Editing New Caledonia (section)

== History ==
New Caledonia was part of the continent [[Zealandia]], which broke off from the supercontinent [[Gondwana]] between 79 million and 83 million years ago.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.livescience.com/lost-continent-zealandia-mapped.html |title=Hidden boundaries of lost continent 'Zealandia' revealed in incredible detail |website=LiveScience |last=Pappas |first=Stephanie |date=25 March 2021 |access-date=30 December 2022 |archive-date=20 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221220141754/https://www.livescience.com/lost-continent-zealandia-mapped.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The earliest traces of human presence in New Caledonia date back to the period when the [[Lapita]] culture was influential in large parts of the Pacific, {{Circa|1600}}–500 BC or 1300–200 BC.<ref name="pres-hist">{{cite web |url=http://www.nouvelle-caledonie.gouv.fr/site/La-Nouvelle-Caledonie/Histoire/Histoire |title=Histoire / La Nouvelle-Calédonie |language=fr |website=Nouvelle-caledonie.gouv.fr |date=2012-11-20 |access-date=2013-01-30 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121030183849/http://www.nouvelle-caledonie.gouv.fr/site/La-Nouvelle-Caledonie/Histoire/Histoire |archive-date=30 October 2012 }}</ref> The Lapita were highly skilled [[navigators]] and [[agriculturists]].<ref name="LoganCole2001">{{cite book|first1= Leanne|last1= vLogan|first2= Geert|last2= Cole|title= New Caledonia|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=lly95WF8n-cC&pg=PA13|year= 2001|publisher= Lonely Planet|isbn= 978-1-86450-202-2|page= 13|via= Google Books|access-date= 18 October 2015|archive-date= 13 April 2016|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160413093509/https://books.google.com/books?id=lly95WF8n-cC&pg=PA13|url-status= live}}</ref> The first settlements were concentrated around the coast and date back to the period between c. 1100 BC and AD 200.<ref name="pres-hist" />

[[File:Two Kanak (Canaque) warriors posing with penis gourds and spears, New Caledonia.jpg|thumb|upright=0.75|left|Two [[Kanak people|Kanak]] warriors posing with [[Koteka|penis gourd]]s and spears, around 1880]]
British explorer [[James Cook]] was one of the first Europeans to sight New Caledonia, on 4 September 1774, during his second voyage.<ref name="ped">{{cite web |url=http://www.ieom.fr/IMG/pdf/ra2010_nouvelle-caledonie.pdf |title=Rapport annuel 2010 |publisher=IEOM Nouvelle-Calédonie |access-date=2013-01-30 |archive-date=10 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210310075134/https://www.ieom.fr/IMG/pdf/ra2010_nouvelle-caledonie.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> He named it "New [[Caledonia]]", as the northeast of the island reminded him of [[Scotland]].<ref name="ped"/> The west coast of Grande Terre was approached by the [[Jean-François de Galaup, comte de Lapérouse|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]].<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FUwDzM94jGUC&pg=RA1-PA15|title=Historical Dictionary of the Discovery and Exploration of the Pacific Islands|last1=Quanchi|first1=Max|last2=Robson|first2=John|date=2005|publisher=Scarecrow Press|isbn=9780810865280|access-date=30 December 2021|archive-date=31 May 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220531052523/https://books.google.com/books?id=FUwDzM94jGUC&pg=RA1-PA15|url-status=live}}</ref> Raven encountered the island then named Britania, and today known as Maré (Loyalty Is.), in November 1793.<ref name="maritimeheritage.org">{{cite web|url=http://www.maritimeheritage.org/ports/newCaledonia.html|title=New Caledonia and International Seaport History. The Maritime Heritage Project.|website=Maritimeheritage.org|access-date=2017-11-12|archive-date=13 November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171113112912/http://www.maritimeheritage.org/ports/newCaledonia.html|url-status=live}}</ref> From 1796 until 1840, only a few sporadic contacts with the archipelago were recorded. About 50 American whalers left record of being in the region (Grande Terre, Loyalty Is., Walpole and Hunter) between 1793 and 1887.<ref name="maritimeheritage.org"/><ref>{{cite book| last= Langdon| first= Robert | year= 1983| title= Where the Whalers Went: An index of the Pacific Ports and Islands visited by American Whalers (and some other ships) in the 19th Century| place= Canberra| publisher= Pacific Manuscripts Bureau| page= 183 |isbn= 086784471X}}</ref> Contacts with visiting ships became more frequent after 1840, because of their interest in [[sandalwood]].<ref name="pres-hist"/>

As trade in sandalwood declined, it was replaced by a new business enterprise, "[[blackbirding]]", a euphemism for taking Melanesian or Western Pacific Islanders from New Caledonia, the Loyalty Islands, [[Vanuatu|New Hebrides]], New Guinea, and the Solomon Islands into [[slavery]], [[indentured servitude|indentured]] or [[forced labour]] in the [[sugarcane]] [[plantation]]s in [[Fiji]] and [[Queensland]] by various methods of trickery and deception.<ref name="kanaka">{{cite web |url= http://documents.irevues.inist.fr/bitstream/handle/2042/14373/HERMES_2002_32-33_191.pdf?sequence=1 |title= De Kanaka à Kanak: l'appropriation d'un terme générique au profit de la revendication identitaire |first= Frédéric |last= Angleviel |language= fr |trans-title= From Kanaka to Kanak: the appropriation of a generic term for the benefit of identity claim |publisher= [[Université de la Nouvelle-Calédonie]] |access-date= 2013-01-30 |archive-date= 9 November 2017 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20171109131832/http://documents.irevues.inist.fr/bitstream/handle/2042/14373/HERMES_2002_32-33_191.pdf?sequence=1 |url-status= live }}</ref> Blackbirding was practised by both French and [[Australians|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 the early years of the trade, coercion was used to lure Melanesian islanders onto ships. 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. This represented a departure from contemporary developments in Australia, since increased regulations were developed to mitigate the abuses of blackbirding and 'recruitment' strategies on the coastlines.{{citation needed|date=August 2022}}

The first missionaries from the [[London Missionary Society]] and the [[Marist Brothers]] arrived in the 1840s.<ref name="abcau">{{cite web |url=http://www.abc.net.au/ra/pacific/places/country/new_caledonia.htm |title=Charting the Pacific – Places |website=Abc.net.au |date=1998-10-13 |access-date=2013-01-30 |archive-date=8 December 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171208231802/http://www.abc.net.au/ra/pacific/places/country/new_caledonia.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> In 1849, the crew of the American ship ''Cutter'' was killed and eaten by the Pouma clan.<ref name="logan">{{cite book |first1= Leanne |last1= Logan |first2= Geert |last2= Cole |title= New Caledonia |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=lly95WF8n-cC&pg=PA15 |year= 2001 |publisher= Lonely Planet |isbn= 978-1-86450-202-2 |page= 15 |via= Google Books |access-date= 18 October 2015 |archive-date= 12 April 2016 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160412181115/https://books.google.com/books?id=lly95WF8n-cC&pg=PA15 |url-status= live }}</ref> [[Human cannibalism]] was widespread throughout New Caledonia.<ref name="Knauft1999">{{cite book | first= Bruce M. | last= Knauft | title= From Primitive to Postcolonial in Melanesia and Anthropology | url= https://books.google.com/books?id=YM18gG16Z7YC&pg=PA103 | year= 1999 | publisher= [[University of Michigan Press]] | isbn= 978-0-472-06687-2 | page= 103 | via= Google Books | access-date= 18 October 2015 | archive-date= 1 January 2016 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160101095349/https://books.google.com/books?id=YM18gG16Z7YC&pg=PA103 | url-status= live }}</ref>

=== French colonisation ===
{{further| Communards#Life in New Caledonia}}
{{Anchor|French colonisation}}On 24 September 1853, under orders from Emperor [[Napoleon III]], Admiral [[Auguste Febvrier Despointes|Febvrier Despointes]] took formal possession of New Caledonia. Captain [[Louis-Marie-François Tardy de Montravel]] founded [[Port-de-France]] (Nouméa) on 25 June 1854.<ref name="ped"/> A few dozen free settlers settled on the west coast in the following years.<ref name="ped"/> New Caledonia became a [[penal colony]] in 1864, and from the 1860s until the end of the transportations in 1897, France sent about 22,000 criminals and political prisoners to New Caledonia. The {{lang|fr|Bulletin de la Société générale des prisons}} for 1888 indicates that 10,428 convicts, including 2,329 freed ones, were on the island as of 1 May 1888, by far the largest number of convicts detained in French overseas penitentiaries.{{refn|group=nb|As compared to 4,053 convicts, including 1,176 freed ones, in French Guiana at the same date.<ref>{{cite book |title=Bulletin de la Société générale des prisons |place=Paris |year=1888 |page=980 }}</ref>}} The convicts included many [[Communards#Life in New Caledonia|Communards]], arrested after the failed [[Paris Commune]] of 1871, including [[Victor Henri Rochefort, Marquis de Rochefort-Luçay|Henri de Rochefort]] and [[Louise Michel]].<ref name="gb-1">{{cite book |first1=Robert |last1=Aldrich |first2=John |last2=Connell |title=France's Overseas Frontier: Départements et territoires d'outre-mer |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vRB3woPa7LAC&pg=PA46 |year=2006 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |isbn=978-0-521-03036-6 |page=46 |via=Google Books |access-date=18 October 2015 |archive-date=6 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200806165048/https://books.google.com/books?id=vRB3woPa7LAC&pg=PA46 |url-status=live }}</ref> Between 1873 and 1876, 4,200 political prisoners were "relegated" to New Caledonia.<ref name="ped"/> Only 40 of them settled in the colony; the rest returned to France after being granted amnesty in 1879 and 1880.<ref name="ped"/>

[[File:King Jacques and his Queen.jpg|thumb|Chief&nbsp;King Jacques and his Queen, from ''The Romance of the South Seas'', Clement Lindley Wragge, Chatto & Windus, 1906.]]
In 1864, [[nickel]] was discovered<ref name="gb-1"/> on the banks of the [[Diahot River]]; with the establishment of the {{lang|fr|[[Société Le Nickel]]|italic=np}} in 1876, mining began in earnest.<ref name="gb-2"/> To work the mines the French imported labourers from neighbouring islands and from the New Hebrides, and later from [[Japan]], the [[Dutch East Indies]], and [[French Indochina]].<ref name="gb-1"/> The French government also attempted to encourage European immigration, without much success.<ref name="gb-1"/>

The indigenous [[Kanak people]] were excluded from the French economy and from mining work, and ultimately confined to reservations.<ref name="gb-1"/> This sparked a violent reaction in 1878, when High Chief {{ill|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.<ref name="gb-2"/> A {{Interlanguage link|1917 Kanak revolt| lt=second uprising|fr|Révolte kanak de 1917|WD=}} occurred in 1917, with Protestant missionaries like [[Maurice Leenhardt]] functioning as witnesses to the events of this war. Leenhardt would pen a number of ethnographic works on the Kanak of New Caledonia. Noël of Tiamou led the 1917 rebellion, which resulted in a number of orphaned children, one of whom was taken into the care of Protestant missionary Alphonse Rouel. This child, Wenceslas Thi, would become the father of [[Jean-Marie Tjibaou]]<ref>Adrian Muckle</ref> (1936–1989).

Europeans brought new diseases such as [[smallpox]] and [[measles]], which caused the deaths of many natives.<ref name="logan"/> The Kanak population declined from around 60,000 in 1878 to 27,100 in 1921, and their numbers did not increase again until the 1930s.<ref name="gb-2"/>

===World War II===
{{further| Pacific Islands home front during World War II#Employment}}
In June 1940, after the [[fall of France]], the [[General councils (France)|General Council]] of New Caledonia voted to reject the [[Vichy France|Vichy government]] and continue supporting the Allied military effort against Germany. However, the colonial governor [[Georges-Marc Pélicier]] promulgated the Vichy government's [[French Constitutional Law of 1940|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 France|Free French]] committee and appointed [[Henri Sautot]] as governor. The Vichy government despatched a warship, ''[[French aviso Dumont d'Urville|Dumont d'Urville]]'', at Pélicier's request, but soon deemed him incompetent and appointed an acting governor. By this time the Australian government had agreed to intervene and despatched [[HMAS Adelaide (1918)|HMAS ''Adelaide'']] to oversee the installation of Sautot as governor. A stand-off between ''Dumont d'Urville'' and ''Adelaide'' followed, with Pélicier and other pro-Vichy officials ultimately deported to French Indochina.<ref>{{cite journal|url=https://www.isfar.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/49.I_DENISE-FISHER-Supporting-the-Free-French-in-New-Caledonia-First-Steps-in-Australian-Diplomacy.pdf|title=Supporting the Free French in New Caledonia: First Steps in Australian Diplomacy|first=Denise|last=Fisher|journal=Explorations: A Journal of French-Australian Connections|volume=49|issue=1|year=2010|pages=18–37|access-date=26 May 2024|archive-date=24 March 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240324131228/https://www.isfar.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/49.I_DENISE-FISHER-Supporting-the-Free-French-in-New-Caledonia-First-Steps-in-Australian-Diplomacy.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 1941, some 300 men from the territory volunteered for service overseas. They were joined, in April, by 300 men from French Polynesia ('the Tahitians'), plus a handful from the French districts of the New Hebrides: together they formed the {{lang|fr|Bataillon du Pacifique}}. The Caledonians formed two of the companies, and the Polynesians the other two. In May 1941, they sailed to Australia and boarded the {{RMS|Queen Elizabeth}} for the onward voyage to Africa. They joined the other Free French (FF) battalions in [[Qastina]] in August, before moving to the Western Desert with the 1st FF Brigade ({{lang|fr|1<sup>re</sup> BFL}}). There they were one of the four battalions who took part in the breakout after the [[Battle of Bir Hakeim]] in 1942. Their losses could not easily be replaced from the Pacific and they were therefore amalgamated with the Frenchmen of another battalion wearing the anchor of {{lang|fr|la Coloniale}}, the BIM, to form the {{lang|fr|Bataillon de l'infanterie de marine et du Pacifique}}. The combined battalion formed part of the {{lang|fr|Gaulliste 1<sup>re</sup> Division Motorisée d'Infanterie}}/{{lang|fr|Division de Marche d'Infanterie}}, alongside three divisions from the French North African forces, in the French Expeditionary Corps during the Italian Campaign. They landed in Provence in 1944, when they were posted out and replaced by local French volunteers and résistants.{{citation needed|date=August 2022}}

Meanwhile, in March 1942, with the assistance of Australia,<ref>{{cite book |last=Hasluck |first=Paul Meernaa Caedwalla |url=https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/awm-media/collection/RCDIG1070583/document/5519866.PDF |chapter=Chapter 6 – Clearing a Way to Total War, October 1940 – January 1941 |title=The Government and the People, 1939–1941 |volume=I |year=1952 |publisher=Australian War Memorial |place=Canberra |edition=1965 |access-date=6 August 2009 |archive-date=30 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220530234827/https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/awm-media/collection/RCDIG1070583/document/5519866.PDF |url-status=live }}</ref> New Caledonia became an important [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] base,<ref name="gb-2"/> and the main South Pacific Fleet base of the [[United States Navy]] in the South Pacific moved to Nouméa in 1942–1943.<ref name="Rottman2002">{{cite book |first=Gordon L. |last=Rottman |title=World War 2 Pacific Island Guide |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ChyilRml0hcC&pg=PA71 |year=2002 |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |isbn=978-0-313-31395-0 |page=71 |quote=In October, the decision was made to relocate the main South Pacific Fleet base from Auckland to Nouméa (FPO SF 131). Unloading facilities were improved by February 1943 and construction immediately began on the naval operating base. |via=Google Books |access-date=18 October 2015 |archive-date=19 March 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150319130955/http://books.google.com/books?id=ChyilRml0hcC&pg=PA71 |url-status=live }}</ref> The fleet that turned back the [[Imperial Japanese Navy|Japanese Navy]] in the [[Battle of the Coral Sea]] in May 1942 was based at Nouméa.<ref name="gb-2">{{cite book |first=David |last=Stanley |title=South Pacific Handbook |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=unz2v_HT5q0C&pg=PA549 |year=1989 |publisher=David Stanley |isbn=978-0-918373-29-8 |pages=549– |via=Google Books |access-date=18 October 2015 |archive-date=13 April 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160413093620/https://books.google.com/books?id=unz2v_HT5q0C&pg=PA549 |url-status=live }}</ref> American troops [[Pacific Islands home front during World War II#Employment|stationed on New Caledonia]] numbered as many as 50,000, matching the entire local population at the time.<ref name="ped"/>

=== French overseas territory ===
In 1946, New Caledonia became an overseas territory.<ref name="ped"/> By 1953, [[French citizenship]] had been granted to all New Caledonians, regardless of ethnicity.<ref name="ncbrit"/>

During the late 1940s and early 1950s, New Caledonia strengthened its economic links with Australia, particularly as turmoil within France and its empire weakened New Caledonia's traditional economic links to metropolitan France; New Caledonia supplied nickel to Australia in exchange for coal vital for smelting nickel. New Caledonian exports of iron ore and timber to Australia also increased during this time period.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Henningham |first1=Stephen |date=December 2014 |title=Australia's Economic Ambitions in French New Caledonia, 1945–1955 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/24644648 |journal=The Journal of Pacific History |volume=49 |issue=4 |pages=421–439 |doi=10.1080/00223344.2014.976915 |jstor=24644648 |s2cid=154479730 |access-date=28 April 2022 |archive-date=29 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220429074055/https://www.jstor.org/stable/24644648 |url-status=live }}</ref>

The European and [[Polynesians|Polynesian]] populations gradually increased in the years leading to the nickel boom of 1969–1972, and the indigenous [[Kanak people|Kanak]] Melanesians became a minority, though they were still the largest ethnic group.<ref name="ncbrit">{{Britannica|411221|New Caledonia}}</ref>

====The Events====
Between 1976 and 1988, a period referred to as "the Events"<ref name="lm-mdg-24">{{cite news |last1=Mannevy |first1=Charlotte |last2=Derel |first2=Mathurin |last3=Guibert |first3=Nathalie |title=Second night of riots shakes New Caledonia: 'I didn't think it could come to this' |url=https://www.lemonde.fr/en/france/article/2024/05/15/second-night-of-riots-shakes-new-caledonia-i-didn-t-think-it-could-come-to-this_6671533_7.html |work=Le Monde |date=May 15, 2024 |access-date=16 May 2024 |archive-date=24 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240524043441/https://www.lemonde.fr/en/france/article/2024/05/15/second-night-of-riots-shakes-new-caledonia-i-didn-t-think-it-could-come-to-this_6671533_7.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="nyt-vb-caled-24">{{cite news |last1=Vinograd |first1=Cassandra |last2=Breeden |first2=Aurelien |title=France Declares State of Emergency Amid Protests in New Caledonia |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/15/world/asia/new-caledonia-france-macron.html |work=The New York Times |date=May 15, 2024 |access-date=16 May 2024 |archive-date=24 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240524053018/https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/15/world/asia/new-caledonia-france-macron.html |url-status=live }}</ref> ({{langx|fr|Les Événements}}<ref name="horowitz-may-2009-pol-geo">{{cite journal |last1=Horowitz |first1=Leah S. |title=Environmental violence and crises of legitimacy in New Caledonia |journal=[[Political Geography]] |date=May 2009 |volume=28 |issue=4 |pages=248–258 |doi=10.1016/j.polgeo.2009.07.001 |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S096262980900064X |issn=1873-5096 |access-date=16 May 2024 |archive-date=16 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240516233831/https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S096262980900064X |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="fisher-anu-2013">{{cite book |last1=Fisher |first1=Denise |title=France in the South Pacific: Power and Politics |date=May 2013 |doi=10.22459/FSP.05.2013 |doi-access=free |publisher=[[ANU Press]] |location=[[Canberra]] |isbn=9781922144942}}</ref>), conflicts between French government actions and the Kanak independence movement saw periods of serious violence and disorder.<ref name="ped" /> In 1983, a statute of "enlarged autonomy" for the territory proposed a five-year transition period and a referendum in 1989. In March 1984, the Front Indépendantiste, a Kanak resistance group, seized farms and the [[Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front]] (FLNKS) formed a provisional government. In January 1985, the French Left-wing government offered sovereignty to the Kanaks and legal protection for European settlers. The plan faltered as violence escalated. The government declared a state of emergency; however, [[1985 New Caledonian legislative election|regional elections went ahead]], and the FLNKS won control of three out of four provinces. The centre-right government [[1986 French legislative election|elected in France in March 1986]] began eroding the arrangements established under the Socialists, redistributing lands mostly without consideration of native land claims, resulting in over two-thirds going to Europeans and less than a third to the Kanaks. By the end of 1987, roadblocks, gun battles and the destruction of property culminated in the [[Ouvéa cave hostage taking]], a dramatic hostage crisis just days before the [[1988 French presidential election]] began. Pro-independence militants on [[Ouvéa]] killed four gendarmes and took 27 hostage. The military assaulted the cave to rescue the hostages. Nineteen Kanak hostage takers were killed and another three died in custody, while two soldiers were killed during the assault.<ref>{{Cite news| url= https://www.culturalsurvival.org/publications/cultural-survival-quarterly/land-and-independence-new-caledonia| title= Land and Independence in New Caledonia| work= Cultural Survival Quarterly Magazine| last= Winslow| first= Donna| date= June 1991| via= culturalsurvival.org| access-date= 2021-02-11| language= en| archive-date= 13 November 2017| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20171113112859/https://www.culturalsurvival.org/publications/cultural-survival-quarterly/land-and-independence-new-caledonia| url-status= live}}</ref>

====Nouméa Accord and independence referendums====

[[File:Two official flags of New Caledonia on same flagpole.png|thumb|left|Flags side by side on the same pole, Nouméa, March 2011]]
The [[Matignon Agreements (1988)|Matignon Agreements]], signed on 26 June 1988, ensured a decade of stability. The [[Nouméa Accord]], signed 5 May 1998, set the groundwork for a 20-year transition that gradually transfers competences to the local government.<ref name="ped" />

Following the timeline set by the Nouméa Accord that stated a vote must take place by the end of 2018, the groundwork was laid for a [[2018 New Caledonian independence referendum|referendum on full independence from France]] at a meeting chaired by the French Prime Minister [[Édouard Philippe]] on 2 November 2017, to be held by November 2018. Voter list eligibility was the subject of a long dispute, but the details were resolved in an electoral list that granted automatic eligibility to voters of Kanak origin but excluded those of other origins who had not been longtime residents of the territory.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.lemonde.fr/politique/article/2017/11/03/referendum-d-autodetermination-en-nouvelle-caledonie-un-accord-politique-trouve_5209433_823448.html|title=Nouvelle-Calédonie : ce que contient l'" accord politique " sur le référendum d'autodétermination|newspaper=LeMonde.fr|date=3 November 2017|last1=Roger|first1=Patrick|language=fr|trans-title=New Caledonia: what is contained in the 'political agreement' on the self-determination referendum|access-date=17 July 2018|archive-date=22 June 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180622081810/https://www.lemonde.fr/politique/article/2017/11/03/referendum-d-autodetermination-en-nouvelle-caledonie-un-accord-politique-trouve_5209433_823448.html|url-status=live}}</ref> The referendum was held [[2018 New Caledonian independence referendum|on 4 November 2018]],<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/mar/19/new-caledonia-sets-date-independence-referendum-france|title=New Caledonia sets date for independence referendum|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|date=20 March 2018|access-date=25 March 2018|archive-date=13 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190513011939/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/mar/19/new-caledonia-sets-date-independence-referendum-france|url-status=live}}</ref> with independence being rejected.<ref>{{Cite magazine| url= http://time.com/5444523/new-caledonia-france-referendum/| title= New Caledonia Votes to Remain Part of France| magazine= [[Time (magazine)|Time.com]]| agency= Associated Press| date= 5 November 2018| place= Nouméa, New Caledonia| language= en| access-date= 2018-11-08| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20181109010235/http://time.com/5444523/new-caledonia-france-referendum/| archive-date= 9 November 2018| url-status= dead}}</ref>

Another referendum was [[2020 New Caledonian independence referendum|held in October 2020]], with voters once again choosing to remain a part of France.<ref>{{cite news| url= https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-10-04/new-caledonia-voters-choose-to-stay-part-of-france| title= New Caledonia voters choose to stay part of France| work= Los Angeles Times| agency= Associated Press| first= Charlotte| last= Antoine-Perron| date= 4 October 2020| place= Nouméa, New Caledonia| language= en| access-date= 11 February 2021| archive-date= 8 October 2020| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20201008024613/https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-10-04/new-caledonia-voters-choose-to-stay-part-of-france| url-status= live}}</ref> In the 2018 referendum, 56.7% of voters chose to remain in France. In the 2020 referendum, this percentage dropped with 53.4% of voters choosing to remain part of France.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2020-10-04 |title=New Caledonia referendum: South Pacific territory rejects independence from France |language=en-GB |work=[[BBC News]] |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-54410059 |access-date=2021-07-08 |archive-date=4 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201004210340/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-54410059 |url-status=live }}</ref>
 
The [[2021 New Caledonian independence referendum|third referendum]] was held on 12 December 2021.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.france24.com/en/europe/20210602-french-territory-of-new-caledonia-to-hold-third-independence-referendum |title=French territory of New Caledonia held its third and last independence referendum where 96.49 voted against independence |work=France24 |date=12 December 2021 |access-date=12 December 2021 |archive-date=13 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211213224234/https://www.france24.com/en/europe/20210602-french-territory-of-new-caledonia-to-hold-third-independence-referendum |url-status=live }}</ref> The referendum was boycotted by pro-independence forces, who argued for a delayed vote due to the impact caused by the [[COVID-19 pandemic in New Caledonia|COVID-19 pandemic]]; when the French government declined to do so, they called for a boycott. This led to 96% of voters choosing to stay with France.<ref>{{cite news |last=Antoine-Perron |first=Charlotte |title=New Caledonia votes to stay in France; separatists boycott |url=https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-health-boycotts-paris-storms-bcdf16be51e3bd94e0f332c405c2da8e |work=Associated Press |date=12 December 2021 |access-date=13 December 2021 |archive-date=1 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220401010044/https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-health-boycotts-paris-storms-bcdf16be51e3bd94e0f332c405c2da8e |url-status=live }}</ref>

In May 2024, [[2024 New Caledonia unrest|riots broke out amid debate]] over a proposed electoral reform in the territory.<ref>{{cite news |title=New Caledonia: 'Shots fired' at police in French territory amid riots over voting reforms |url=https://www.france24.com/en/france/20240514-shots-fired-at-security-forces-in-new-caledonia-riots-over-constitutional-reform |access-date=May 14, 2024 |work=France 24 |archive-date=15 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240515003829/https://www.france24.com/en/france/20240514-shots-fired-at-security-forces-in-new-caledonia-riots-over-constitutional-reform |url-status=live }}</ref> In October 2024, then-French Prime Minister [[Michel Barnier]] scrapped the bill, citing the need to restore calm and telling the National Assembly that "avoiding further unrest" was a priority.<ref name=":3">{{Cite news|date=2024-10-04 |title=New Caledonian independence leaders wary as France drops voting reform |url=https://www.rfi.fr/en/france/20241004-independence-leaders-wary-as-france-suspends-new-caledonia-voting-reform |access-date=2025-04-16 |work=[[Radio France Internationale]] |language=en|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20241231050937/https://www.rfi.fr/en/france/20241004-independence-leaders-wary-as-france-suspends-new-caledonia-voting-reform |archive-date=31 December 2024|url-status=live}}</ref>  On 2 December 2024, curfew was officially lifted as the riots were over.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Curfew lifted in French overseas territory of New Caledonia over 6 months after violent riots |url=https://www.aa.com.tr/en/asia-pacific/curfew-lifted-in-french-overseas-territory-of-new-caledonia-over-6-months-after-violent-riots/3411117 |access-date=2025-04-16 |work=[[Anadolu Agency]]|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20241202195528/https://www.aa.com.tr/en/asia-pacific/curfew-lifted-in-french-overseas-territory-of-new-caledonia-over-6-months-after-violent-riots/3411117|archive-date=2 December 2024|url-status=live}}</ref>