New Caledonia has what you might expect of a South Pacific paradise​—a pleasant climate the year round, luscious fruits to incite the palate, abundant vegetation to delight the eye, and a colorful mixture of over 150,000 Melanesians, Polynesians, Asians, and Europeans.

In 1976 the Watch Tower Society established a branch office in Nouméa and oversaw the construction of the island’s first Kingdom Hall.a

Especially since then, great strides have been made in gathering loyal subjects for Jehovah’s established Kingdom from all the country’s different ethnic groups. For example, some 17,000 people from Wallis and Futuna​—tiny islands located north of Fiji—​live in New Caledonia.