Distinctions
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Commander of the National Order of Merit on 2 May 2017 [20] -
Officer of the Legion of Honor on 30 January 2008 [21] -
1st class in the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany.
Thierry Lataste | |
|---|---|
| High Commissioner of New Caledonia | |
| In office 20 June 2016 –10 July 2019 | |
| President | François Hollande Emmanuel Macron |
| Preceded by | Laurent Cabrera |
| Succeeded by | Laurent Prévost |
| In office 19 July 1999 –29 July 2002 | |
| President | Jacques Chirac |
| Preceded by | Dominique Bur |
| Succeeded by | Alain Triolle |
| In office 29 July 1994 –12 August 1994 | |
| President | François Mitterrand |
| Preceded by | Alain Christnacht |
| Succeeded by | Didier Cultiaux |
| Representative of Co-Prince of Andorra | |
| In office 5 January 2015 –15 June 2016 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Thierry Lataste 31 January 1954 Talence,Gironde Department |
Thierry Lataste (born 31 January 1954 in Talence,Gironde Department) [1] is a senior French civil servant,who served as High Commissioner of New Caledonia from July to August 1994,1999 to 2002,and again from 2016 to 2019.
From 5 January 2015 to 15 June 2016 he was the personal representative of the Co-Prince of Andorra. [2]
Thierry Lataste is a graduate of the Institut d'études politiques de Paris in 1978, [3] a former student of the École normale supérieure [4] and of the École nationale d'administration (ENA or transl. National School of Administration) in 1982. [5]
When he left the ENA in June 1982,Lataste was named civil administrator 2nd class of the Ministry of Interior and Decentralization. [5] In September,he became sub-prefect,director of the cabinet of the Commissioner of the Republic of Vaucluse. [6] In October 1983,he was appointed sub-prefect outside the framework and became director of Pierre Mauroy's cabinet in Lille. In 1985,he became secretary general of the prefecture of Deux-Sèvres. [1] He was reinstated as a civil administrator and became secretary general of New Caledonia. He stayed there for three years,and in October 1994 became sub-prefect of Senlis. He was chief of staff to Secretary of State for Overseas Jean-Jack Queyranne from 1997 to 2000. At the end of this year,he becomes prefect,government delegate,High Commissioner of the Republic in New Caledonia. [7] In 2002,he became the prefect of Savoie,then two years later,prefect of Pyrénées-Orientales. He later became prefect of Vendée,and prefect of Saône-et-Loire. [8] [9]
In July 2012,he became the prefect of the Languedoc-Roussillon region,prefect of Hérault. [10]
On 19 December 2012 he was appointed chief of staff to the Minister of the Interior Manuel Valls. [11]
On 3 January 2015 he was appointed chief of staff of the president of the Republic François Hollande and personal representative of the president of the Republic as Co-Prince in Andorra,replacing Sylvie Hubac as of 5 January 2015. [9] He was assisted by Constance Rivière. [12]
He performed this function until 25 May 2016,the date on which he was appointed High Commissioner of the Republic in New Caledonia [13] with the charge of organizing the 2018 referendum on the independence of New Caledonia. [14] [15] On 15 June 2016 he was replaced by Jean-Pierre Hugues,a retired prefect. [16]
As chief of staff to Secretary of State for Overseas Jean-Jack Queyranne from 1997 to 2000,Thierry Lataste negotiated with New Caledonians following the Matignon agreements of 1988,he was one of the main negotiators of the Nouméa Accord that he signed on 5 May 1998 as representative of the Secretary of State for Overseas. [17] From July 1999 until 2002,he was appointed the high commissioner of the Republic in New Caledonia. [18]
As the high commissioner of the Republic in New Caledonia,he was especially confronted with the violent clashes which from December 2001 opposed certain Kanak inhabitants of the Saint-Louis tribe to members of the Wallisian and Futunian community. [19]
Commander of the National Order of Merit on 2 May 2017 [20] 
Officer of the Legion of Honor on 30 January 2008 [21] 
1st class in the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany.
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". New Caledonia is one of the European Union's Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs),but is not part of the European Union.
Nouméa is the capital and largest city of the French special collectivity of New Caledonia and is also the largest francophone city in Oceania. It is situated on a peninsula in the south of New Caledonia's main island,Grande Terre,and is home to the majority of the island's European,Polynesian,Indonesian,and Vietnamese populations,as well as many Melanesians,Ni-Vanuatu and Kanaks who work in one of the South Pacific's most industrialised cities. The city lies on a protected deepwater harbour that serves as the chief port for New Caledonia.
Ouvéa or Uvea is a commune in the Loyalty Islands Province of New Caledonia,an overseas territory of France in the Pacific Ocean. The settlement of Fayaoué,on Ouvéa Island,is the administrative centre of the commune.
The Nouméa Accord of 1998 is a promise by the French Republic to grant increased political power to New Caledonia and its indigenous population,the Kanaks,over a twenty-year transition period. It was signed 5 May 1998 by Lionel Jospin,and approved in a referendum in New Caledonia on 8 November,with 72% voting in favour. Under the accord,two more referendum votes,on whether to remain a special collectivity of France or become an independent state,have been held. One was held in 2018,and the second was held in 2020. In both votes a majority chose to remain French. The Nouméa Accord permitted a final referendum to be held,voted for by the Congress of New Caledonia. It was held December 2021 and widely rejected independence amid boycott by the independence movement.
Maurice Leenhardt,was a French pastor and ethnologist specialising in the Kanak people of New Caledonia.
Two flags are in use in New Caledonia,an overseas territory of France. Up to 2010,the only flag used to represent New Caledonia was the flag of France,a tricolour featuring three vertical bands coloured blue,white,and red known to English speakers as the French Tricolour or simply the Tricolour. However,in July 2010,the Congress of New Caledonia voted in favour of a wish to fly the Kanak flag of the independence movement FLNKS alongside the French Tricolour. The wish,legally non-binding,proved controversial. A majority of New Caledonian communes,but not all,now fly both flags,the rest flying only the French Tricolour.
Dick Ukeiwé was a New Caledonian politician. Born in Lifou,France,he represented the island in the French Senate from 1983 until 1992,and was a member of the Rally for the Republic. He served as President of the Congress of New Caledonia from 1985 to 1988. His son,Bernard Ukeiwé(1953–2008),was also a New Caledonian politician. Ukeiwédied,aged 84,on 3 September 2013 in Dumbéa.
Xârâcùù,or Kanala,is an Oceanic language spoken in New Caledonia. It has about 5,000 speakers. Xârâcùùis most commonly spoken in the south Central area of New Caledonia in and around the city of Canala and the municipalities of Canala,Thio,and Boulouparis.
An independence referendum was held in New Caledonia on 4 November 2018. Voters were given the choice of remaining part of France or becoming an independent country.
An independence referendum was held in New Caledonia on 4 October 2020. The poll was the second to be held under the terms of the Nouméa Accord,following a similar referendum in 2018.
The COVID-19 pandemic was confirmed to have reached the French overseas collectivity of New Caledonia on 18 March 2020. All cases are on the main island of Grand Terre and are related to travel abroad. On 7 May,all cases had recovered.
An independence referendum was held in New Caledonia,a French territory in the South Pacific,on 12 December 2021. The vote was the third and final to be held under the terms of the Nouméa Accord,following votes in 2018 and 2020.
Alban Bensa was a French anthropologist. He was director of studies at the School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences and specialized in the study of New Caledonia and Kanak people.
Ilaïsaane Lauouvéa is a New Caledonian politician,who from 2009 to 2014 was an elected member of the Congress of New Caledonia representing the Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front.
Didier Poidyaliwane was a New Caledonian politician. A pro-independence activist,he was a member of the Caledonian Union (UC) and the Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front (FLNKS) and strongly defended the rights of indigenous Kanak people. He served in the cabinet of Philippe Germain and Thierry Santa as a minister in the Government of New Caledonia.
Louis Mapou is a Kanak politician who has served as the President of the Government of New Caledonia since 22 July 2021. Mapou is New Caledonia's first native Kanak president since the position was established in 1999.
Miss New Caledonia is a French beauty pageant which selects a representative for the Miss France national competition from the sui generis overseas collectivity of New Caledonia. The first Miss New Caledonia was crowned in 1952,although the pageant was not held regularly until 1980. Until 2007,the competition was known as Miss Caledonia.
Caroline Machoro-Reignier is a Kanak politician in New Caledonia. A member of the pro-independence Caledonian Union,she led the Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front alliance in the Congress of New Caledonia from 2011 to 2014. In 1988,she was one of the signatories of the Matignon Agreements between New Caledonian loyalists and separatists.
Jean-François Cordet was a French government official.
In May 2024,protests and riots broke out in New Caledonia,a sui generis collectivity of overseas France in the Pacific Ocean. The violent protests have led to a recent banning of Tik Tok,six deaths,and the declaration of a state of emergency.