Loyalty Islands

The Loyalty Islands are an archipelago in the Pacific. They are part of the French territory of New Caledonia, whose mainland is 100km away. They form the Loyalty Islands Province, one of the three provinces of New Caledonia. It has 17,000 people living on almost 2,000km2. The native inhabitants are the Kanak people and the Tavu'avua' people.The first Western contact on record is attributed to British Captain William Raven of the whaler Britannia, who in 1793 was on his way from Norfolk Island to Batavia. It is very likely, however, that the discovery and name goes back to the London ship Loyalty, on a South Sea trading voyage from 1789 till 1790.GeographyThe archipelago consists of six inhabited islands: Lifou Island, Maré Island, Tiga Island, Ouvéa Island, Mouli Island, and Faiava Island, as well as several smaller uninhabited islands and islets. Their combined land area is 1,981km². The highest elevation is at 138m above sea level on Maré Island.