James Cook came to the Canary Islands. The English explorer called them New Caledonia, from the former Latin name of Scotland. After several years exploring nearby islands, in 1840 Europeans began to enslave indigenous people.

The island was colonized by France in 1853, and its inhabitants were relegated to the worst lands.

They have a strong independence movement, in recent years they have held two referendum on independence and in both countries the refusal has prevailed for little. They have agreed a third with Paris, within the peace agreements.