L'Île-des-Pins () is a
commune in the
South Province of
New Caledonia
New Caledonia ( ; ) is a group of islands in the southwest Pacific Ocean, southwest of Vanuatu and east of Australia. Located from Metropolitan France, it forms a Overseas France#Sui generis collectivity, ''sui generis'' collectivity of t ...
, an overseas territory of
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
in the
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...
. L'Île-des-Pins is made up of the
Isle of Pines, the smaller
Kôtomo Island, and several
islet
An islet ( ) is generally a small island. Definitions vary, and are not precise, but some suggest that an islet is a very small, often unnamed, island with little or no vegetation to support human habitation. It may be made of rock, sand and/ ...
s around these two, as well as the distant island of
Walpole, which is located almost to the east. The Isle of Pines and adjacent islands are located to the south of New Caledonia's mainland. At 16,830 km from
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
, L'Île-des-Pins is further from the French capital than any other commune of France. The settlement of
Vao, on the Isle of Pines, is the administrative centre of the commune of L'Île-des-Pins.
L'Île-des-Pins is one of the main tourist attractions in New Caledonia. The Isle of Pines itself is nicknamed ''l'île la plus proche du paradis'' ("the closest island to Paradise"). L'Île-des-Pins can be reached by boat or plane from
Nouméa
Nouméa () is the capital and largest city of the French Sui generis collectivity, special collectivity of New Caledonia and is also the largest Francophone city in Oceania. It is situated on a peninsula in the south of New Caledonia's main i ...
, the capital of New Caledonia. It is renowned for the intense blue colors of its waters and for the ancient pine tree groves spread throughout the Isle of Pines and the neighboring islands.
After the
Paris Commune
The Paris Commune (, ) was a French revolutionary government that seized power in Paris on 18 March 1871 and controlled parts of the city until 28 May 1871. During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71, the French National Guard (France), Nation ...
(1871), about 2,800 Parisian insurgents were deported to L'Île-des-Pins, a part of whose territory was turned into a penal settlement where the convicts lived for several years.
In 2005 L'Île-des-Pins gained attention when season 5 of French
reality show
Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring ordinary people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 1990s ...
''
Les Aventuriers de Koh-Lanta
Les Aventuriers de Koh-Lanta was the first season of the France, French version of Survivor (TV series), Survivor, titled ''Koh-lanta''. This season took place in Thailand on the island of Koh Rok, and was broadcast on TF1 from August 4, 2001 to ...
'' ("The Adventurers of Koh Lanta"), the French version of ''
Survivor'', was set on several small islands off the Isle of Pines.
References
External links
*
Jane's Isle of Pines Page
Iledespins
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