Poya (French pronunciation: [pɔja]) is a commune in New Caledonia, an overseas territory of France in the Pacific Ocean. The largest part of the commune (including the main settlement of Poya itself) lies in the North Province of New Caledonia, and a smaller part of the commune lies in the South Province, an odd situation resulting from the creation of New Caledonia's provinces in 1989. At the 2019 census, 2,592 of the 2,802 inhabitants of Poya lived on the North Province's side of the commune, while only 210 inhabitants lived on the South Province's side.

Poya
The town hall in Poya
The town hall in Poya
Location of the commune (in red) within New Caledonia
Location of the commune (in red) within New Caledonia
Location of Poya
Map
Coordinates: 21°20′55″S 165°09′04″E / 21.3487°S 165.151°E / -21.3487; 165.151
CountryFrance
Sui generis collectivityNew Caledonia
ProvinceNorth Province
and South Province
Government
 • Mayor (2020–2026) Évelyne Goro-Atu[1]
Area
1
845.8 km2 (326.6 sq mi)
Population
 (2019 census)[2]
2,802
 • Density3.3/km2 (8.6/sq mi)
Ethnic distribution
 • 2019 censusKanaks 58.85%
Europeans 13.95%
Wallisians and Futunans 5.03%
Mixed 13.67%
Other 8.49%
Time zoneUTC+11:00
INSEE/Postal code
98827 /98827
Elevation0–1,508 m (0–4,948 ft)
(avg. 20 m or 66 ft)
1 New Caledonia Land Register (DITTT) data, which exclude lakes and ponds larger than 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) as well as the estuaries of rivers.

Climate

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Poya has a tropical savanna climate (Köppen climate classification Aw). The average annual temperature in Poya is 23.8 °C (74.8 °F). The average annual rainfall is 1,050.0 mm (41.34 in) with March as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in February, at around 27.3 °C (81.1 °F), and lowest in July, at around 20.0 °C (68.0 °F). The highest temperature ever recorded in Poya was 38.8 °C (101.8 °F) on 19 November 1968; the coldest temperature ever recorded was 6.1 °C (43.0 °F) on 24 May 1957.

Climate data for Poya (1991−2020 normals, extremes 1955−present)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 38.0
(100.4)
37.6
(99.7)
37.1
(98.8)
35.0
(95.0)
33.6
(92.5)
32.0
(89.6)
31.0
(87.8)
32.0
(89.6)
33.9
(93.0)
36.2
(97.2)
38.8
(101.8)
38.1
(100.6)
38.8
(101.8)
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) 31.6
(88.9)
31.7
(89.1)
30.8
(87.4)
29.6
(85.3)
27.6
(81.7)
26.0
(78.8)
25.2
(77.4)
25.4
(77.7)
27.0
(80.6)
28.7
(83.7)
30.0
(86.0)
31.2
(88.2)
28.7
(83.7)
Daily mean °C (°F) 26.9
(80.4)
27.3
(81.1)
26.6
(79.9)
25.1
(77.2)
22.8
(73.0)
21.3
(70.3)
20.0
(68.0)
20.1
(68.2)
21.4
(70.5)
23.3
(73.9)
24.7
(76.5)
26.3
(79.3)
23.8
(74.8)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) 22.3
(72.1)
23.0
(73.4)
22.5
(72.5)
20.6
(69.1)
17.9
(64.2)
16.5
(61.7)
14.9
(58.8)
14.8
(58.6)
15.7
(60.3)
17.8
(64.0)
19.5
(67.1)
21.5
(70.7)
18.9
(66.0)
Record low °C (°F) 14.9
(58.8)
14.0
(57.2)
14.0
(57.2)
11.0
(51.8)
6.1
(43.0)
6.2
(43.2)
7.0
(44.6)
7.2
(45.0)
6.7
(44.1)
8.2
(46.8)
9.6
(49.3)
12.0
(53.6)
6.1
(43.0)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 141.4
(5.57)
163.5
(6.44)
187.7
(7.39)
93.9
(3.70)
68.9
(2.71)
67.9
(2.67)
52.5
(2.07)
57.9
(2.28)
30.9
(1.22)
35.4
(1.39)
53.2
(2.09)
96.8
(3.81)
1,050
(41.34)
Average precipitation days (≥ 1.0 mm) 10.0 11.6 12.0 7.0 7.0 6.3 5.4 5.6 3.4 3.7 5.3 8.2 85.5
Source: Météo-France[3]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Répertoire national des élus: les maires" (in French). data.gouv.fr, Plateforme ouverte des données publiques françaises. 13 September 2022.
  2. ^ Population, ménages et logement par commune, en 2019, Institut de la statistique et des études économiques Nouvelle-Calédonie
  3. ^ "Fiche Climatologique Statistiques 1991-2020 et records" (PDF). Météo-France. Retrieved August 20, 2022.