User:Sarahlourou/sandbox

Named by the British explorer Captain James Cook, who spotted similarities with the Scottish highlands, the territory was annexed by France in 1853 and became a destination for thousands of French convicts. But as the European population burgeoned, tensions - often over the loss of land - rose between the incomers and the indigenous Melanesians, known as Kanaks. A Kanak revolt in 1878 claimed more than 1,000 lives and heralded further repression by the French rulers.