Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com

New Caledonia

American  
[kal-i-doh-nee-uh, -dohn-yuh] / ˌkæl ɪˈdoʊ ni ə, -ˈdoʊn jə /

noun

  1. an island in the S Pacific, about 800 miles (1,290 km) E of Australia. 6,224 sq. mi. (16,120 sq. km).

  2. an overseas territory of France comprising this island and other smaller islands: formerly a penal colony. 131,665; 7,200 sq. mi. (18,650 sq. km). Nouméa.


New Caledonia British  

noun

  1. French name: Nouvelle-Calédonie.  an island in the SW Pacific, east of Australia: forms, with its dependencies, a French Overseas Country; discovered by Captain Cook in 1774; rich mineral resources. Capital: Nouméa. Pop: 264 022 (2013 est). Area: 19 103 sq km (7374 miles)

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

Researchers analyzed nearly 20 years of data from humpback whales that breed in the waters around New Caledonia in the South Pacific.

From Science Daily Mar. 5, 2026

Also taking part in the inter-confederations play-off are New Caledonia.

From BBC Dec. 5, 2025

And Bolivia - who finished seventh in South America - are not certain to play a team from Oceania, which would be New Caledonia.

From BBC Nov. 17, 2025

The African representatives are the third nation to secure a place after Bolivia and New Caledonia, and the other three slots will be filled on Tuesday for a competition that excludes Europe.

From Barron's Nov. 16, 2025

In the Pacific Ocean, the main wave of extinction began in about 1500 BC, when Polynesian farmers settled the Solomon Islands, Fiji and New Caledonia.

From "Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind" by Yuval Noah Harari

Vocabulary.com logo
by dictionary.com

Join 12,000,000 vocabulary learners

Start learning new words today on VocabTrainer.
You'll remember them forever.

Start training