New Caledonia

New Caledonia is a French territory located in the southwest Pacific Ocean.

It sits southwest of Vanuatu and east of Australia. The archipelago belongs to the Melanesia subregion. It is a sui generis collectivity of the French Republic. This means it has a unique legal status. This status is written into a specific chapter of the French Constitution. The territory is also associated with the European Union as an overseas country and territory.

The archipelago consists of several distinct groups of islands. The largest is the main island called Grande Terre. Many people use the name Grande Terre to refer to the whole territory. Other parts include the Loyalty Islands and the Belep archipelago. The Chesterfield Islands are also part of the group. These islands sit within the Coral Sea.

The territory is divided into three administrative provinces. The North and South Provinces are on the mainland. The Loyalty Islands Province contains four inhabited islands off the east coast. These islands are Ouvéa, Lifou, Tiga, and Maré.

New Caledonia has a very ancient geological history. It was once part of the continent known as Zealandia. Zealandia broke away from the supercontinent Gondwana. It sank between 79 million and 83 million years ago.

Human history began with the Lapita culture. The Lapita were highly skilled navigators and agriculturists. They arrived in the Pacific around 1300 to 200 BC. Their first settlements were located near the coast. These settlements lasted until approximately AD 200.

European contact began in the late 18th century. British explorer James Cook sighted the islands in September 1774. He named the land New Caledonia because the northeast reminded him of Scotland. Later, the Comte de Lapérouse approached the west coast in 1788. Between 1793 and 1796, the English whaler William Raven mapped the Loyalty Islands. In the 1800s, trade in sandalwood became common. This was followed by a dark period known as blackbirding. This was a term for taking islanders into forced labour. Traders used trickery to take people for sugarcane plantations in Fiji and Queensland.

France took formal possession of the islands in 1853. Admiral Febvrier Despointes acted under orders from Emperor Napoleon III. In 1864, New Caledonia became a penal colony. France sent about 22,000 criminals and political prisoners there by 1897. In 1888, there were 10,428 convicts on the island. This was the largest number of convicts in any French overseas prison. In 1864, nickel was discovered near the Diahot River. Mining began in earnest after 1876. To work these mines, the French imported labourers from Japan and Indochina.

The indigenous Kanak people make up 41% of the population.

Their history includes many struggles. In 1878, a guerrilla war broke out after Kanaks were confined to reservations. This conflict killed 200 Frenchmen and 1,000 Kanaks. European diseases like smallpox also caused many deaths. The Kanak population dropped from 60,000 in 1878 to 27,100 in 1921. During World War II, the territory became a vital Allied base. The United States Navy moved its South Pacific Fleet base to Nouméa.

American troops reached 50,000 people. This number matched the entire local population at that time.

Today, the population of 264,596 is very diverse.

The North and Loyalty Islands Provinces have many Kanak people. The South Province is much wealthier and more diverse. It has large populations of European and Polynesian people. There are also groups from Southeast Asia and North Africa. Between 1976 and 1988, a period called "the Events" occurred. This involved violent conflicts regarding independence. The Kanak independence movement clashed with the French government. These events shaped the modern political landscape of the islands.