<Tr> <Th> ISO 3166 code </Th> <Td> NC </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Internet TLD </Th> <Td>. nc </Td> </Tr> <P> New Caledonia (French: Nouvelle - Calédonie) is a special collectivity of France in the southwest Pacific Ocean, 1,210 km (750 mi) east of Australia and 20,000 km (12,000 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 . Locals refer to Grande Terre as Le Caillou ("the pebble"). </P> <P> New Caledonia has a land area of 18,576 km (7,172 sq mi). Its population of 268,767 (Aug. 2014 census) consists of a mix of Kanak people (the original inhabitants of New Caledonia), people of European descent (Caldoches and Metropolitan French), Polynesian people (mostly Wallisians), and Southeast Asian people, as well as a few people of Pied - Noir and North African descent . The capital of the territory is Nouméa . </P>

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