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Islam in New Caledonia is a minority faith, consisting of 2.6% of population or 6,357 people. The community is largely ethnic Javanese, [1] and primarily speaks French, and Arabic or Indonesian, causing a linguistic gap between them and neighbouring Anglophone Muslim communities in Australia and Fiji. [2] There is an Islamic centre in Nouméa, and another in Bourail catering to Algerian-Caledonians. [3]
Among the first Muslims in New Caledonia were Algerian prisoners sent there in 1872, [4] followed by Indonesian, Somali, and Arab labourers. [1]
The Association des Musulmans de Nouvelle Caledonie (New Caledonia Muslim Association) was founded in 1975, superseding an earlier organisation. [5]
New Caledonia is a sui generis collectivity of overseas France in the southwest Pacific Ocean, south of Vanuatu, about 1,210 km (750 mi) east of Australia, and 17,000 km (11,000 mi) 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".
Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the Pacific Islands. As an ethnic/racial term, it is used to describe the original peoples—inhabitants and diasporas—of any of the three major subregions of Oceania.
Religion in Papua New Guinea is predominantly Christian, with traditional animism and ancestor worship often occurring less openly as another layer underneath or more openly side by side Christianity. The courts, government, and general society uphold a constitutional right to freedom of speech, thought, and belief. There is no state religion, although the government openly partners with several Christian groups to provide services, and churches participate in local government bodies.
Several different religions are practised in Indonesia and in practice the country is a secular state. Indonesia is officially a presidential republic and a unitary state. Indonesia has the world's largest Muslim population and the first principle of Indonesia's philosophical foundation, Pancasila, requires its citizens to state "the One and almighty God". Consequently, atheists in Indonesia experience official discrimination in the context of registration of births and marriages and the issuance of identity cards. In addition, the Aceh province officially enforces Sharia law and is notorious for its discriminatory practices towards religious and sexual minorities. There are also pro-Sharia and fundamentalist movements in several parts of the country with overwhelming Muslim majorities.
Growth of religion involves the spread of individual religions and the increase in the numbers of religious adherents around the world. Statistics commonly measure the absolute number of adherents, the percentage of the absolute growth per-year, and the growth of converts in the world.
Islam in Oceania refers to Islam and Muslims in Oceania. By current estimates, there are 620,156 total Muslims in Oceania: 476,600 in Australia, 48,151 in New Zealand, 52,520 in Fiji, 6,352 in New Caledonia, 2,200 in Papua New Guinea, 360 in Solomon Islands, 221 in Vanuatu, 110 in Tonga.
Ronald Gordon Crocombe was a Professor of Pacific Studies at the University of the South Pacific. His reputation was such that he was described as the "father of Pacific Studies".
Japanese settlement in New Caledonia dates back to the 19th century when male indentured labourers were brought to the island and worked in the nickel mines. Some of whom settled down in New Caledonia, and often intermarried with women of other ethnicities. After the Second World War, most of the island's Japanese were repatriated back to Japan, although a small minority remained behind.
The Cook Islands compete as a part of netball's Oceania region. More than 1,000 players have registered to play the sport. Participation in the game grew during the 1970s. Much of this is possible because of the national governing organisation, the Cook Islands Netball Association which is a member of Oceania Netball Federation. Because of the level of organisation and the game's development, the country has participated at several international events including the Pacific Games, the Commonwealth Games, the World Games, the Oceania Netball Tournament, the World Youth Netball Championship, and the International Challenge Men's and Mixed Netball Tournament. A demonstration of the Cook Islands success can be found by looking at the national team: It is one of the top ranked in the world.
Netball in Fiji is a popular sport, with a men's and a women's national team. Netball games are most often played by girls on Saturdays during the winter, though games can be played at all times of the year. Women's participation in netball is comparable to men's participation in rugby.
Netball in Niue is a popular local sport. Games are most often played by girls on Saturdays between June and August, though games can be played at all times of the year. Most of the netball is played on high school athletic grounds.
Netball in Tonga is a popular sport, usually played by girls on Saturdays during the winter, though games can be played at all times of the year.
Netball has a large amount of grassroots support in Vanuatu. Games are most often played by girls on Saturdays during the winter, though games can be played at all times of the year. Continuing growth of the game in Vanuatu was at times hampered by the fact that the sport is not an Olympic one. The Olympic Solidarity Movement provides much access to funding through the International Olympic Committee. For Olympic sports, money can be tapped to help cover costs for inter-island travel for international competitions. The lack of netball being recognized meant it was hard to find money to cover these costs.
Cook Islands Netball Association is the national body which oversees, promotes and manages netball in Cook Islands. The Cook Islands Netball Association is a member of Oceania Netball Federation.
Netball in Oceania is generally regarded as a woman's sport. Women's sports in Oceania have traditionally had a very low profile. Despite this, netball is popular in Oceania, with its growth partly because of New Zealand encouraging the game and providing money for the training of coaches, umpires and other netball development needs. In New Zealand and in neighbouring Australia, netball is one of the most popular sports played by women.
American Samoa is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located South East of Samoa and consisting of seven main islands. American Samoa is a predominantly Christian nation, identifying as a region founded by God, however, has become more religiously diverse since the mid-20th century. The religion of Islam was first brought to American Samoa in the mid-1980s by Muslim expatriate workers from government programs. The region received their first native convert in 1985, although Muslim adherents still remain a minority in American Samoan society today. While the population is small, the spread of Islam has been a significant part of the Island’s history. As a result of increased terrorist activities globally in the early 2000s, specifically the Bali bombing which targeted American Samoa’s neighbours, the islands imposed a strict ban on residents of 23 nations from entering their territory without explicit permission from the island’s attorney general’s office. Most of the countries banned were either located in the Middle East and identified as Muslim nations, or were home to a large number of Muslim adherents.
The culture of the Cook Islands reflects the traditions of its fifteen islands as a Polynesian island country, spread over 1,800,000 square kilometres (690,000 sq mi) in the South Pacific Ocean. It is in free association with New Zealand. Its traditions are based on the influences of those who settled the islands over several centuries. Polynesian people from Tahiti settled in the Cook Islands in the 6th century. The Portuguese captain, Pedro Fernandes de Queirós, made the first recorded European landing in the islands in the early 17th century, and well over a hundred years later, in the 18th century, the British navigator, Captain James Cook arrived, giving the islands their current name. Missionaries developed a written language, bringing schools and Christianity to the Cook Islands in the early 19th century. Cook Islands Māori, also known as Māori Kūki 'Āirani or Rarotongan, is the country's official language.
Ahmadiyya is an Islamic religious movement originating in 1889 in northern India around the teachings of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (1835–1908), who claimed to have been divinely appointed as both the promised Mahdi and Messiah expected by Muslims to appear towards the end times.
Islam in the Cook Islands is a small religious minority in the New Zealand dependency of the Cook Islands. It's not exactly clear how many Muslims there are in the Cook Islands, because the calculation of Muslims doesn't participate in the country census. However, it is estimated that about 0.06% of the islands' population of about 15000 is Muslim. There are no mosques in the Islands. It is unclear how Islam first appeared in the Cook Islands. One of the earliest Cook Islanders to convert to Islam is Tatiana Kautai. Islam is a small but growing religious minority in the Cook Islands.
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