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Rang

City on the turquoise lagoon

Nouméa

The capital of New Caledonia, beside one of the world's largest lagoons, with flame trees that flower red in summer.

General view, centre of Nouméa, New Caledonia
Photo: Torbenbrinker, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Why Nouméa is lagoon turquoise

Nouméa is the capital of New Caledonia, a French territory in the south-west Pacific. It stands on a hilly peninsula surrounded by a vast lagoon, enclosed by one of the longest coral reefs in the world. Over white sand and shallow water the lagoon is a clear, bright turquoise, shading to deep blue at the reef. Parts of it became a World Heritage Site in 2008. Around the central square, flame trees burst into red flower in the hot months at the end of the year. Older wooden colonial houses have verandas and iron roofs. The main island's soil is rich in nickel and iron, so cut hillsides and mine roads show a deep rust red.

Lagoon turquoise#3FC9C4Flame tree red#D1342BCoral sand white#F5F0E6Nickel earth red#A6452FColonial house cream#F0E6C8

Values are fair approximations of what the eye sees there, not measurements.

Colours tied to Nouméa

TurquoiseA blue-green colour named after a prized mineral long used for gems and decoration
About this page

Written by the Rang desk with AI assistance. Background: "Nouméa" on Wikipedia. If you know Nouméa and we have it wrong, tell us.

More colour cities

All colour cities
🇮🇳 City of painted temple towersMaduraiThe towers of the Meenakshi temple carry thousands of painted figures; jasmine sellers add white below.🇺🇿 City of blue domesSamarkandRibbed turquoise domes and tiled gateways in every shade of blue rise over an old Silk Road capital.🇺🇿 Mud walls and a turquoise towerKhivaA walled desert town where a short, fat minaret wrapped in blue-green tile stands over clay-coloured lanes.🇮🇷 Half the world, in turquoiseIsfahanSafavid mosques around a vast square are covered inside and out with turquoise and deep blue tiles.🇪🇹 The painted walled cityHararBehind old stone walls, the alleys and house fronts of this Ethiopian city are painted in bright pastels.🇬🇧 A pastel Italian fantasy in WalesPortmeirionA holiday village built by one architect over fifty years, in the colours of the Italian Riviera.

Photo credits on this page

The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.

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