Map - Belep (Bélep)

Belep (Bélep)
Belep (sometimes unofficially spelled Bélep) is a commune in the North Province of New Caledonia, an overseas territory of France in the Pacific Ocean. It has almost 900 people living on 70 km2.

The commune's territory is made up of the Belep Islands (also known as the Belep Archipelago), which lie to the north of New Caledonia's mainland. The two principal islands in the Belep Archipelago are Art Island (a.k.a. Aar) and Pott Island fr (a.k.a. Phwoc). The rest of the archipelago consists of the Northern and Southern Daos Islands, and several very small islets.

The administrative centre of the commune is the settlement of Waala, on Art Island, the largest of the Belep Islands. The local language is Nyêlâyu.

The Belep Islands were named after a Kanak chief who settled there in ancient times. A Catholic mission was founded in Belep in 1856 by Pierre Lambert (1822–1903) but only lasted until 1863. The Marists later returned, and another priest Marie-Joseph Dubois (1913–1998), who lived there 1940–1941, wrote a history of Bélep in 1985.

In 1879, following a widespread Kanak rebellion led by Ataï, some of the insurgents were temporarily moved from Grande Terre to the islands as punishment. The islands were the site of a leper colony between 1892 and 1898 during which time the islanders were exiled to Balade and suffered greatly. On their return, they were not allowed to reoccupy Isle Pott, taken by a colonial copra farmer, monsieur Mary, permitted by government authority. It took the clans until the 1950s to buy it back.

The standard of living in Belep has risen since the 1950s, in common with other outlying parts of New Caledonia. However traditions and language are strongly maintained, only half the population can speak French, and few residents have any school certificates having only attended until the age of 12. Around 1955, an airstrip was built in Waala and there are flights, but it is the least frequented AirCal route. Passenger boats to Koumac and Poum are irregular. A modern medical clinic, serviced by a French doctor and nurses, was also built. Waala has the only primary school, shops, church, and post office. In 1961, Belep became a commune; its first mayor was elected in 1969. In the 1980s, when the movement for Kanak independence became violent (Les Evènements) some Belema migrated to the Mainland to escape political divisions.

Belep struggles to obtain resources from the territorial government and there is still no schooling beyond primary level (children then have to attend boarding school on Grande Terre, in Poum for example). Settlement, disrupted by events in the 19th century, has concentrated clans in Waala. Alcoholism is a serious problem and there have been violent episodes, including the killing of a clinic staff member in 2003

In August 2016 a large bushfire ravaged Isle Art.

 
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Country - New_Caledonia
New Caledonia (Nouvelle-Calédonie ) is a sui generis collectivity of overseas France in the southwest Pacific Ocean, south of Vanuatu, about 1210 km east of Australia, and 17,000 km from Metropolitan France. 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. The Chesterfield Islands are in the Coral Sea. French people, especially locals, call Grande Terre "Le Caillou" ("the pebble").

New Caledonia has a land area of 18576 km2 divided into three provinces. The North and South Provinces are on the New Caledonian mainland, while the Loyalty Islands Province is a series of three islands off the east coast of mainland. New Caledonia's population of 271,407 (October 2019 census) is of diverse origins and varies by geography; in the North and Loyalty Islands Provinces, the indigenous Kanak people predominate, while the wealthy South Province contains significant populations of European (Caldoches and Metropolitan French), Kanak, and Polynesian (mostly Wallisian) origin, as well as smaller groups of Southeast Asian, Pied-Noir, and North African heritage. The capital of New Caledonia is Nouméa.
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