Maré Island forms part of New Caledonia, in the Pacific Ocean.
It’s a big weekend for one small island in the Pacific as voters head to the polls for a national referendum on independence that has been years in the making. At stake, is 25% of the world’s nickel resources and the hardening of racial divisions.
New Caledonia, or Nouvelle-Calédonie, sits in the Pacific Ocean, 750 miles (1,200km) off the coast of Australia. It’s a small island archipelago governed by France.
France governs its five overseas départements as if they were part of France. So, French Guiana in South America, Martinique and Guadeloupe in the Caribbean and Réunion and Mayotte in the Indian Ocean all run in exactly the same way as Marseille or Paris. However, it also has some collectivité d'Outre mer which can make their own laws but fall inside France’s control on issues such as defence–the latter is the case for New Caledonia.
It’s not very big – the total land coverage is just over 7,000 square miles (about 18,000 square kilometres) – and it currently has around 275,000 inhabitants.
It was named by Captain James Cook, the British explorer who was the first European to spot the island in 1774. He called it New Caledonia because it reminded him of his native Scotland.
But it was claimed by French admiral Auguste Febvrier-Despointes in 1853 for Napoleon III and used as a penal colony for political prisoners and convicts.
Protesters on both sides of the referendum in New Caledonia, in Noumea on October 1, 2020.
The Local reported that its population is comprised of 39% indigenous Melanesians (Kanaks) and 27% Europeans (Caldoches). There are also many people from the nearby Polynesia Pacific region, and Tahitians, Indonesian and Vietnamese. Many people now regard themselves as mixed race or ‘Caledonian’.
According to Asia and the Pacific Policy Society, the Kanaks tend to be pro-independence with the Europeans generally voting to stay with France–a situation which hasn’t changed much over the past 30 years. The society says that “on both sides, the challenge of reaching beyond ethnic boundaries has not been met.”
The move towards independence has resulted in violence–in 1988, pro-independence protesters took people hostage and 6 police officers and 18 protesters died. At that time, the island nation negotiated greater freedoms from France and that referendums would be granted.
The first referendum was in 2018, when “No” voters won with 56.7% of the vote. It was a record turnout of 81%.
If this result is negative, there will likely be another one in 2022, under the terms of the 1988 agreement (when it was agreed that there could be a total of 3).
The country has issues with high unemployment, crime, alcoholism and a failing education system. French President Emmanuel Macron believes that the best way to protect it is to keep it under France’s rule, despite the cost.
However, New Caledonia has 25% of the world’s nickel reserves so it can potentially look after itself. Nickel is used to make stainless steel, rechargeable batteries and coins and it makes up anywhere from 7% to 20% of the country’s GDP on any given year.
If it wins the referendum, it will be the first country to break away from France since Vanuatu in 1980.
The Lowy Institute analysed changing demographics since the 2018 vote (they expect 6,000 more voters judging by the fertility rate of 21.4 per 1,000 women and then accounting for the mortality rate) but this doesn’t suggest any major changes in either this referendum or the possible one in 2022.
It is one of the only countries to be largely spared by Covid-19; it has only had 27 cases. All international flights, however, remain suspended until March 2022.
Saturday 3 October–this article was amended to correct the size of New Caledonia from about 7 square miles to 7,000 and 18 square km to 18,000. Napoleon was changed to Napoleon III.
