New Caledonia was discovered by Captain James Cook in 1774, and though he dropped anchor and named the island after a part of Scotland, he never claimed it for his sovereign. Instead, it was left to the French who officially annexed New Caledonia in 1853, when a penal colony was set up here. Convict labor was instrumental in helping to erect many of the colonial-style buildings, and the convicts continued to toil on the island until the penitentiary was closed in 1897. By the end of the 19th century, the French realized that the real worth of the island was in the large reserves of cobalt, copper, nickel, chrome and manganese. The minerals are near the surface and are easy to extract, and mining is still the backbone of the economy. During World War II, thousands
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