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.
Islam in New Caledonia
Islam in New Caledonia is a minority faith, consisting of 2.6% of population or 6,357 people. The community is largely ethnic Javanese, and primarily speaks French, and Arabic or Indonesian, causing a linguistic gap between them and neighbouring Anglophone Muslim communities in Australia and Fiji. There is an Islamic centre in Nouméa, and another in Bourail catering to Algerian-Caledonians.