Xârâcùù
Xârâcùù, or Kanala, is an Oceanic language spoken in New Caledonia. It has about 5,000 speakers. Xârâcùù is 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. Xarâcùù has a strict SVO sentence structure with few exceptions. Efforts to determine how the language evolved to the present has been met with difficulty due to Xârâcùù's lack of reflexive markers in established Proto-Oceanic forms. Xârâcùù has been taught since 1980 at the primary level in the popular Kanak school (EPK or Ecole Populaire Kanak) Canala, only establishment of its kind still existing in 2013, the students can then join public education. The language is also offered at the private Catholic college Francis Rouge-Thio and public college Canala.
Islam in New Caledonia
Islam in New Caledonia is a minority faith, consisting of 2.6% of population or 6,357 people. The community is largely ethnic Javanese, and primarily speaks French, and Arabic or Indonesian, causing a linguistic gap between them and neighbouring Anglophone Muslim communities in Australia and Fiji. There is an Islamic centre in Nouméa, and another in Bourail catering to Algerian-Caledonians.