The French overseas territory of New Caledonia in the Pacific Ocean has a turbulent history. Here's a timeline of the events that have shaped the former colony.
- 1853 – France annexes New Caledonia on behalf of Napoleon III.
- 1864 – Mining industry develops following discovery of nickel deposits.
- 1864-97 – France uses New Caledonia as a penal colony, sending 22,000 convicts and political prisoners (including revolutionary Communards) to the islands.
- 1878 – The islands’ indigenous Kanak rise up against French troops over loss of land. Two hundreds Europeans and at least 600 insurgents killed. Some 1,500 Kanaks forced into exile.
- 1878-1921 – Kanak population drops from around 60,000 to 27,000 as Europeans bring over diseases like measles.
- 1946 – The archipelago becomes a French overseas territory, paving the way for citizenship and voting rights for Kanak people.
- 1976-88 – Clashes between French authorities and the Kanak independence movement.
- 1984 – The Kanak Socialist National Liberation Front (FLNKS) is founded as an alliance of pro-independence political parties.
- 1986-87 – The French centre-right government’s unequal distribution of land – more than two-thirds for Europeans and less than a third for Kanaks – leads to roadblocks, armed clashes and destruction of property.
- 1987 – A referendum on independence sees a landslide victory (98 percent) for remaining part of France. Voter turnout is 59 percent.
- 1988 – Ouvéa cave hostage taking (22 April to 5 May): pro-independence militants kill four gendarmes and take 27 hostages. French forces storm police station and rescue hostages. Nineteen Kanak hostage-takers and two soldiers killed.
- 1988 – Matignon Accord signed 26 June between Jean-Marie Tjibaou (head of FLNKS) and Jacques Lafleur (Loyalist) mark a reconciliation between Kanak and French European communities. The agreement, proposing end to direct rule from Paris and a vote on independence in 1998, launches a gradual process of self-determination and decolonisation.
- 1989 – Tjibaou shot dead by Kanak separatist in protest over Matignon Accord.
- 1998 – Nouméa Accord – signed on 5 May by government of France, FLNKS and the conservative settler party RPCR – sets a 20-year timetable for the territory’s gradual autonomy. Ratified by 71.86 percent of New Caledonians, it stipulates that the Vice President of New Caledonia must be pro-independence if the Presidency is held by an anti-independence politician. The accord allows for three referendums on independence to be held.
- 2006 – As part of the Nouméa Accord, French parliament votes to restrict voting rights in provincial elections to people who have resided in New Caledonia prior to 1998, and their children – a measure long sought by Kanaks.
- 2018 – First referendum held in November sees independence from France rejected by 56 percent to 43 percent.
- 2020 – In second referendum, independence rejected but by a tighter margin – 53 percent against, 46 percent in favour.
- 2021 – Third referendum – 96.5 percent vote to remain French but turnout is only 44 percent after pro-independence forces, who had called for it to be postponed due to the Covid pandemic, boycotted the vote. They refused to accept the results.
- 2024 – On 13 May rioting breaks out in New Caledonia as France’s lawmakers begin debating a constitutional amendment to open up the electorate to include people who have lived in New Caledonia for at least 10 years, rather than since 1998. Indigenous Kanak see the amendment as a way of diluting their vote.
- 15 May – Violence worsens after lawmakers vote to approve the amendment. France declares state of emergency. At least six people die, including two gendarmes, during five nights of unrest.
