SYDNEY (Reuters) - New Caledonia, a French archipelago in the South Pacific, votes on Sunday whether to become the world's newest state in a referendum on independence that is the result of a 30-year long decolonisation process. It is the first auto-determination vote to be held in a French territory since Djibouti in the Horn of Africa voted for independence in 1977. The latest polls show that the islands are expected to vote to remain a French territory. First discovered by the British explorer James Cook, the New Caledonia archipelago lies more than 16,700 kilometres (10,377 miles) from metropolitan France. Under the terms of the deal, in the event of a no vote two further referenda can be held before 2022.

Source: Huffington Post November 04, 2018 02:48 UTC