[7] Pro-independence parties refer to their country as (la) Kanaky[nb 4] coined in the 1980s after the Kanak, the collective name for its indigenous Melanesians who make up 41% of New Caledonia's population.

New Caledonia's population of 271,407 (October 2019 census)[10] is of diverse origins and varies by geography; in the North and Loyalty Islands Provinces, the indigenous Kanak people predominate, while the wealthy South Province contains significant populations of European (Caldoches and Metropolitan French), Kanak, and Polynesian (mostly Wallisian) origin, as well as smaller groups of Southeast Asian, Pied-Noir, and North African heritage.

[14] The west coast of Grande Terre was approached by the Comte de Lapérouse in 1788, shortly before his disappearance, and the Loyalty Islands were first visited between 1793 and 1796 when Mare, Lifou, Tiga, and Ouvea were mapped by English whaler William Raven.

[18] Blackbirding was practised by both French and Australian traders, but in New Caledonia's case, the trade in the early decades of the twentieth century involved kidnapping children from the Loyalty Islands to the Grand Terre for forced labour in plantation agriculture.

New Caledonia's primary experience with blackbirding revolved around a trade from the New Hebrides (now Vanuatu) to the Grand Terre for labour in plantation agriculture, mines, as well as guards over convicts and in some public works.

In later years indenture systems were developed; however, when it came to the French slave trade, which took place between its Melanesian colonies of the New Hebrides and New Caledonia, very few regulations were implemented.

[23] This sparked a violent reaction in 1878, when High Chief Ataï [fr] of La Foa managed to unite many of the central tribes and launched a guerrilla war that killed 200 Frenchmen and 1,000 Kanaks.

[24] In June 1940, after the fall of France, the General Council of New Caledonia voted to reject the Vichy government and continue supporting the Allied military effort against Germany.

However, the colonial governor Georges-Marc Pélicier promulgated the Vichy government's Constitutional Law, which sparked street demonstrations and an assassination attempt.

By this time Caldoches had been in contact with Charles de Gaulle who encouraged them to form a Free French committee and appointed Henri Sautot as governor.

[30] The European and Polynesian populations gradually increased in the years leading to the nickel boom of 1969–1972, and the indigenous Kanak Melanesians became a minority, though they were still the largest ethnic group.

[41] The referendum was boycotted by pro-independence forces, who argued for a delayed vote due to the impact caused by the COVID-19 pandemic; when the French government declined to do so, they called for a boycott.

The French Navy will further reinforce its offshore patrol capabilities in New Caledonia by deploying a second vessel of the Félix Éboué class (Jean Tranape) to the territory by 2025.

[59][60] In 2022, the French Air Force demonstrated a capacity to reinforce the territory by deploying three Rafale fighters, supported by A400M transport aircraft and A330 MRTT Phénix tankers, from France to New Caledonia for a three-week exercise.

[81] It has a catchment area of 620 km2 (240 sq mi) and opens north-westward into the Baie d'Harcourt, flowing towards the northern point of the island along the western escarpment of the Mount Panié.

The lagoon and the surrounding New Caledonia Barrier Reef was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2008 for its exceptional beauty and marine biodiversity.

[86] The biodiversity is caused by Grande Terre's central mountain range, which has created a variety of niches, landforms and micro-climates where endemic species thrive.

[88] In 2001, Bruno Van Peteghem was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize for his efforts on behalf of the Caledonian ecological protection movement in the face of "serious challenges" from Jacques Lafleur's RPCR party.

New Caledonia's fauna and flora derive from ancestral species isolated in the region when it broke away from Gondwana many tens of millions of years ago.

[13] There is also a community of about 2,000[13] pieds noirs, descended from European settlers in France's former North African colonies;[113] some of them are prominent in anti-independence politics, including Pierre Maresca, a leader of the RPCR.

[114] A 2015 documentary by Al Jazeera English asserted that up to 10%[dubious – discuss] of New Caledonia's population is descended from around 2,000 Arab-Berber people deported from French Algeria in the late 19th century to prisons on the island in reprisal for the Mokrani Revolt in 1871.

Despite facing both assimilation into the Euro-French population and discrimination for their ethnic background, descendants of the deportees have succeeded in preserving a common identity as Algerians, including maintaining certain cultural practices (such as Arabic names) and in some cases Islamic religion.

[118] Eight of these can be chosen by parents as optional subjects for their children from kindergarten to high school (four languages are taught up to the bachelor's degree) and an academy is responsible for their promotion.

[135] Real GDP grew by an average of +3.3% per year in the first half of the 2010s, boosted by rising worldwide nickel prices and an increase in domestic demand due to rising employment, as well as strong business investments, but by only +0.2% per year in the second half of the 2010s, as the local nickel industry entered a period of crisis and the repeated independence referendums have generated economic uncertainty.

[3] In 2011, exports of goods and services from New Caledonia amounted to 2.11 billion US dollars, 75.6% of which were mineral products and alloys (mainly nickel ore and ferronickel).

[140] The fall in prices has led a number of producers to reduce or stop altogether their activity, resulting in a reduction of the global supply of nickel by 6% compared to 2008.

[142] Wood carving, especially of the houp (Montrouziera cauliflora), is a contemporary reflection of the beliefs of the traditional tribal society, and includes totems, masks, chambranles, or flèche faîtière,[143] a kind of arrow that adorns the roofs of Kanak houses.

[153] The media are considered to be able to operate freely, but Reporters Without Borders raised concerns in 2006 about "threats and intimidation" of RFO staff by members of a pro-independence group.

In 2020, plans were formed to create a Rugby League team in New Caledonia, Pacifique Trieze,[160] to eventually join the majority Australian Queensland Cup.

[161] Due to low levels of domestic horticulture, fresh tropical fruits feature less highly in New Caledonian cuisine than in other Pacific nations, instead relying on rice, fish and root vegetables such as taro.