The French territory of New Caledonia voted against independence on Sunday in a third and final referendum on the issue, amid a big drop in turnout due to a call by the independence movement to boycott the vote.
The final count showed an overwhelming 96.5 percent of voters in the Pacific island territory supported remaining with France, while only 3.5 percent favored independence.
However, only 43.9 percent of eligible voters participated in the final ballot on the issue.
The independence movement, made up largely of the indigenous Kanak population, had vowed nonparticipation in Sunday's vote after France refused to postpone the referendum.
The independentists had sought a postponement due to disruptions caused by the coronavirus pandemic, which did not allow for adequate campaigning, and to observe a customary mourning period for those lost to COVID-19.
With pro-independence parties having vowed not to recognize the results, uncertainty over the future of New Caledonia remains, despite a formal recognition of the result by French President Emmanuel Macron in a televised speech Sunday night.
"The independentists had a perfect right to vote," said a 55-year-old woman as she exited the polls. "If they chose not to, that is their right, but they must live with (the results)."
Many European residents in New Caledonia, which comprises dozens of islands in the South Pacific, have expressed a desire to maintain the status quo, with the territory receiving financial support from the French government.
There has also been speculation that independence for the territory could see an increase in China's influence in the Pacific.
Under the Noumea Accord signed in 1988, after violence in the archipelago, New Caledonia was given a total of three opportunities to hold independence referendums.
Sunday's result was a far cry from the close counts of the previous two referendums held in 2018 and 2020, which saw the vote in favor of staying with France at 56 to 44 and 53 to 47 percent, respectively.
