Who were the French convicts sent to New Caledonia?

Between 1864 and 1897, France sent approximately 22,000 convicts to New Caledonia, which served as a penal colony during that period.12

The convict population included a specific group of about 4,000 déportés, who were political exiles associated with the 1871 uprising of the Paris Commune. While the colonial administration’s primary focus was the management and control of these convicts, few of the ex-convicts left the territory after their sentences were served, though not many established families there.2

The use of the island as a penal colony was a central component of French colonial policy, which also sought to attract free settlers and utilize indentured labor to support the development of the territory.12