Loyalty Islands
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The Loyalty Islands.
The Loyalty Islands are an archipelago in the Pacific. They are part of the French territory of New Caledonia, 100 km distant. They were named in the eighteenth century by the British merchant who discovered them; the name refers to the agreeable nature of the inhabitants.
The archipelago consists of four coral atolls: Lifou, Mare, Ouvea and Tiga. Their combined area is 2,500 sq km.
The people of the Loyalty Islands are of mixed Melanesian and Polynesian heritage. They number roughly 20,000.
The chief export of the Loyalty Islands is copra.
The islands are part of the New Caledonia rain forests ecoregion.