New Caledonia

The national atlas tradition of New Caledonia is a modest but significant chapter in the cartographic history of the French Pacific. Emerging in the late colonial and post-colonial era, the first atlas, published in 1981 by ORSTOM (now IRD), reflected a scientific and administrative effort to comprehensively document the territory’s physical and human geography. This work, titled *Atlas of New Caledonia and Dependencies*, was a collaborative product of researchers, combining thematic maps with explanatory texts, a hallmark of the French school of national atlases. Three decades later, a second edition, *Atlas of New Caledonia* (2012), updated and expanded the coverage, incorporating new data on demographics, environment, and development. The editorial approach remained consistent: rigorous, multidisciplinary, and visually accessible, serving both scholarly and policy needs. While only two editions exist, they collectively mark the evolution of the territory’s self-knowledge, from a dependency to a more autonomous entity. These atlases have become essential references for planners, educators, and researchers, and they stand as a testament to the enduring value of national cartography in small island contexts.