Place details
Place nameNew Caledonia
Other namesTerritoire de la Novelle-Calédonie et Dépendances, Nouvell-Calédonie, Nouvelle Calédonie, Nouvelle-Calédonie, Neukaledonien, Territory of New Caledonia and Dependencies, Nueva Caledonia, Nova Caledônia, NCL, NC, ISO540, NC00
Latitude-21.5
Longitude165.5
SourceThesaurus of Geographic Names
Overview
Comprises Nouvelle-Calédonie island & several other islands; originally inhabited by Melanesians of Papuan type; documented by Bougainville in 1768 & sighted by Cook in 1774; served as Allied base in WW II; civil unrest by native Melanesians mid-1980s; official language is French, though English is also widely spoken.