Habitation of the New Caledonia region dates back to around 3000 BC when it was settled by the ancestors of the Micronesian peoples, and 2,000 years later by Polynesians. European sighting of the islands first occurred in 1774 by Captain James Cook. Further European involvement led to the French annexing the region in 1853. Based upon the British model that appeared to have been successful in Australia, Napolean III, Emperor of France, directed the establishment of a substantial penal colony. Free traders soon followed, and the discovery of nickel in the 1860s led to the establishment of a mining economy.
The Europeans also brought with them diseases such as measles, typhoid, syphilis, smallpox and influenza, which had a disastrous effect upon the local population that did not have resistance to these. Further, slave traders routinely captured unwitting individuals who would then be destined for labour in the cane fields of Fiji and Australia; this continued until towards the end of the 19th century. The result was a dwindling native Kanak population and a gradual increase in the European descended population.
During World war II, American Allied forces established significant bases in New Caledonia as part of the push to drive the Japanese north. New Caledonia remained a French territory after the war.
Recent history tells a story of a nation seeking self-determination. The Noumea Accord of 1998 was an agreement to set out how and when the territory will achieve this through a cooperative and peaceful means. Between 2014 and 2019, a referendum is due to be held to decide if this will occur.