The majority of votes counted in a New Caledonian referendum opposed proposed independence from France.
Less than 44% of New Caledonians voted in the referendum, with the low turnout partly because of a boycott called by members of the Indigenous Kanak population who are in a 12-month period of mourning over COVID-19 related deaths.
The referendum was the third under the Noumea Accord, a peace agreement signed in 1998.