Kanak people
Kanak (French spelling until 1984: Canaque) are the indigenous Melanesian inhabitants of New Caledonia, an overseas collectivity of France in the southwest Pacific. According to the 2014 census, they make up 39.1% of the total population with around 104,000 people.
Kanak people
Fifty years later, the Protestants of London Missionary Society came to New Caledonia, which was followed by entry of the French Catholics to the island, in 1843. This resulted in a conflict between the two religious factions and eventually the French Catholics' control of the islands prevailed. The island nation was thereafter annexed by France, in 1853.