New Caledonia is located in the Southwest Pacific ... more than 2,000 years after the archipelago was first populated. The mountainous scenery of the northeastern part of the main island reminded ...

New Caledonia became French in 1853 under Emperor Napoleon III, Napoleon’s nephew and heir. It became an overseas territory after World War II, with French citizenship granted to all Kanaks in 1957.

New Caledonia marked the anniversary on Tuesday of France's takeover of the Pacific archipelago with tight security and simmering tensions between the pro-independence Indigenous Kanak people ...

A French overseas territory in the Pacific, New Caledonia has seen deep divisions between its indigenous Kanak population and Europeans, most notably over the thorny question of independence.

1946 - New Caledonia becomes a French oversees territory. 1976-88 - Conflicts between the French authorities and the Kanak independence movement see periods of serious violence and disorder.