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Nouméa, or Noumea, is the capital city of New Caledonia. It is situated on a peninsula in the south western area of New Caledonia's main island, Grand Terre. Noumea is home to the majority of the island's European, Indonesian, Tahitian and Vietnamese population, as well as many native Kanaks.
The area in which the city is found was not an important one for Kanaks prior to European settlement. The first European to set up a settlement nearby was a British trader, James Paddon, in 1851. The French, anxious to assert control of the island, established a settlement there three years later in 1854, moving from the north of the island (the settlement of Balade). The area served first as a penal colony, later as a centre for the exploitation of the nickel and gold that was mined nearby.
Noumea has progressively changed while retaining the successive marks of its past. Noumea is now a garden city, where urbanization and nature blend harmoniously, an attractive modern capital in the South Pacific. The streets are flanked by old colonial houses, the bays are highlighted by hibiscus and bougainvilleas, and the beaches are for everybody to enjoy, right in the heart of the city.
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