Kanak people
The earliest history of Europeans arriving on these islands is when Captain Cook of the United Kingdom landed in these islands in 1775 at a time when there were reportedly 70,000 Kanaks living in the archipelago. Cook gave the name "New Caledonia" to these islands, after Caledonia, his Scottish highlands.
New Caledonia
New Caledonia's main tertiary education institution is the University of New Caledonia ("Université de la Nouvelle-Calédonie"), which was founded in 1993 and comes under the supervision of the Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation. It is based in Nouméa and offers a range of vocational, Bachelor, MA, and PhD programmes and courses. The University of New Caledonia consists of three academic departments, one institute of technology, one PhD school, and one teacher's college. As of 2013, the University has approximately 3,000 students, 107 academics, and 95 administrative and library staff. Many New Caledonian students also pursue scholarships to study in metropolitan France. As part of the Nouméa Accord process, a "Cadre Avenir" provides scholarships for Kanak professionals to study in France.