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
New Caledonia rivers and lakes of New Caledonia. Some, such as "Neogalaxias", exist only in small areas. The nautilus—considered a living fossil and related to the ammonites, which became extinct at the end of the Mesozoic era—occurs in Pacific waters around New Caledonia. There is a large diversity of marine fish in the surrounding waters, which are within the extents of the Coral Sea. Several species of New Caledonia are remarkable for their size: "Ducula goliath" is the largest extant species of pigeon; "Rhacodactylus leachianus", the largest gecko in the world; "Phoboscincus bocourti" the largest skink in the world, thought to be