Geography of The Loyalty Islands
Loyalty Islands, a group of coral islands in the South Pacific Ocean, forming part of the French Overseas Territory of New Caledonia. They lie just north of the Tropic of Capricorn and about 1,200 miles (1,900 km) east of Australia. The three major islands—Lifou, Maré, and Ouvéa—and many smaller ones total almost 800 square miles (2,072 km2). Agriculture is the basis of the economy; coconuts are the chief crop. The population, mostly Melanesian, is 17,912.