2020 New Caledonian independence referendum

2020 New Caledonian independence referendum

New Caledonia held its second independence referendum on 4 October 2020. 53. 26 percent of voters rejected independence, a slight drop from the 2018 result. The territory was formally annexed by France in 1853, and Europeans and Polynesians, as well as other settlers, have since made the indigenous Kanaks a minority.

About 2020 New Caledonian independence referendum in brief

Summary 2020 New Caledonian independence referendum independence referendum was held in New Caledonia on 4 October 2020. The poll was the second to be held under the terms of the Nouméa Accord, following a similar referendum in 2018. Independence was rejected, with 53. 26 percent of voters opposing such a change, a slight drop from the 2018 result in which 56. 7 percent voted \”no\”. Turnout was 85. 69 percent. The third referendum must be held by 2022. The territory was formally annexed by France in 1853, and Europeans and Polynesians, as well as other settlers, have since made the indigenous Kanaks a minority. Though GDP per capita is high at USD 38,921, there is significant inequality in income distribution, with many claiming that the mining revenue benefits people outside the territory and its mining communities.

The first referendum on independence was held the following year on 13 September 1987, but independence was rejected by a large majority, with 842 people voting for independence and 48,611 people voting to remain a part of France. The Matignon Agreements, signed on 26 June 1988 by Jean-Marie Tjibaou and Jacques Lafleur, set up a ten-year period of stability.