Politics of New Caledonia second-class status for French citizens living in New Caledonia who do not possess New Caledonian "citizenship" (because they settled in the territory recently). New Caledonia is also allowed to engage in international cooperation with independent countries of the Pacific Ocean. Finally, the territorial Congress is allowed to pass statutes that are contrary to French law in a certain number of areas. On the other hand, New Caledonia remains an integral part of the French Republic. Inhabitants of New Caledonia are French citizens and carry French passports. They take part in the legislative and presidential French elections. New Caledonia sends two
Biodiversity of New Caledonia colonized New Zealand and New Caledonia, from South America, along the Antarctic margin of Gondwana. At the beginning of the Tertiary, New Zealand and New Caledonia moved north to a warmer climate. This led to a long period of evolution in near complete isolation. New Caledonia's natural heritage includes species whose ancestors were present on New Caledonia when it broke away from Gondwana; not only species but entire genera and even families are unique to the island. The species of the archipelago of New Caledonia are relicts of a type of vegetation which earlier covered much of the tropics of