonia, as are women's cricket matches.[100]
The rugby league team participated in the Pacific Cup in 2004.
New Caledonia also has a national synchronised swimming team, which tours abroad.
The "Tour Cycliste de Nouvelle-Calédonie" is a multi-day cycling stage race that is held usually in October. The race is organised by the Comite Cycliste New Caledonia. The race attracts riders from Australia, New Zealand, France, Reunion, Europe and Tahiti. Australian Brendan Washington has finished last three times in the race between 2005–2009, and is known in New Caledonia as "The Lanterne Rouge".
The New Caledonia Handball team won the Oceania Handball Nations Cup in 2008 held in Wellington, New Zealand. They beat Australia in the final.
Cuisine
Due to low levels of domestic horticulture, fresh tropical fruits feature less highly in New Caledonian cuisine than in other Pacific nations, instead relying on rice, fish and root vegetables such as taro.[101] One way this is frequently prepared is in a buried-oven-style feast, known as Bougna. Wrapped in banana leaves, the fish, taro, banana and other seafood are buried with hot rocks to cook, then dug up and eaten.
Transport

La Tontouta International Airport is 50km (31mi) northwest of Nouméa, and connects New Caledonia with the airports of Paris, Tokyo, Sydney, Auckland, Brisbane, Melbourne, Osaka, Papeete, Fiji, Wallis, Port Vila, Seoul, and St. Denis.[102] Most internal air services are operated by the International carrier Aircalin.[103] Cruise ships dock at the Gare Maritime in Nouméa.[104] The passenger-and-cargo boat Havannah sails to Port Vila, Malicolo and Santo in Vanuatu once a month.[104]
New Caledonia's road network consists of:
Route territoriale 1, going from the exit from Nouméa to the Néhoué river, north of Koumac;
Route territoriale 2, on Lifou Island and from the Wanaham airport to the south of Wé;
Route territoriale 3, from the junction with the RT1 in Nandi up to Tiwaka;
Route territoriale 4, from the junction with the RT1 near Muéo to the power plant.[105]
See also

d'Entrecasteaux Ridge
Lists of islands
Notes

Further reading
Chappell, David. "The black and the red: radicalising anti-Colonialism in 1970s New Caledonia." Journal of Pacific Studies (2004) 27#1 pp. 49–62.
Dornoy, Myriam. Politics in New Caledonia (Sydney University Press, 1984)
Lyons, Martyn. The totem and the tricolour: a short history of New Caledonia since 1774 (University of New South Wales Press, 1986)
Muckle, Adrian. "'No More Violence nor War'," Journal of Pacific History (2008) 44#2 p. 179–194. covers politics in New Caledonia 1988 to 2008.
Munholland, Kim. Rock of Contention: Free French & Americans at War in New Caledonia, 1940–1945 (2005)
Shineberg, Dorothy. People Trade: Pacific Island Laborers & New Caledonia, 1865–1930 (1999)
Spencer, Michael. New Caledonia: Essays in Nationalism & Dependency (1988)
Toth, Stephen A. Beyond Papillon: The French Overseas Penal Colonies, 1854–1952 (2006)
Historiography
Muckle, Adrian. Spectres of Violence in a Colonial Context, New Caledonia, 1917. University of Hawaii Press.
Veracini, Lorenzo. "The Shadows of The Colonial Period to Times of Sharing History Writing in & About New Calidonia," Journal of Pacific History (2003) 38#3 pp. 331–352.

 (in French)
 – Official Government of France website (in English)

 at Curlie


Main Page

Revenge was an English race-built galleon of 46 guns, built in 1577 and captured by the Spanish in 1591, sinking soon afterwards.  She was the first of 13 English and Royal Navy ships to bear the name.[Note 1]
Construction
Revenge was built at a cost of £4,000 at the Royal Dockyard, Deptford in 1577 by Master Shipwright Mathew Baker.  Her race-built design was to usher in a new style of ship building that would revolutionise naval warfare for the next three hundred years. A comparatively small vessel, weighing about 400 tons, being about half the size of Henri Grâce à Dieu, Revenge was rated as a galleon.
Armament
The armament of ships of this period was fluid; guns might be added, removed or changed for different types for dozens of reasons.  Revenge was particularly heavily armed during her last cruise: she carried 20 heavy demi-cannon, culverins and demi-culverins on her gun deck, where the sailors slept. On her upper decks were more demi-culverins, sakers, and a variety of light weapons, including swivel-mounted breech-loaders, called "fowlers" or "falcons".[1]
Career
Raid on Cadiz (1587)

In 1587, Sir Francis Drake sailed to the Spanish coast and destroyed much materiel that Philip II had accumulated in preparation for the Armada. In consequence, Spanish plans for the invasion of England were put off until the following year.
Battle of Gravelines (1588)

In early 1588, Drake moved his flag from Elizabeth Bonaventure to Revenge, which was considered to be the best by far of the new ships. On 29 July 1588 the Battle of Gravelines (named after a Flemish town near Calais), was concluded as one of the fiercest and most decisive battles engaged in during these years. At the outset of the conflict, Revenge proved worthy of her reputation. Following Revenge at the head of the line, the English fleet engaged their broadsides into the Spanish Armada,following a fire ships attack the night before which broke up the tight Spanish formation. Many Spanish vessels were severely damaged, although only a few sank or ran aground. Both sides fought until supplies of ammunition was running dangerously low, and the shattered Armada was forced to flee into the North Sea. The English fleet monitored them until they drew level with Edinburgh, and then returned to port, ending the threat of a Spanish invasion.
Drake-Norris Expedition (1589)

In 1589 Revenge again put to sea as Drake's flagship, in what was to be a failed attempt to invade Spanish-controlled Portugal. With the ship in an unseaworthy condition, and without any prizes to his credit Drake fell out of favour with Queen Elizabeth and was kept ashore until 1594.
Frobisher Expedition (1590)
In 1590 Revenge was commanded by Sir Martin Frobisher in an unsuccessful expedition along the coast of Spain to intercept the Spanish treasure fleet.
Capture by the Spanish and sinking (1591)

Revenge came to her end in a glorious but bizarre episode that has become a legend. In order to impede a Spanish naval recovery after the Armada, Sir John Hawkins proposed a blockade of the supply of treasure being acquired from the Spanish Empire in America by a constant naval patrol designed to intercept Spanish ships. Revenge was on such a patrol in the summer of 1591 under the command of Sir Richard Grenville.
The Spanish had dispatched a fleet of some 53 ships under Alonso de Bazán, having under his orders Generals Martín de Bertendona and Marcos de Aramburu. Intent upon the capture of the English at Flores in the northern Azores. In late August 1591 the Spanish fleet came upon the English while repairs to the ships caused the crews, many of whom were suffering an epidemic of fever, to be ashore. Most of the ships managed to slip away to sea. Grenville who had many sick men ashore decided to wait for them. When putting to sea he might have gone round the west of Corvo island, but he decided to go straight through the Spaniards, who were approaching from the eastward.
The battle began late on 31 August, when overwhelming force was immediately brought to bear upon the ship, which put up a gallant resistance. For some time he succeeded by skillful tactics in avoiding much of the enemy's fire, but they were all round him and gradually numbers began to tell. As one Spanish ship retired beaten, another took her place, and for fifteen hours the unequal contest continued. Attempts by the Spaniards to board were driven off. San Felipe, a vessel three times her size, tried to come alongside for the Spaniards to board her, along with Aramburu's San Cristóbal. After boarding Revenge, San Felipe was forced to break off. Seven men of the boarding party died, and the other three were rescued by San Bernabé, which grappled her shortly after. The Spanish also lost the galleon Ascensión and a smaller vessel by accident that night, after they collided with each other. Meanwhile, San Cristóbal, which had come to help San Felipe, rammed Revenge underneath her aftcastle, and some time later, Bertendona's San Bernabé battered the English warship with heavy fire, inflicting many casualties and severe damage. The English crew returned fire from the embrasures below deck. When morning broke on 1 September, Revenge lay with her masts shot away, six feet of water on the hold and only sixteen men left uninjured out of a crew of two hundred and fifty. She remained grappled by the galleons San Bernabé and San Cristóbal, the latter with her bow shattered by the ramming.[3] The grappling manoeuvre of San Bernabé, which compelled the English gun crews to abandon their posts in order to fight off boarding parties, was decisive in securing the fate of the Revenge.[4]
"Out-gunned, out-fought, and out-numbered fifty-three to one",[5] when the end looked certain Grenville ordered Revenge to be sunk: "Sink me the ship, Master Gunner—sink her, split her in twain! Fall into the hands of God, not into the hands of Spain! ".[5] His officers could not agree with this order and a surrender was agreed by which the lives of the officers and crew would be spared. After an assurance of proper conduct, and having held off dozens of Spanish ships, Revenge at last surrendered. The injured Grenville died of wounds two days later aboard the Spanish flagship.
The captured but heavily damaged Revenge never reached Spain, but was lost with her mixed prize-crew of 70 Spaniards and English captives, along with a large number of the Spanish ships in a dreadful storm off the Azores. The battle-damaged Revenge was cast upon a cliff next to the island off Terceira, where she broke up completely. Between 1592 and 1593, 14 guns of the Revenge were recovered by the Spanish from the site of the wreck. Other cannons were driven ashore years later by the tide, and the last weapons raised were salvaged as late as 1625.[6]
Revenge in literature
Her final action inspired a popular poem entitled The Revenge: A Ballad of the Fleet by Lord Tennyson, which dramatically narrates the course of the engagement.
Notes

 (in Spanish)
Coordinates:

How many sailors did it take to man HMS Revenge?


The 1996–97 South-West Indian Ocean cyclone season was the longest on record, with both an unusually early start and unusually late ending. Most activity was from November through February. According to the Météo-France office (MFR) at Réunion, there were 21 tropical disturbances, 14 of which intensified into tropical depressions. There were 12named storms, beginning with Antoinette and proceeding sequentially until Lisette. In addition, the Joint Typhoon Warning Center also warned on storms in the region, which identified five other tropical storms. Five of the storms attained tropical cyclone status, or with 10–minute maximum sustained winds of at least 120km/h (75mph); of these, three strengthened further into intense tropical cyclones, with Daniella and Helinda tied for strongest storm of the season.
In August, a tropical depression developed in the south-west Indian Ocean for the first time 27years, and a month later, a rare September tropical disturbance formed. The first named storm, Antoinette, was the first of several to originate in the neighboring Australian basin, or east of 90°E; the subsequent two named storms also formed in the Australian region. In early December, Cyclone Daniella likely developed out of the remnants of previous Tropical Storm Chantelle. After reaching peak 10–minute winds of 185km/h (115mph), Daniella weakened and passed just southwest of Mauritius; there, the storm left heavy crop damage and indirectly caused three deaths. In early January, Tropical Storm Fabriola was the first in a succession of three storms to move over Madagascar. The next – Cyclone Gretelle – killed 152people when it struck southeastern Madagascar. Between January and February, Cyclone Pancho-Helinda lasted about 20days between both the Australian and south-west Indian basins. Also in February, Tropical Storm Josie killed 36people in western Madagascar after causing severe flooding. The final named storm was Tropical Storm Lisette, which dissipated on March3 after striking Mozambique, killing three people. Despite the early end to the named storms, there were two additional disturbances, one of which became the first July tropical depression in 25years.

Season summary
During the season, the Météo-France office (MFR) based on Réunion island issued warnings in tropical cyclones within the basin, as part of its role as a Regional Specialized Meteorological Center. The agency estimated intensities via the Dvorak technique, which uses images from two satellites by the American National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. On certain days, the satellites had limited coverage in the eastern portion of the region, which limited warning capability.[1] At the time, the MFR issued warnings on tropical cyclones in the Indian Ocean from the coast of Africa to 90°E, south of the equator.[2] The Joint Typhoon Warning Center – a joint United States Navy– United States Air Force task force – also issued tropical cyclone warnings for the region.[3] Wind estimates from Météo-France and most other basins throughout the world are sustained over 10minutes, while estimates from the United States-based Joint Typhoon Warning Center are sustained over 1minute. 10minute winds are about 1.14 times the amount of 1minute winds.[4]
The MFR named storms from a sequential list provided by the nation of Seychelles, beginning with Antoinette. In addition to the named storms in the year, the list included Maryse, Nelda, Ocline, Phyllis, Rolina, Sheryl, Thelma, Venyda, Wiltina, and Yolette.[5]
The season was active, about 50% above normal, and was the fourth consecutive above-normal season. There was a total of 100days on which disturbances, depressions, storms, or cyclones were active, compared to the average of 68. There were 12named storms, above the normal of 9. Five intensified into tropical cyclones, also above the normal of 4. The season was the longest on record, with the first depression in August 1996 and the final depression in July 1997. Despite the long season, there was minimal activity from March to May, which usually represents about 25% of total activity. In addition, February was relatively quiet despite being the climatological peak. Majority of the storms developed in the northeast portion of the basin, and the storms took a variety of tracks during their durations.[1]
Systems
Severe Tropical Storm Antoinette

In the middle of October, the intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ) was active over the northeast portion of the basin and into the adjacent Australian region, spawning a low pressure area on October15 northwest of the Cocos Islands. With a large ridge to the south, the system tracked southwestward,[1] crossing into the south-west Indian Ocean as a tropical depression on October17.[6] Also on that day, the JTWC began issuing warnings on the system as Tropical Cyclone 4S.[3] On October18, the depression intensified into Tropical Storm Antoinette after developing a well-defined central dense overcast, and began turning more to the west-southwest.[1] That day, Antoinette strengthened to a peak intensity of just below tropical cyclone status, or with 10–minute winds just below 120km/h (75mph).[6] Around that time, the storm developed an eye feature, but that quickly dissipated. Antoinette began weakening steadily on October20 due to increasing wind shear, and by that time it was moving quickly westward. After the circulation became largely devoid of deep convection, the storm weakened into a tropical depression on October21. The next day, Antoinette passed about 200km (120mi) north of the northern tip of Madagascar, and dissipated on October24 in the Mozambique Channel.[1]

Intense Tropical Cyclone Melanie-Bellamine

In late October, the ITCZ developed a persistent area of convection west of the Indonesian island of Sumatra.[1] A tropical low formed on October28 within the Australian region, which initially failed to develop much due to persistent wind shear. The Australian Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) named the system Melanie on October31 to the north of the Cocos Islands. The newly upgraded storm tracked generally westward due to a ridge to the south,[7] and entered the south-west Indian Ocean on November1 as a strong tropical storm. At that time, Melanie was renamed Bellamine. After the ridged moved farther away, the storm turned more to the southwest and began quickly intensifying.[1] Early on November3, Bellamine attained tropical cyclone status, and the next day reached peak 10–minute winds of 175km/h (110mph); this made it an intense tropical cyclone.[8]
After reaching peak winds, Bellamine slowed its motion on November4 while moving between two high pressure areas, and weakened slightly. After another ridge built, the cyclone resumed a steady west-southwest track, although its 10–minute winds decreased to 140km/h (85mph) by November6. That day, Bellamine began restrengthening as the eye became increasingly well-defined, 70km (43mi) in diameter. On November7, the storm re-attained intense tropical cyclone status, as well as its previous peak intensity according to MFR. This was a rare occurrence of an early November storm becoming an intense tropical cyclone on two occasions. Meanwhile, the JTWC estimated peak 1–minute winds of 230km/h (145mph). A strong approaching trough turned Bellamine to the southeast on November8 and incurred rapid weakening due to wind shear. After the trough passed the cyclone, Bellamine turned back to the southwest on November10 as a weakening tropical depression. Two days later, the circulation dissipated without having affected land.[1][8]

Severe Tropical Storm Chantelle

Similar to previous storms Antoinette and Bellamine, Tropical Storm Chantelle originated from the ITCZ in the Australian region. On November23, the MFR began tracking the system as a tropical disturbance off the west coast of Sumatra. The system fluctuated in intensity while moving westward, entering the south-west Indian as a tropical depression on November24.[1][9] Around that time, the JTWC had begun classifying it as Tropical Cyclone 7S.[3] On November26, the depression intensified into Tropical Storm Chantelle, and the convection continued to organize despite the presence of wind shear. That day, the JTWC estimated peak 1–minute winds of 120km/h (75mph). On November27, the MFR estimated peak 10–minute winds of 95km/h (60mph). An approaching trough imparted significant weakening, and Chantelle weakened to tropical depression status 18hours after it was at peak intensity. A ridge behind the trough steered the weakening system to the northwest, causing Chantelle to reach the low latitude of 5°S. Widespread cloudiness made it difficult for MFR to continue tracking the circulation, and the agency issued the final advisory on November30 northwest of Diego Garcia. The JTWC continued tracking the storm for several more days, and the remnants of Chantelle likely contributed to the formation of the subsequent Tropical Cyclone Daniella.[1][9]

Intense Tropical Cyclone Daniella

After the previous Tropical Storm Chantelle lost its circulation near Diego Garcia on November30, residual convection persisted and moved to the southwest due to a large ridge. A new tropical disturbance developed on December2 after wind shear diminished. Because the remnants took longer than 48hours to redevelop, the MFR policy at the time was to treat the disturbance as a new system. On December3, the depression intensified into Tropical Storm Daniella, and an eye began to form the next day, indicative of further strengthening. The MFR upgraded Daniella to tropical cyclone status on December5. At 1800UTC that day, both the MFR and JTWC estimated peak winds; the former agency estimated 10–minute winds of 185km/h (115mph), making Daniella an intense tropical cyclone, and the JTWC estimated 1–minute winds of 220km/h (140mph). Around that time, the cyclone turned to the south due to an approaching trough. The eye, previously well-defined and 40km (25mi) in diameter at its peak, gradually became less organized due to decreasing water temperatures. Daniella turned more to the southeast on December8, bringing it between the islands of Réunion and Mauritius after weakening into a strong tropical storm. A sharp increase in wind shear removed the convection from the circulation on December9, weakening Daniella to tropical depression status. Two days later, the circulation dissipated.[1][9]
Late in its duration, Daniella passed within 55km (34mi) of Mauritius,[1] producing wind gusts of 154km/h (96mph) and about 300mm (12in) of rainfall.[10] Port Louis recorded a storm surge of 229mm (9.0in) during the passage.[11] About half of the island lost power and many lost water service. Daniella also left heavy crop damage,[10] due to the heavy rainfall. All flights were canceled during the storm's passage.[12] Three were three indirect deaths on Mauritius,[1] including one from a road accident and another due to electrocution.[12] After threatening to directly strike Réunion, the cyclone passed about 110km (68mi) northeast of the island. As a result, winds were not as strong as on Mauritius.[1]

Moderate Tropical Storm Elvina

In early December, the ITCZ spawned an area of convection near the boundary between the south-west Indian and Australian regions. On December8, the MFR estimated that a disturbance formed just within the Australian region, which entered this basin on December9. After the convection developed into a central dense overcast, the system intensified into Tropical Storm Elvina on December10. Later that day, the MFR estimated peak 10–minute winds of 85km/h (50mph). On December11, the JTWC estimated peak 1–minute winds of 100km/h (65mph). By that time, Elvina had been moving steadily west-southwestward, although the storm slowed on December12. A polar trough caused the storm to accelerate to the southwest on December14 while simultaneously increasing wind shear, causing weakening. On December16, Elvina dissipated well to the south of Diego Garcia.[1][13]

Severe Tropical Storm Fabriola

Toward the end of December, the ITCZ produced a widespread area of convection to the northeast of Madagascar. A circulation developed on January2 about 150km (93mi) of Tromelin Island, becoming a tropical disturbance. After the convection organized more, the system intensified into Tropical Storm Fabriola on January3.[1] Moving southwestward, the storm strengthened somewhat, reaching 10–minute winds of 85km/h (50mph) before making landfall on the Masoala Peninsula in eastern Madagascar. Around that time, the JTWC estimated peak 1–minute winds of 1–winds of 110km/h (70mph).[1][14] Fabriola quickly weakened into a tropical depression over land and emerged into the Mozambique Channel on January5. Due to proximity to land, the system failed to re-intensify initially despite warm waters. On January6, while turning to the south around western Madagascar, Fabriola again attained tropical storm status.[1] The next day, the MFR estimated peak 10–minute winds of 100km/h (65mph), and after turning to the southeast, Fabriola struck southwestern Madagascar near Morombe late on January7. The storm again quickly weakened over land, emerging back into the Indian Ocean on January8 as a tropical disturbance. After turning more to the south, Fabriola dissipated on January10 when it was absorbed by a nearby trough.[1][14] Fabriola spread rainfall across Madagascar, which proved beneficial for crops.[15]

Tropical Cyclone Gretelle

The ITCZ spawned a tropical disturbance on January19 just west of St. Brandon, and within a day intensified into Tropical Storm Gretelle. With a large ridge to the southeast, the storm moved southwestward and gradually intensified, becoming a tropical cyclone on January22. Around that time, the storm passed about 300km (190mi) northwest of Réunion. Early on January23, the MFR estimated peak 10–minute winds of 140km/h (85mph), while JTWC estimated 1–minute winds of 215km/h (130mph) the next day. While near peak intensity, Gretelle made landfall on southeastern Madagascar near Farafangana,[1][16] the first cyclone to hit the region in 41years.[17] Gretelle rapidly weakened into a tropical depression over land, but gradually re-intensified into a moderate tropical storm in the Mozambique Channel. A trough turned the storm to the southeast on January28, and three days later the storm dissipated south-southwest of Madagascar.[16][1]
In Réunion, Gretelle dropped nearly 1m (3.3ft) of rainfall in the mountainous center of the island.[1] The cyclone produced wind gusts of over 220km/h (140mph) at Farafangana, Madagascar, along with heavy rainfall that washed away the local meteorological station. Flooding up to 16m (52ft) was reported in some areas,[18] which washed away several boats and forced residents to hold onto trees to survive.[19] Many houses were damaged or destroyed,[20] leaving 80,000people homeless.[21] The World Food Programme estimated that Gretelle destroyed 7,000tons of rice, 123,500tons of cassava, and 8,000tons of cash crops, mostly to coffee.[22] Overall, about 200people were killed or left missing in Madagascar,[18] with 152confirmed fatalities by two weeks after the storm,[23] and damage was estimated at $50million (1997USD).[24] Later, the storm caused power outages and knocked over trees in southeastern Mozambique.[25]

Intense Tropical Cyclone Pancho-Helinda

The long-lived Cyclone Pancho-Helinda formed on January18 in the Australian region from the monsoon trough to the north of the Cocos Islands. For several days, the system meandered in several directions before maintaining a southwest trajectory on January21. Around that time, the system had intensified into Tropical Cyclone Pancho, reaching 10–minute winds of 205km/h (125mph) before weakening occurred.[26] On January23, the cyclone entered the south-west Indian Ocean, at which time Pancho was renamed Helinda. Around that time, the storm was located between two ridges, causing the motion to become nearly stationary,[1] and by January24 Helinda had re-entered the Australian region. Around that time, the storm began undergoing a large loop to the east of 90°E, during which the winds decreased below tropical storm status.[27] The influence of the monsoon trough turned the storm back to the south on January29, and a day later a building ridge turned the storm back to the west.[26] On January31, Helinda again crossed into the south-west Indian Ocean as an intensifying tropical storm.[27]
With warm waters and favorable upper-level conditions, Helinda attained cyclone status on February1, and the MFR estimated peak 10–minute winds of 185km/h (115mph). Around the same time, the JTWC estimated peak 1–minute winds of 215km/h (130mph), slightly below its estimate for the cyclone's peak winds in the Australian region. Due to a powerful ridge near Île Amsterdam, Helinda turned to the southeast on February2, where cooler water temperatures induced weakening. Two days later, strong wind shear contributed to further weakening, and the storm deteriorated to tropical depression status. Turning back to the west, the circulation was declared dissipated by the MFR on February7, although the JTWC continued tracking Helinda until February14 when the system was off the northeast coast of Madagascar.[1][27]

Severe Tropical Storm Iletta

On January23, the ITCZ spawned an area of convection to the southwest of Diego Garcia, west of Helinda and east of Gretelle. The system quickly developed an organized central dense overcast, but failed to become a tropical cyclone due to the lack of a circulation in the region. Late on January24, the system developed into a tropical depression, by which time the Mauritius Meteorological Services had named it Iletta. The depression quickly intensified into a tropical storm, but further development halted on January25. Due to a nearby trough, the storm tracked to the southeast. Iletta resumed intensification on January26, quickly reaching peak 10–winds of 100km/h (65mph); the JTWC meanwhile estimated peak 1–minute winds of 140km/h (85mph). Subsequently, increased wind shear weakened Iletta, and within 24hours the storm had decreased from peak intensity to tropical depression status. After the trough passed the storm, Iletta turned to the north under the influence of a ridge to the south, dissipating on January30 about 305km (190mi) east-southeast of where it initially formed.[28][1]

Tropical Cyclone Josie

In late January into early February, the ITCZ produced areas of convection around the northern tip of Madagascar. One such convective system spawned a low pressure area between Tromelin island and Agaléga, which initially was still located within the ITCZ. On February5, the system developed into a tropical depression, and failed to intensify further while executing a clockwise loop off northeastern Madagascar. After the convection increased, the depression intensified into a tropical storm on February8 and was named Josie by the Meteorological Services of Madagascar. Subsequently, the storm moved across northern Madagascar and emerged into the Mozambique Channel on February9 as a tropical depression, its structure deteriorated. Josie turned to the southwest around western Madagascar, and despite warm waters it initially failed to re-intensify much. On February11, Josie re-attained tropical storm status, and subsequently turned to the south due to a broad area of low pressure in the region. The storm quickly intensified once moving far enough away from Madagascar, becoming a tropical cyclone on February13 and soon after reaching peak 10–winds of 140km/h (85mph); in contrast, the JTWC estimated peak 1–minute winds of 165km/h (105mph). While near peak intensity, the eyewall of Josie passed over Europa Island. An approaching cold front turned the cyclone to the southeast, bringing the storm over cooler waters and causing weakening due to increased wind shear. On February16, Josie became extratropical well to the south of Madagascar, and dissipated the next day.[29][1]
In northwestern Madagascar, Josie dropped heavy rainfall and caused widespread flooding. Several towns were isolated, forcing residents to travel by boat.[30] The storm heavily damaged crops in the region, particularly to vanilla.[31] The rains caused rivers to exceed their banks, resulting in flooding up to 3.6m (12ft) deep. Nationwide, at least 36people were killed due to Josie, although there were initial reports of 500people missing.[32] On Europa Island, Josie produced maximum sustained winds of 130km/h (81mph), with gusts to 222km/h (138mph), before blowing the anemometer away.[1]

Severe Tropical Storm Karlette

An area of convection formed in the northeast portion of the basin, developing into a tropical disturbance on February14. Despite the presence of easterly wind shear, the system slowly organized into Tropical Storm Karlette on February16. By that time, the storm had a large and disorganized area of convection, which quickly weakened due to an increase in wind shear. Early on February17, Karlette weakened to tropical depression status, although later that day re-attained tropical storm status after the shear diminished. The storm had been moving generally to the west-southwest due to a large ridge to the southeast. The storm's restrengthening was short-lived, as Karlette again weakened to tropical depression status on February20, only to re-intensify into a tropical storm for the third time just six hours later. With the convection reorganizing, the storm developed an eye feature, indicative of the restrengthening. Late on February21, Karlette passed about 70km (45mi) south of Rodrigues, where wind gusts remained below 110km/h (68mph); also on the island, the storm dropped beneficial rainfall totaling around 100mm (3.9in). Subsequently, Karlette attained peak 10–minute winds of 110km/h (70mph) on February22, while the JTWC estimated 1–minute winds of 120km/h (75km/h). Passing well to the southeast of Mauritius, the storm curved more to the south due to an approaching trough, dissipating on February25.[1][33]

Severe Tropical Storm Lisette

Toward the end of February, the ITCZ spawned a system along the Mozambique coast. With a circulation and warm water temperatures, the system developed into a tropical disturbance on February24 just offshore northeastern Mozambique. The system slowly organized while drifting southward between two ridges. After an increase in convection, the system intensified into Tropical Storm Lisette on February28 according to the MFR, although by that time the JTWC had upgraded the storm to the equivalent of tropical cyclone status. A building ridge turned the storm sharply westward. On March1, the MFR estimated peak 10–minute winds of 95km/h (60mph), making Lisette a severe tropical storm with an eye feature in the center. By comparison, the JTWC estimated peak 1–minute winds of 130km/h (85mph). The storm failed to intensify further, making landfall at peak intensity just north of Beira, Mozambique early on March2. Lisette turned to the west-northwest, dissipating over Zimbabwe on March3.[1][34]
Lisette dropped heavy rainfall across the region it traversed, causing severe flooding in central and northern Mozambique.[35] Most of the south-central Mozambique was drenched with rainfall totals ranging from 60mm (2.4in) to 200mm (7.9in), setting numerous records.[36] Due to the precursor disturbance of Lisette, the Nampula Province in Mozambique was severely flooded by the storm,[37] severely damaging several roads.[38] Along the coast, the storm produced a wave height of about 4m (13ft) near Beira.[39] Lisette and its resultant flooding destroyed 17,000houses in Mozambique, affecting 300,000people. Throughout the country, the cyclone killed 87people.[40]

Other storms
In addition to the named storms, the MFR tracked seven tropical disturbances and two tropical depressions throughout the year. Most were short lived, often receiving few warnings. The first two systems developed before Tropical Storm Antoinette in October.[1]
For several weeks in early August – the middle of winter in the southern hemisphere – an area of warm water temperatures of over 26°C (79°F) persisted in the northeast portion of the basin. The region was unaffected by the progression of troughs that would usually decrease the water temperatures. On August13, an area of convection persisted east of the Chagos,[1] in association with the near-equatorial trough,[41] later developing a low pressure area and well-defined circulation. On August16, the system organized into a tropical disturbance, becoming Tropical Depression A1 the next day; this made it the first such storm in the month of August since Tropical Depression Aline in August 1969.[1] Also on August17, the JTWC initiated advisories on Tropical Cyclone 2S.[3] The depression moved southward, developing a well-defined central dense overcast,[1] despite the presence of northerly wind shear.[41] On August18, an anticyclone turned the depression eastward;[1] that day, the JTWC estimated peak 1–minute winds of 85km/h (50mph), and the MFR estimated a peak 10–minute intensity of   55km/h (35mph).[42] The depression later began to weaken under the influence of an approaching trough, and was dissipating as it crossed into the Australian region on August19.[1] The JTWC tracked the circulation for another two days, estimating that the system turned sharply to the west,[42] and the circulation dissipated on August23.[41]
Less than a month later, another area of convection developed within the near-equatorial trough near the Chagos archipelago, due to persistent warm water temperatures.[43][1] On September6, the MFR classified it as Tropical Disturbance A2,[1] and the next day, the JTWC initiated advisories on Tropical Cyclone 3S while the storm was over the northeastern portion of the basin.[3][44] This was a fairly unusual event, as there is only an average of 0.4storms in the month of September across the southern hemisphere.[43] Located along the northern side of a ridge, the storm tracked westward, but failed to intensity beyond 1–minute winds of 75km/h (45mph) due to wind shear.[43] On September10, the storm dissipated to the west-southwest of Diego Garcia.[1][44]
On January3, the BoM and the JTWC ceased issuing advisories on Tropical Cyclone Phil in the Australian region, which previously moved over Western Australia.[45][3] The system continued to the west, entering the south-west Indian Ocean on January5. On January8, the remnants of Phil slowed and turned to the southeast.[45] The next day, the JTWC began reissuing advisories on Phil.[3] The storm meandered and executed a small loop, and in the process reached peak 1–minute winds of 85km/h (50mph). Phil turned back to the southwest,[45] and the JTWC ceased issuing advisories on January12.[3] Four days later, the circulation dissipated.[45] Also in January, the JTWC briefly tracked Tropical Cyclone 18S from the Australian region, which entered the south-west Indian Ocean on January12. At that time, the storm had peak 1–minute winds of 85km/h (50mph), although it quickly weakened and dissipated on January13.[3][46]
A tropical disturbance developed in late November, and two disturbances formed in the first few weeks of January. In the duration between when Iletta developed on January23 and when Tropical Cyclone Josie formed on February9, another two tropical disturbances formed, and the final two developed after Lisette originated in late February. The first, Tropical Disturbance M1, formed on May11 in the northeastern portion of the basin, and later crossed into the Australian region to intensify into Tropical Cyclone Rhonda. The final disturbance of the season originated from a persistent area of convection near the equator on July19, northeast of Diego Garcia. With warm enough water temperatures, the system developed further, becoming Tropical Depression M2 on July20, the first July depression since 1971.[1] That day, the JTWC classified the storm as Tropical Cyclone 01S.[47] As the JTWC considers the tropical cyclone year to begin on July1, and the MFR considered it beginning on August1 at the time, the storm was in different cyclone years in different agencies.[47][2] Estimates from the Dvorak technique suggested that the system approached tropical storm status on July21 after a central dense overcast formed,[1] although the MFR only estimated peak 10–minute winds of 55km/h (35mph).[48] Moving southwestward and later to the west, the depression began weakening due to wind shear on July23, and dissipated two days later.[1] At the time, July was within the annual tropical cyclone year, although a change in policy shifted the end of the tropical cyclone year to June30, beginning in 2002.[2]
See also

Atlantic hurricane seasons: 1996, 1997
Pacific hurricane seasons: 1996, 1997
Pacific typhoon seasons: 1996, 1997
North Indian Ocean cyclone seasons: 1996, 1997

What was the most powerful storm in the 1996-97 South-West Indian Ocean cyclone season?