Geography of New Caledonia point is Mont Panié at elevation. The total area of New Caledonia is , of those being land. A territorial dispute exists with regard to the uninhabited Matthew and Hunter Islands, which are claimed by both France (as part of New Caledonia) and Vanuatu. The New Caledonian archipelago is a microcontinental island chain which originated as a fragment of Zealandia, a nearly submerged continent or microcontinent which was part of the southern supercontinent of Gondwana during the time of the dinosaurs. The Grande Terre group of New Caledonia, with Mont Panié at as its highest point, is the most elevated
New Caledonia the "Conseil General" of New Caledonia voted unanimously to support the Free French government, and in September the pro-Vichy governor was forced to leave for Indochina. In March 1942, with the assistance of Australia, the territory became an important Allied base, and the main South Pacific Fleet base of the United States Navy in the South Pacific moved to Noumea in 1942–1943. The fleet that turned back the Japanese navy in the Battle of the Coral Sea in May 1942 was based at Nouméa. American troops numbered as many as 50,000, the equivalent of the contemporary population. In 1946, New