Editing New Caledonia (section)

=== Languages ===
{{Main|Languages of New Caledonia}}

The [[French language]] began to spread with the establishment of French settlements, and French is now spoken even in the most secluded villages. For a long time the level of fluency varied significantly across the population as a whole, primarily due to the absence of universal access to public education before 1953, and also due to immigration and ethnic diversity,<ref name="rl-lang">{{cite web |url=http://www.ac-noumea.nc/sitevr/spip.php?rubrique48 |title=Situation linguistique en Nouvelle-Calédonie |publisher=Vice-Rectorat de Nouvelle-Calédonie |access-date=2013-01-30 |archive-date=18 January 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120118021148/http://www.ac-noumea.nc/sitevr/spip.php?rubrique48 |url-status=dead }}</ref> but the French language has now become universal among the younger generations as shown by the censuses of population. 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.<ref name="cen-lang">{{cite web |title=Principales caractéristiques des individus de 15 ans et plus, par province de résidence et sexe |format=XLS |url=https://www.isee.nc/component/phocadownload/category/193-recensement?download=1876:rp-09-population-menages-logement-par-commune |publisher=[[Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies]] (ISEE-NC) |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121030182817/http://www.isee.nc/population/telecharxls/don.cadrage-rp-09.xls |place=Nouméa |access-date=2013-02-28|archive-date=30 October 2012 }}</ref> No questions regarding the knowledge of French were asked in the 2014 and 2019 censuses, on account of the population's nearly universal understanding of it.

The 28 [[Kanak languages]] spoken in New Caledonia are part of the [[Oceanic languages|Oceanic]] group of the [[Austronesian languages|Austronesian]] family.<ref name="macc">{{cite web |website=Académie des Langues Kanak |title=Langues |url=http://www.alk.gouv.nc/portal/page/portal/alk/langues |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171109131824/http://www.alk.gouv.nc/portal/page/portal/alk/langues |archive-date=9 November 2017 |url-status=dead |access-date=15 October 2011 }}</ref> Eight of these can be chosen by parents as optional subjects for their children from kindergarten to high school (four languages are taught up to the bachelor's degree) and an academy is responsible for their promotion.<ref name="maskan">{{cite web |url=http://www.maisonnouvellecaledonieparis.nc/site/population.php |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090426023621/http://www.maisonnouvellecaledonieparis.nc/site/population.php |archive-date=2009-04-26 |title=La Population De Nouvelle-Caledonie |publisher=La maison de la Nouvelle-Calédonie |language=fr |access-date=2013-01-30 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The three most widely spoken indigenous languages are [[Drehu]] (spoken in [[Lifou]]), [[Nengone language|Nengone]] (spoken on [[Maré]]) and [[Paicî]] (northern part of Grande Terre).<ref name="maskan"/> Others include [[Iaai language|Iaai]] (spoken on [[Ouvéa]]). At the 2019 census, 44.0% of people whose age was 15 or older reported that they had some form of knowledge of at least one Kanak language (up from 41.3% at the 2009 census), whereas 56.0% reported that they had no knowledge of any of the Kanak languages (down from 58.7% at the 2009 census).<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.isee.nc/component/phocadownload/category/193-recensement?download=1980:rp2019-population-menages-logement-province |title=Population, ménages et logement par province, en 2019 – P20 Population de 15 ans et plus, selon le genre, la connaissance d'une langue kanak et la province de résidence par groupe d'âge décennal |publisher=[[Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies]] (ISEE-NC) |language=fr |access-date=2023-03-06 |archive-date=1 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221101013043/https://www.isee.nc/component/phocadownload/category/193-recensement?download=1980:rp2019-population-menages-logement-province |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="cen-lang"/>

Other significant language communities among immigrant populations include speakers of [[Wallisian]], [[Futunan language|Futunian]], [[Tahitian language|Tahitian]], [[Javanese language|Javanese]], [[Vietnamese language|Vietnamese]], [[Chinese language|Chinese]], and [[Bislama]].