Geography of New Caledonia Ni-Vanuatu (1.2%), and various other groups (3.9%), Tamils, other South Asians, Berbers, Japanese, Chinese, Fijians, Arabs, West Indian (mostly from other French territories) and a small number of ethnic Africans. "Other microcontinental islands:" Geography of New Caledonia The geography of New Caledonia ("Nouvelle-Calédonie"), an overseas collectivity of France located in the subregion of Melanesia, makes the continental island group unique in the southwest Pacific. Among other things, the island chain has played a role in preserving unique biological lineages from the Mesozoic. It served as a waystation in the expansion of the predecessors of the Polynesians, the Lapita culture. Under
Bahá'í Faith in New Caledonia there were 129 officially recognized Bahá'í socio-economic development projects. By 1987, the number of officially recognized development projects had increased to 1482. The Bahá'í community in New Caledonia has participated in a number of events in New Caledonia. In 1988, and then again 1991, the Bahá'í International Community, who were meeting in New Caledonia, offered statements at the Secretariat of the Pacific Community; the statements summarized Bahá'í projects across the Pacific basin by the Bahá'ís on projects related to initiatives of the United Nations (in this case "Health, Education, and the Role of Women" and "Health and Nutrition"). In 1999,