New Caledonia rain forests
The New Caledonia rain forests are a terrestrial ecoregion, located in New Caledonia in the South Pacific. It is a tropical moist broadleaf forest ecoregion, part of the Australasian realm.
Tree ferns on Isle of Pines
Original distribution area of Melaleuca quinquenervia or Niaouli
Nothofagus is a plant genus that illustrates Gondwanan distribution, having descended from the supercontinent and existing in current day Australia, New Zealand, New Caledonia and Chile. Fossils have also recently been found in Antarctica.
New Caledonia is a sui generis collectivity of overseas France in the southwest Pacific Ocean, south of Vanuatu, about 1,210 km (750 mi) east of Australia, and 17,000 km (11,000 mi) from Metropolitan France. The archipelago, part of the Melanesia subregion, includes the main island of Grande Terre, the Loyalty Islands, the Chesterfield Islands, the Belep archipelago, the Isle of Pines, and a few remote islets. The Chesterfield Islands are in the Coral Sea. French people, especially locals, call Grande Terre "Le Caillou". It is one of the European Union's Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs), but is not part of the European Union.
Chief King Jacques and his Queen
Jean Lèques during a ceremony honouring U.S. service members who helped ensure the freedom of New Caledonia during World War II
New Caledonia from space
Coral reefs of New Caledonia from ISS, September 9, 2020
