Nouméa (New Caledonia - Saturday,15 March 2014

The capital city of Nouméa is located near the southeastern tip of the island of Grande Terre. The city was founded by the French in 1853 and has spread over the hilly peninsula round a large natural harbour. In the 1800s nickel and gold was discovered. The mining that followed helped in the early development of Nouméa. During World War II the city served as a vital harbour and Allied base of operations. Today the fast growing city has a population of around 90,000, the entire population of New Caledonia is situated around 250,000 people with an interested mixture of Melanesians and French culture.

It is believed by a number of anthropologists that the South Pacific islands of Melanesia were settled by Africoid people of Papua as far back s 35,000 ears ago. The word "Melanesia" is derived from the Greek language and translates as "black islands or the islands of the blacks".

James Cook became the first European to see and to chart the island of Grande Terre during his 2nd of three voyages of discovery in 1774. Reminded of the jagged, hilly coast of Scotland he named the group of islands New Caledonia, Latin for Scotland.

In the early 1800s the South Pacific whaling industry was rapidly expanding. As European sailors who came ashore in New Caledonia brought diseases against which the indigenous people had neither immunity nor defense the effects were devastating upon the local population.

In 1852, under the rule of Napoleon III, France claimed New Caledonia as a colony. Using the British practice in Australia as its example, most of the first settlers to arrive were French convicts and political prisoners. Free settlers eventually came and began to populate New Caledonia. The French government established the harsh "Code de l'Indigénat" upon the indigenous Melanesians. This code basically legalized the seizure of their land and suppressed any hint of freedom or protection under French law. During the same period, the mid 1800s, and lasting through the turn of the century, the practice of "Black-birding" took place. This was the kidnapping or forced coercion of many Melanesians to worked in the sugarcane fields of Australia's Queensland.

During World War II New Caledonia and the capital of Nouméa became a strategic Allied army and navy base, a prime target of forces of Imperial Japan. Itself slated for invasion, around New Caledonia were fought the battles of Port Moresby, the Kokoda Track and the Milne Bay as well as the Battle of the Coral Sea and the vicious Battle of Guadalcanal ... all of which, costly in lives, ended in Allied victory and helped lead to the eventual defeat of Imperial Japan.

Beginning in the 1980s a large number of the indigenous people of New Caledonia began to seek independence. The process was frustrating and confrontational. However, as of 2014, eligible citizens will have decided through the ballot box whether to remain an "Entité Territoriale" or to become free and independent from over a century and half of French rule.