How did the nickel boom of 1969–72 change New Caledonia’s population?

The nickel boom of 1969–1972 significantly altered the demographic landscape of New Caledonia by driving a major influx of white and Polynesian settlers to the territory. As a result of this migration, the indigenous Melanesian population became a minority in their own land for the first time, although they remained the largest single ethnic group in the territory.1