New Caledonia Their social organization is traditionally based around clans, which identify as either "land" or "sea" clans, depending on their original location and the occupation of their ancestors. According to the 2009 census, the Kanak constitute 94% of the population in the Loyalty Islands Province, 74% in the North Province and 27% in the South Province. The Kanak tend to be of lower socio-economic status than the Europeans and other settlers. Europeans first settled in New Caledonia when France established a penal colony on the archipelago. Once the prisoners had completed their sentences, they were given land to settle. According to
Walpole Island (New Caledonia) Walpole Island (New Caledonia) Walpole Island (French: "Île de Walpole") is a small and uninhabited French island, east of New Caledonia in the South Pacific. Although it is geographically part of the Loyalty Islands, administratively it belongs to the Isle of Pines municipality of New Caledonia. There is evidence that the island had prehistoric inhabitants. Graves, shell and bone tools, as well as stone markers indicate the presence of a permanent population at some point. The island is the topic of several oral traditions from Maré and the Isle des Pines, the two closest inhabited islands. Speculation amongst the overseers