New Caledonia, Fr. Nouvelle Calédonie, internally self-governing territory of France (2005 est. pop. 216,000), land area 7,241 sq mi (18,760 sq km), South Pacific, c.700 mi (1,130 km) E of Australia. It comprises the island of New Caledonia, the Isle of Pines, the Loyalty Islands Loyalty Islands, coral group (1989 pop. 17,900), S Pacific, a part of the French overseas territory of New Caledonia . The group comprises three islands (Lifou, Maré, and Ouvéa) and many islets and has a total land area of c.800 sq mi (2,070 sq km).
..... Click the link for more information. , Walpole Island, and the Huon, Chesterfield, and Belep groups. The capital is Nouméa Nouméa (n

māä`), town (1992 est. pop.
..... Click the link for more information. on New Caledonia island. New Caledonia island, the largest island of the territory (6,223 sq mi/16,118 sq km), is mountainous and temperate in climate.

The island of New Caledonia is rich in mineral resources, especially nickel, chrome, iron, manganese, cobalt, gold, and silver. It is densely forested in some places, but almost all the kauri pine that was once an important export has been cut down. The principal industries are the mining and refining of nickel, iron mining, the production of coffee and copra, and shrimp farming. Tourism is also important. Cattle and poultry are raised, but many foodstuffs must still be imported. France, Japan, and Australia are the largest trading partners.

The population is about 45% Melanesian (Kanak) and 35% European (mostly French) with Polynesians in the outlying islands; the European population is concentrated in S New Caledonia. French and several Melanesian and Polynesian dialects are spoken. About 60% of the population is Roman Catholic and 30% is Protestant. The government consists of a high commissioner appointed by France, an elected territorial congress, and a council. The territory is divided into three provinces (Northern, Southern, and the Loyalty Islands), each with its own assembly.

Capt. James Cook Cook, James, 1728–79, English explorer and navigator. The son of a Yorkshire agricultural laborer, he had little formal education. After an apprenticeship to a firm of shipowners at Whitby, he joined (1755) the royal navy and surveyed the St.
..... Click the link for more information. sighted and named the main island in 1774; the French annexed it in 1853. The discovery of nickel 10 years later brought increased French settlement, and a penal colony was established. The late 1800s saw several Kanak rebellions. During World War II New Caledonia was used as U.S. military base. It became a French overseas territory in 1946. Civil strife erupted in the 1980s as the Kanaks pushed for independence; the 1988 Matignon Accords between French and Melanesian delegations granted considerable autonomy to the islands and increased economic development aid from France. In 1998, New Caledonians approved a power-sharing agreement with France, and agreed to put off an independence referendum for 15–20 years. The territory became a French overseas country with full internal autonomy.

New Caledonia

French overseas territory (pop., 2005 est.: 237,000), southwestern South Pacific Ocean. It consists of the islands of New Caledonia and Walpole, the Isle of Pines, and several other island groups. Its capital is Nouméa. The main island, New Caledonia, has rich deposits of nickel that are among the largest in the world. Archaeological excavations indicate an Austronesian presence in the area c. 2000–1000 BC. The islands were visited by Capt. James Cook in 1774 and by various navigators and traders in the 18th–19th century. They were occupied by France in 1853 and were a penal colony from 1864 to 1897. New Caledonians joined the Free French cause of Charles de Gaulle in 1940; the islands were the site of Allied bases during the Pacific war. They became a French overseas territory in 1946. In 1987 residents voted by referendum to remain part of France.