New Caledonia is a sui generis collectivity of overseas France in the southwest Pacific Ocean, south of Vanuatu, about 1,210 km (750 mi) east of Australia, and 17,000 km (11,000 mi) from Metropolitan France. The archipelago, part of the Melanesia subregion, includes the main island of Grande Terre, the Loyalty Islands, the Chesterfield Islands, the Belep archipelago, the Isle of Pines, and a few remote islets. The Chesterfield Islands are in the Coral Sea. French people, especially locals, call Grande Terre le Caillou, a nickname also used more generally for the entire New Caledonia. Pro-independence Kanak parties use the name (la) Kanaky to refer to New Caledonia, a term coined in the 1980s from the ethnic name of the indigenous Melanesian Kanak people who make up 41% of New Caledonia's population. New Caledonia is one of the European Union's Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs), but it is not part of the European Union.
The French overseas collectivities are first-order administrative divisions of France, like the French regions, but have a semi-autonomous status. The COMs include some former French overseas colonies and other French overseas entities with a particular status, all of which became COMs by constitutional reform on 28 March 2003. The COMs differ from overseas regions and overseas departments, which have the same status as metropolitan France but are located outside Europe. As integral parts of France, overseas collectivities are represented in the National Assembly, Senate and Economic and Social Council. Though some are outside the European Union, all can vote to elect members of the European Parliament (MEPs). The Pacific COMs use the CFP franc, a currency pegged to the euro, whereas the Atlantic COMs use the euro itself. As of 31 March 2011, there were six COMs:
Future Together was a center-right political party in New Caledonia supporting the maintenance of political and administrative ties with France.
The Caledonian Union is a pro-independence and the oldest political party in New Caledonia. In the latest legislative elections of May 10, 2009, the party won around 11.65% of the popular vote, and 9 out of 54 seats in the Territorial Congress.
The Kanak Socialist Liberation is a Kanak pro-independence and socialist political party in New Caledonia.
The Nouméa Accord of 1998 is a promise by the French Republic to grant increased political power to New Caledonia and its indigenous population, the Kanaks, over a twenty-year transition period. It was signed 5 May 1998 by Lionel Jospin, and approved in a referendum in New Caledonia on 8 November, with 72% voting in favour. Under the accord, three more referendum votes, on whether to remain a special collectivity of France or become an independent state, have been held. One was held in 2018, and the second was held in 2020. In both votes a majority chose to remain French. The Nouméa Accord permitted a final referendum to be held, voted for by the Congress of New Caledonia. It was held December 2021 and widely rejected independence amid boycott by the independence movement.
Two flags are in use in New Caledonia, an overseas territory of France. Up to 2010, the only flag used to represent New Caledonia was the flag of France, a tricolour featuring three vertical bands coloured blue, white, and red known to English speakers as the French Tricolour or simply the Tricolour. However, in July 2010, the Congress of New Caledonia voted in favour of a wish to fly the Kanak flag of the independence movement FLNKS alongside the French Tricolour. The wish, legally non-binding, proved controversial. A majority of New Caledonian communes, but not all, now fly both flags, the rest flying only the French Tricolour.
Maurice Ponga is a French politician who served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from 2009 until 2019. He was elected in the 2009 European election for the Overseas constituency.
Overseas France consists of 13 French territories outside Europe, mostly the remains of the French colonial empire that remained a part of the French state under various statuses after decolonization. Most, but not all, are part of the European Union.
Legislative elections were held in New Caledonia on 11 May 2014. The result was a victory for the three anti-independence parties, which together won 29 of the 54 seats in the Congress of New Caledonia.
The Kanaks are the indigenous Melanesian inhabitants of New Caledonia, an overseas collectivity of France in the southwest Pacific. Kanak peoples traditionally speak diverse Austronesian languages that belong to the New Caledonian branch of Oceanic. According to the 2019 census, the Kanaks make up 41.2% of New Caledonia's total population — corresponding to around 112,000 people. The other populations are the Caldoche, who are European born in New Caledonia; the Zoreille, who were born in metropolitan France and live in New Caledonia, in addition to about 10% that are non-Kanak Polynesians and 10% that are mixed race.
Philippe Germain is a French politician who served as President of the Government of New Caledonia from 2015 to 2019. He was elected to the presidency on 1 April 2015 with a five-year mandate.
An independence referendum was held in New Caledonia on 4 November 2018. Voters were given the choice of remaining part of France or becoming an independent country.
An independence referendum was held in New Caledonia on 4 October 2020. The poll was the second to be held under the terms of the Nouméa Accord, following a similar referendum in 2018.
The COVID-19 pandemic was confirmed to have reached the French overseas collectivity of New Caledonia on 18 March 2020. All cases are on the main island of Grand Terre and are related to travel abroad. On 7 May, all cases had recovered.
The 2020 protests in New Caledonia began on 28 October 2020 over a plan to sell a Vale-owned nickel and cobalt mine to a consortium led by Trafigura. The nickel mine and plant is known as the Goro mine. Independence leaders and pro-independence protesters wanted for the nickel plant to be owned by citizens of New Caledonia rather than foreign investors, though various arrangements have been proposed.
An independence referendum was held in New Caledonia, a French territory in the South Pacific, on 12 December 2021. The vote was the third and final one to be held under the terms of the Nouméa Accord, following votes in 2018 and 2020.
Louis Mapou is a Kanak politician who has served as the President of the Government of New Caledonia since 22 July 2021. Mapou is New Caledonia's first native Kanak president since the position was established in 1999.
Caroline Machoro-Reignier is a Kanak politician in New Caledonia. A member of the pro-independence Caledonian Union, she led the Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front alliance in the Congress of New Caledonia from 2011 to 2014. In 1988, she was one of the signatories of the Matignon Agreements between New Caledonian loyalists and separatists.
In May 2024, protests and riots broke out in New Caledonia, a sui generis collectivity of overseas France in the Pacific Ocean. The violent protests have led to eight deaths, the declaration of a state of emergency on 16 May, deployment of the French army, and the block of the social network TikTok.
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