In a referendum in the French overseas possession of New Caledonia, a large majority of voters, as expected, spoke out against independence from France, according to a report on Sunday, November 4, citing preliminary data. According to the results of the counting of 70 percent of the ballots, 59.5 percent of the referendum participants were against independence from France.

Voter turnout in the referendum was very high:

almost 81 percent of voters took part in the vote, reports DW.

New Caledonia, located in the Pacific, has the status of a special administrative and territorial entity of France. The population of this territory is about 270 thousand people..

New Caledonia has been in France since 1853 and is still of significant geostrategic importance for Paris.. In addition, New Caledonia has a quarter of the world's nickel reserves - an important raw material for electronics.