← THE SECTION CUT · OCEANIA

New Caledonia

21.5S 165.5E · 25 EVENTS · 7 DOMAINS
NOUMÉA ACCORD — PHASED DECOLONISATION BEGINS · 5 MAY 1998
▼ PULL DOWN TO EXTRACT THE CORE
1998 – present · Three Referendums and an Unsettled Future
10 EVENTS
4 November 2018 · First independence referendum 2 REFS
4 October 2020 · Second independence referendum 2 REFS
1988 – 1998 · Matignon and the Nouméa Accord
4 EVENTS
June 1988 · Matignon Accords 2 REFS
5 May 1998 · Nouméa Accord signed 3 REFS
1946 – 1988 · The Movement and les Événements
3 EVENTS
1984 · FLNKS founded 2 REFS
April–May 1988 · Ouvéa cave crisis 2 REFS
1853 – 1945 · Annexation, the Bagne and Nickel
4 EVENTS
24 September 1853 · France annexes New Caledonia 2 REFS
1864–1897 · Penal colony established 2 REFS
1774 – 1853 · Cook, Sandalwood and Blackbirding
2 EVENTS
1774 · Cook names New Caledonia 2 REFS
1840s · Sandalwood traders and missionaries arrive 1 REF
c. 1000 BCE – 1774 CE · The Lapita and the Kanak
2 EVENTS
c. 1000 BCE · Lapita settlement of New Caledonia 2 REFS
1st millennium BCE onward · Emergence of the Kanak 2 REFS
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EVERY ERA, EVENT AND REFERENCE ON ONE PAGE
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Quick facts · atlas reference
Capital
Nouméa
Population
279,000
Area
18,575 km²
Region
Melanesia
Languages
French
Currency
CFP franc (₣)
Demonym
New Caledonian
UN member
No
Dossier · press a specimen — it turns over

Economy

GDP
$8.5 B’24 WB-WDI
GDP per capita
$29,213’24 WB-WDI
GDP growth
-13.5%’24 WB-WDI
Inflation
0.6%’16 WB-WDI
Trade openness
40.4%’24 WB-WDI

Society

Population
295,000’25 WB-WDI
Life expectancy
78.9 yrs’24 WB-WDI
Urban population
68.2%’25 WB-WDI
Fertility rate
2.0’24 WB-WDI

Governance

Voice & accountability
69.6’24 WB-WGI
Political stability
84.6’24 WB-WGI
Rule of law
75.6’24 WB-WGI
Control of corruption
50.4’24 WB-WGI

Health

Safe drinking water
96.9%’24 WB-WHO

Technology

Internet users
82.0%’17 WB-ITU
Mobile subscriptions
92’22 WB-ITU
High-tech exports
5.3%’15 WB-WDI

Geography

Land area
18,280 km²’23 WB-WDI
Forest area
45.8%’23 WB-WDI
Agricultural land
10.1%’23 WB-WDI
CO₂ per capita (t)
17.1’24 WB-WDI
Renewable energy
9.6%’22 WB-WDI

Resources

Resource rents
16.8%’21 WB-WDI
Oil rents
0.0%’21 WB-WDI
Mineral rents
16.8%’21 WB-WDI
Forest rents
0.0%’21 WB-WDI
Electricity access
100.0%’24 WB-WDI
Nickel (mined)
140 kt’25 USGS-MCS

A hatched gap has no underside — there is nothing to turn over. Absence is stated, never zeroed.

The record · what changed here
EVERY CLAIM SOURCED
ABSENCE ≠ ZERO
NO SIDES