List of islands of France
Ranking of French islands -- By area
Table:
Name
Location
Area
(km2)

1
New Caledonia's mainland (Grande-Terre)
New Caledonia
16,372

2
Corsica
Mediterranean Sea
8,680

3
Grande-Terre
Kerguelen Islands
6,675

4
Réunion
Réunion
2,512

5
Lifou
New Caledonia
1,146

6
Martinique
Martinique
1,128

7
Tahiti
French Polynesia
1,036

8
Basse-Terre
Guadeloupe
848

9
Maré
New Caledonia
657

10
Grande-Terre
Guadeloupe
586

11
Mayotte's mainland (Grande-Terre)
Mayotte
363

12
Nuku Hiva
French Polynesia
345

13
Hiva Oa
French Polynesia
318

14
Miquelon
Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon
214

15
Île Foch
Kerguelen Islands
206

16
Oléron
Atlantic Ocean
190

17
Raiatea
French Polynesia
173

18
Marie-Galante
Guadeloupe
158

19
Île de la Possession
Crozet Islands
153

20
Île des Pins
New Caledonia
141

Looking at the following table along with the relevant paragraphs listed at the end.

Give the answer to the question: Which chain of islands includes the French island with a 657 squared kilometer surface ? Provide just your answer in a JSON object {"answer": "YOUR ANSWER"}. Do not introduce information beyond the provided sources.

New Caledonia ( /ˌkælɪˈdoʊniə/ ; French : Nouvelle-Calédonie ) [ nb 1 ] is a special collectivity of France , currently governed under the Nouméa Accord , located in the southwest Pacific Ocean , to the south of Vanuatu , about 1,210 km ( 750 mi ) east of Australia and 20,000 km ( 12,000 mi ) from Metropolitan France . The archipelago , part of the Melanesia subregion , includes the main island of Grande Terre , the Loyalty Islands , the Chesterfield Islands , the Belep archipelago , the Isle of Pines , and a few remote islets . The Chesterfield Islands are in the Coral Sea . French people , and especially locals , refer to Grande Terre as Le Caillou ( the pebble ) . New Caledonia has a land area of 18,576 km2 ( 7,172 sq mi ) divided into three provinces . The North and South Provinces are located on the New Caledonian mainland , while the Loyalty Islands Province is a series of islands off the mainland . Its population of 271,407 ( October 2019 census ) consists of a mix of the original inhabitants , Kanak people , who are the majority in the North Province and the Loyalty Islands Province and people of European descent ( Caldoches and Metropolitan French ) , Polynesian people ( mostly Wallisians ) , and Southeast Asian people , as well as a few people of Pied-Noir and North African descent who are the majority in the South Province . The capital of the territory is Nouméa .
Corsica ( /ˈkɔːrsɪkə/ ; French : Corse [ kɔʁs ] ; Corsica in Corsican and Italian , pronounced [ ˈkorsiga ] and [ ˈkɔrsika ] respectively ) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the 18 regions of France . It is located southeast of the French mainland and west of the Italian Peninsula , with the nearest land mass being the Italian island of Sardinia to the immediate south . A single chain of mountains makes up two-thirds of the island . The island is an administrative region of France ( with the regional capital being Ajaccio ) , divided in two administrative departments , Haute-Corse and Corse-du-Sud . The corresponding regional and departmental territorial collectivities , however , merged on 1 January 2018 , forming the single territorial collectivity of Corsica . As a single territorial collectivity , Corsica enjoys a greater degree of autonomy than other French regional collectivities ; for example , the Corsican Assembly is able to exercise limited executive powers . Bastia , the prefecture city of Haute-Corse , is the second largest town in Corsica . After being ruled by the Republic of Genoa since 1284 , in 1755 Corsica became a self-proclaimed Italian-speaking Republic , until it was officially ceded by Genoa to Louis XV as part of a pledge for debts and subsequently annexed to France in 1769 . Napoleon Bonaparte was born the same year in Ajaccio , and his ancestral home ( Maison Bonaparte ) is today a significant visitor attraction and museum . Due to Corsica 's historical ties with the Italian peninsula , the island retains many Italian cultural elements , and the native tongue is recognized as a regional language by the French government .
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean , surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land : on the north by Southern Europe and Anatolia , on the south by North Africa and on the east by the Levant . Although the sea is sometimes considered a part of the Atlantic Ocean , it is usually referred to as a separate body of water . Geological evidence indicates that around 5.9 million years ago , the Mediterranean was cut off from the Atlantic and was partly or completely desiccated over a period of some 600,000 years ( the Messinian salinity crisis ) before being refilled by the Zanclean flood about 5.3 million years ago . It covers an area of about 2,500,000 km2 ( 970,000 sq mi ) , representing 0.7% of the global ocean surface , but its connection to the Atlantic via the Strait of Gibraltar - the narrow strait that connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea and separates Spain in Europe from Morocco in Africa - is only 14 km ( 9 mi ) wide . In oceanography , it is sometimes called the Eurafrican Mediterranean Sea or the European Mediterranean Sea to distinguish it from mediterranean seas elsewhere . The Mediterranean Sea has an average depth of 1,500 m ( 4,900 ft ) and the deepest recorded point is 5,267 m ( 17,280 ft ) in the Calypso Deep in the Ionian Sea . It lies between latitudes 30° and 46° N and longitudes 6° W and 36° E. Its west-east length , from the Strait of Gibraltar to the Gulf of Iskenderun , on the southeastern coast of Turkey , is about 4,000 kilometres ( 2,500 mi ) . The sea was an important route for merchants and travellers of ancient times , facilitating trade and cultural exchange between peoples of the region . The history of the Mediterranean region is crucial to understanding the origins and development of many modern societies . The countries surrounding the Mediterranean in clockwise order are Spain , France , Monaco , Italy , Slovenia , Croatia , Bosnia and Herzegovina , Montenegro , Albania , Greece , Turkey , Syria , Lebanon , Israel , Egypt , Libya , Tunisia , Algeria , and Morocco ; Malta and Cyprus are island countries in the sea . In addition , the Gaza Strip and the British Overseas Territories of Gibraltar and Akrotiri and Dhekelia have coastlines on the sea .
The Kerguelen Islands ( /kərˈɡeɪlən/ or /ˈkɜːrɡələn/ ; in French commonly Îles Kerguelen but officially Archipel des Kerguelen , pronounced [ kɛʁɡelɛn ] ) , also known as the Desolation Islands ( Îles de la Désolation in French ) , are a group of islands in the Antarctic constituting one of the two exposed parts of the Kerguelen Plateau , a large igneous province mostly submerged by the southern Indian Ocean . They are among the most isolated places on Earth , located 450 km ( 280 mi ) northwest of the uninhabited Heard Island and McDonald Islands ( Australia ) and more than 3,300 km ( 2,100 mi ) from Madagascar , the nearest populated location ( excluding the Alfred Faure scientific station in Île de la Possession , about 1,340 km , 830 mi from there , and the non-permanent station located in Île Amsterdam , 1,440 km , 890 mi away ) . The islands , along with Adélie Land , the Crozet Islands , Amsterdam and Saint Paul Islands , and France 's Scattered Islands in the Indian Ocean , are part of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands and are administered as a separate district . The main island , Grande Terre , is 6,675 km2 ( 2,577 sq mi ) in area and is surrounded by a further 300 smaller islands and islets , forming an archipelago of 7,215 km2 ( 2,786 sq mi ) . The climate is raw [ clarification needed ] and chilly with frequent high winds throughout the year . The surrounding seas are generally rough and they remain ice-free year-round . There are no indigenous inhabitants , but France maintains a permanent presence of 45 to 100 soldiers , scientists , engineers , and researchers . There are no airports on the islands , so all travel to and from the outside world is conducted by ship .
The Kerguelen Islands ( /kərˈɡeɪlən/ or /ˈkɜːrɡələn/ ; in French commonly Îles Kerguelen but officially Archipel des Kerguelen , pronounced [ kɛʁɡelɛn ] ) , also known as the Desolation Islands ( Îles de la Désolation in French ) , are a group of islands in the Antarctic constituting one of the two exposed parts of the Kerguelen Plateau , a large igneous province mostly submerged by the southern Indian Ocean . They are among the most isolated places on Earth , located 450 km ( 280 mi ) northwest of the uninhabited Heard Island and McDonald Islands ( Australia ) and more than 3,300 km ( 2,100 mi ) from Madagascar , the nearest populated location ( excluding the Alfred Faure scientific station in Île de la Possession , about 1,340 km , 830 mi from there , and the non-permanent station located in Île Amsterdam , 1,440 km , 890 mi away ) . The islands , along with Adélie Land , the Crozet Islands , Amsterdam and Saint Paul Islands , and France 's Scattered Islands in the Indian Ocean , are part of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands and are administered as a separate district . The main island , Grande Terre , is 6,675 km2 ( 2,577 sq mi ) in area and is surrounded by a further 300 smaller islands and islets , forming an archipelago of 7,215 km2 ( 2,786 sq mi ) . The climate is raw [ clarification needed ] and chilly with frequent high winds throughout the year . The surrounding seas are generally rough and they remain ice-free year-round . There are no indigenous inhabitants , but France maintains a permanent presence of 45 to 100 soldiers , scientists , engineers , and researchers . There are no airports on the islands , so all travel to and from the outside world is conducted by ship .
Réunion ( French : La Réunion [ la ʁe.y.njɔ̃ ] ( listen ) ; previously Île Bourbon ) is an overseas department and region of the French Republic and an island in the Indian Ocean , east of Madagascar and 175 km ( 109 mi ) southwest of Mauritius . As of January 2019 [ update ] , it had a population of 866,506 . The island has been inhabited since the 16th century , when people from France and Madagascar settled there . Slavery was abolished on 20 December 1848 ( a date celebrated yearly on the island ) , when the French Second Republic abolished slavery in the French colonies . However , later on indentured workers were brought to Réunion from South India , among other places . The island became an overseas department of France in 1946 . As in France , the official language is French . In addition , the majority of the region 's population speaks Réunion Creole . Administratively , Réunion is one of the overseas departments of France . Like the other four overseas departments , it is also one of the 18 regions of France , with the modified status of overseas region , and an integral part of the republic with the same status as Metropolitan France . Réunion is an outermost region of the European Union and , as an overseas department of France , part of the eurozone .
Lifou [ lifu ] is a commune of France in the Loyalty Islands Province of New Caledonia in the Pacific Ocean .
Martinique ( /ˌmɑːrtɪˈniːk/ MAR-tin-EEK , French : [ maʁtinik ] ( listen ) ; Martinican Creole : Matnik or Matinik ) is an insular region of France located in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean Sea , with a land area of 1,128 square kilometres ( 436 sq mi ) and a population of 376,480 inhabitants as of January 2016 . Like Guadeloupe , it is an overseas region ( région d'outre-mer ) of France , consisting of a single overseas department . One of the Windward Islands , it is directly north of Saint Lucia , northwest of Barbados and south of Dominica . As one of the eighteen regions of France , Martinique is part of the European Union , and its currency is the euro . Virtually the entire population speaks both French , the official language , and Antillean Creole ( Créole Martiniquais ) .
Tahiti ( English : /təˈhiːti/ ; Tahitian [ taˈhiti ] ; French pronunciation : ​ [ ta.iti ] ; previously also known as Otaheite ) is the largest island of the Windward group of the Society Islands in French Polynesia , located in the central part of the Pacific Ocean . Divided into two parts , Tahiti Nui ( bigger , northwestern part ) and Tahiti Iti ( smaller , southeastern part ) , the island was formed from volcanic activity ; it is high and mountainous with surrounding coral reefs . Its population is 189,517 inhabitants ( 2017 ) , making it the most populous island of French Polynesia and accounting for 68.7% of its total population . Tahiti is the economic , cultural , and political centre of French Polynesia , an overseas collectivity ( and the sole overseas country ) of the French Republic . The capital of French Polynesia , Papeete , is located on the northwest coast of Tahiti . The only international airport in the region , Faa ' a International Airport , is on Tahiti near Papeete . Tahiti was originally settled by Polynesians between 300 and 800 CE . They represent about 70% of the island 's population , with the rest made up of Europeans , Chinese , and those of mixed heritage . The island was part of the Kingdom of Tahiti until its annexation by France in 1880 , when it was proclaimed a colony of France , and the inhabitants became French citizens . French is the only official language , although the Tahitian language ( Reo Tahiti ) is widely spoken .
French Polynesia ( /ˈfrɛntʃ pɒlɪˈniːʒə/ ( listen ) ; French : Polynésie française [ pɔlinezi fʁɑ̃sɛz ] ; Tahitian : Pōrīnetia Farāni ) is an overseas collectivity of the French Republic and its sole overseas country . It is composed of 118 geographically dispersed islands and atolls stretching over an expanse of more than 2,000 kilometres ( 1,200 mi ) in the South Pacific Ocean . Its total land area is 4,167 square kilometres ( 1,609 sq mi ) . French Polynesia is divided into five groups of islands : the Society Islands archipelago , composed of the Windward Islands and the Leeward Islands ; the Tuamotu Archipelago ; the Gambier Islands ; the Marquesas Islands ; and the Austral Islands . Among its 118 islands and atolls , 67 are inhabited . Tahiti , which is located within the Society Islands , is the most populous island , having close to 69% of the population of French Polynesia as of 2017 [ update ] . Papeete , located on Tahiti , is the capital . Although not an integral part of its territory , Clipperton Island was administered from French Polynesia until 2007 . Following the Great Polynesian Migration , European explorers visited the islands of French Polynesia on several occasions . Traders and whaling ships also visited . In 1842 , the French took over the islands and established a French protectorate they called Établissements français d'Océanie ( EFO ) ( French Establishments/Settlements of Oceania ) . In 1946 , the EFO became an overseas territory under the constitution of the French Fourth Republic , and Polynesians were granted the right to vote through citizenship .
Guadeloupe ( /ˌɡwɑːdəˈluːp/ , French : [ ɡwad ( ə ) lup ] ( listen ) ; Antillean Creole : Gwadloup ) is an archipelago forming an overseas region of France in the Caribbean . It consists of six inhabited islands , Basse-Terre , Grande-Terre , Marie-Galante , La Désirade , and the Îles des Saintes , as well as many uninhabited islands and outcroppings . It lies south of Antigua and Barbuda and Montserrat , and north of Dominica . Its capital is Basse-Terre on the west coast ; however , the largest city is Pointe-à-Pitre . Like the other overseas departments , it is an integral part of France . As a constituent territory of the European Union and the Eurozone , the euro is its official currency and any European Union citizen is free to settle and work there indefinitely . As an overseas department , however , it is not part of the Schengen Area . The official language is French ; Antillean Creole is also spoken .
Guadeloupe ( /ˌɡwɑːdəˈluːp/ , French : [ ɡwad ( ə ) lup ] ( listen ) ; Antillean Creole : Gwadloup ) is an archipelago forming an overseas region of France in the Caribbean . It consists of six inhabited islands , Basse-Terre , Grande-Terre , Marie-Galante , La Désirade , and the Îles des Saintes , as well as many uninhabited islands and outcroppings . It lies south of Antigua and Barbuda and Montserrat , and north of Dominica . Its capital is Basse-Terre on the west coast ; however , the largest city is Pointe-à-Pitre . Like the other overseas departments , it is an integral part of France . As a constituent territory of the European Union and the Eurozone , the euro is its official currency and any European Union citizen is free to settle and work there indefinitely . As an overseas department , however , it is not part of the Schengen Area . The official language is French ; Antillean Creole is also spoken .
Maré Island or Nengone ( French : Île de Maré ) is the second-largest of the Loyalty Islands , in the archipelago of New Caledonia , an overseas territory of France in the Pacific Ocean . The island is part of the commune ( municipality ) of Maré , in the Loyalty Islands Province of New Caledonia .
Grande-Terre Island ( French : île de Grande-Terre / île de la Grande-Terre ) is the name of the eastern-half of Guadeloupe proper , in the Lesser Antilles . It is separated from the other half of Guadeloupe island , Basse-Terre , by a narrow sea channel called Rivière Salée ( in English Salt River ) . Pointe de la Grande Vigie , in Grande-Terre , is the northernmost point of Guadeloupe island . To the east lies La Désirade , to the south lies Marie Galante Despite its name , Grande-Terre ( literally Large Land in French ) is smaller than Basse-Terre Island . It was called like that , in contrast with the much smaller Petite Terre Islands ( Small Land Islands ) , two very small islands located about 10 km south-east of the Grande-Terre ( see map to the left ) . Grande-Terre 's indented coastline is surrounded by coral reefs and the island itself is a limestone plateau . Its surface is a series of rolling hills , white sand beaches and cliffs . The island 's beaches consist of both white and black sands , as well as beaches of golden sand . Of the two islands , Grande-Terre is home to the majority of Guadeloupe 's farmlands and tourist resorts .
Mayotte ( French : Mayotte , pronounced [ majɔt ] ; Shimaore : Maore , IPA : [ maˈore ] ; Malagasy : Mahori ) is an overseas department and region of France officially named the Department of Mayotte ( French : Département de Mayotte ) . It consists of a main island , Grande-Terre ( or Maore ) , a smaller island , Petite-Terre ( or Pamanzi ) , and several islets around these two . Mayotte is part of the Comoros archipelago , located in the northern Mozambique Channel in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Southeast Africa , between northwestern Madagascar and northeastern Mozambique . The department status of Mayotte is recent and the region remains , by a significant margin , the poorest in France . Mayotte is nevertheless much more prosperous than the other countries of the Mozambique Channel , making it a major destination for illegal immigration . Mayotte 's area is 374 square kilometres ( 144 sq mi ) and , with its 270,372 people according to January 2019 official estimates , is very densely populated at 723 per km2 ( 1,872 per sq mi ) . The biggest city and prefecture is Mamoudzou on Grande-Terre . However , the Dzaoudzi-Pamandzi International Airport is located on the neighbouring island of Petite-Terre . The territory is also known as Maore , the native name of its main island , especially by advocates of its inclusion in the Union of the Comoros . Although , as a department , Mayotte is now an integral part of France , the majority of the inhabitants do not speak French as a first language , but a majority of the people 14 years and older report in the census that they can speak French ( with varying levels of fluency ) . The language of the majority is Shimaore , a Sabaki language closely related to the varieties in the neighbouring Comoros islands . The second most widely spoken native language is Kibushi , a Malagasy language , of which there are two varieties , Kibushi Kisakalava , most closely related to the Sakalava dialect of Malagasy , and Kibushi Kiantalaotra .
Nuku Hiva ( sometimes spelled Nukahiva ) is the largest of the Marquesas Islands in French Polynesia , an overseas country of France in the Pacific Ocean . It was formerly also known as Île Marchand and Madison Island . Herman Melville wrote his book Typee based on his experiences in the Taipivai valley in the eastern part of Nuku Hiva . Robert Louis Stevenson 's first landfall on his voyage on the Casco was at Hatihe ' u , on the north side of the island , in 1888 .
With its 320 square kilometres ( 124 square miles ) , Hiva Oa is the second largest island in the Marquesas Islands , in French Polynesia , an overseas territory of France in the Pacific Ocean . Located at 9 45 ' south latitude and 139 W longitude , it is the largest island of the southern Marquesas group . Around 2,200 people reside on the island . A volcano , Temetiu , is Hiva Oa 's highest point with 1,200 metres ( 3,937 feet ) . According to local religion , the gods created the Marquesas as their home . Therefore , all islands have names that are related with the building of a house - Hiva Oa means long ridgepole .
Miquelon ( French : Île Miquelon ) also known as Grande Miquelon , is one of the islands of the archipelago of Saint Pierre and Miquelon , an Overseas collectivity of France located in the Atlantic Ocean , 22 kilometres ( 14 mi ) south of the coast of Newfoundland . Miquelon is situated between Le Cap Island to the north and Langlade Island ( also called Petite Miquelon ) to the south .
Saint Pierre and Miquelon , officially the Overseas Collectivity of Saint Pierre and Miquelon ( French : Collectivité d'outre-mer de Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon , IPA : [ sɛ̃.pjɛʁ.e.mi.klɔ̃ ] ) , is a self-governing territorial overseas collectivity of France , situated in the northwestern Atlantic Ocean near the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador . It is the only part of New France that remains under French control , with an area of 242 square kilometres ( 93 sq mi ) and a population of 6,008 at the March 2016 census . The islands are situated in the Gulf of St. Lawrence near the entrance of Fortune Bay , which extends into the southwestern coast of Newfoundland , near the Grand Banks of Newfoundland . They are 3,819 kilometres ( 2,373 mi ) from Brest , the nearest point in Metropolitan France , and 25 kilometres ( 16 mi ) from the Burin Peninsula of Newfoundland .
Île Foch is one of the Kerguelen Islands situated near to the north coast of Grand Terre , the principal island . It is separated from this main island only by a narrow sea arm , the Tucker strait . It borders Île Saint-Lanne Gramont at the northwest , which is separated by the Baie de Londres . At the northeast point it borders Mac Murdo and Howe With an area of 206 square kilometres ( 51,000 acres ) , it is the second largest island in the archipelago . Its highest point , which has an elevation of 687 metres ( 2,254 ft ) , is named la Pyramide mexicaine , 'the Mexican Pyramid ' .
Île d'Oléron ( pronounced [ il doleʁɔ̃ ] ) is an island off the Atlantic coast of France ( due west of Rochefort ) , on the southern side of the Pertuis d'Antioche strait . It is the second largest island of Metropolitan France , after Corsica , with a length of 30 km and a width of 8 km . It has an area of 174 km2 and more than 21,000 permanent inhabitants .
The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world 's oceans , with an area of about 106,460,000 square kilometers ( 41,100,000 square miles ) . It covers approximately 20 percent of Earth 's surface and about 29 percent of its water surface area . It separates the Old World from the New World . The Atlantic Ocean occupies an elongated , S-shaped basin extending longitudinally between Europe and Africa to the east , and the Americas to the west . As one component of the interconnected World Ocean , it is connected in the north to the Arctic Ocean , to the Pacific Ocean in the southwest , the Indian Ocean in the southeast , and the Southern Ocean in the south ( other definitions describe the Atlantic as extending southward to Antarctica ) . The Equatorial Counter Current subdivides it into the North ( ern ) Atlantic Ocean and the South ( ern ) Atlantic Ocean at about 8°N . Scientific explorations of the Atlantic include the Challenger expedition , the German Meteor expedition , Columbia University 's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory and the United States Navy Hydrographic Office .
Raiatea ( Tahitian : Ra'iātea ) , is the second largest of the Society Islands , after Tahiti , in French Polynesia . The island is widely regarded as the 'centre ' of the eastern islands in ancient Polynesia [ citation needed ] and it is likely that the organised migrations to the Hawaiian Islands , New Zealand and other parts of East Polynesia started at Raiatea . A traditional name for the island is Havai ' i , homeland of the Māori people . Situated on the southeast coast is the historical Taputapuatea marae which was established by 1000 AD . The main township on Raiatea is Uturoa , the administrative centre for the Leeward Islands ( French Îles Sous-le-vent ) . There are also colleges which serve as the main educational location for secondary schools for students from the regional islands of Bora Bora , Tahaa , Huahine and Maupiti .
Marie-Galante is one of the islands that form Guadeloupe , an overseas department of France . Marie-Galante has a land area of 170.5 km2 ( 65.8 square miles ) . It had 11,528 inhabitants at the start of 2013 , with a population density of 67.6/km2 ( 175/sq mi ) .
Île de la Possession , or Possession Island , formerly Île de la Prise de Possession , is part of the subantarctic Crozet Archipelago . With an area of 150 km2 ( 58 sq mi ) it is the largest island of the group and the only inhabited one . Administratively , it is part of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands . It is an important nesting site for seabirds .
The Crozet Islands ( French : Îles Crozet ; or , officially , Archipel Crozet ) are a sub-antarctic archipelago of small islands in the southern Indian Ocean . They form one of the five administrative districts of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands .
The Isle of Pines ( French : Île des Pins ; name in Kanak language Kwênyii : Kunyié ) is an island in the Pacific Ocean , in the archipelago of New Caledonia , an overseas collectivity of France . The island is part of the commune ( municipality ) of L'Île-des-Pins , in the South Province of New Caledonia . The Isle of Pines is nicknamed l'île la plus proche du paradis ( the closest island to Paradise ) . The island is around 22°37′S 167°29′E / 22.617°S 167.483°E / -22.617 ; 167.483Coordinates : 22°37′S 167°29′E / 22.617°S 167.483°E / -22.617 ; 167.483 and measures 15 km ( 9.3 mi ) by 13 km ( 8.1 mi ) . It lies southeast of Grande Terre , New Caledonia 's main island , and is 100 kilometres ( 62 mi ) southeast of the capital Nouméa . There is one airport ( code ILP ) with a 1,097 m ( 3,599 ft ) runway . The Isle of Pines is surrounded by the New Caledonia Barrier Reef . The inhabitants of the island are mainly native Melanesian Kanaks , and the population is 2,000 ( estimated 2006 ) ( 1989 population 1,465 ) . The island is rich with animal life and is home to unusual creatures such as the crested gecko Correlophus ciliatus and the world 's largest gecko Rhacodactylus leachianus . The pic Nga is the island 's highest point , at 262 metres ( 860 ft ) elevation . River Ouro is the longest river .