President Emmanuel Macron expressed his “immense pride that we have taken this historic step together” in an address to the nation, adding it was “a sign of confidence in the French republic, in its future and its values.”

The island is home to a quarter of the world’s known supplies of nickel — a vital electronics component — and is a foothold for France in the Pacific where China is gaining influence. Under a 1998 deal called the Noumea Accord to devolve powers to the territory, two further votes on independence can be held by 2022 — a right independence leaders look set to invoke. But indigenous people make up less than 50 per cent of the electorate and some Kanaks back staying part of France, not least due to the 1.3 billion euros ($1.5 billion) the French state hands to the islands every year.
New Caledonians vote against becoming an independent country from France.