New Caledonia
Information about New Caledonia
Settled by both Britain and France during the first half of the 19th century, the island was made a French possession in 1853.
It served as a penal colony for four decades after 1864.
Agitation for independence during the 1980s and early 1990s ended in the 1998 Noumea Accord, which over a period of 15 to 20 years will transfer an increasing amount of governing responsibility from France to New Caledonia.
The agreement also commits France to conduct a referendum between 2014 and 2019 to decide whether New Caledonia should assume full sovereignty and independence.
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