Early History of New Duveland

Early History
New Duveland was first settled by Melanesians coming in through New Caledonia into what is now Lapérouse at around 1400 BC, settling and spreading out to all of New Duveland’s main islands from the provinces of Norfolk (northern island) to Capricornia.

Polynesians arrived in ND from New Holland around 1450 CE, also spreading throughout the country, peacefully interacting with the already established and flourishing Melanesian population.

European Discovery
The Dutch Explorer Abel Tasman first discovered the islands in 1642, calling the islands New Duveland, after the northern area of Zeeland. The islands remained unexplored until Captain James Cook returned to the islands and mapped all of them after he had mapped New Zealand and New Holland. The North coast of Lapérouse was explored by Jean-François de Galaup, comte de Lapérouse, where he then disappeared into the Lapérouse wilderness.

Settlement and Early History
Settlement was commenced in early 1832 along with NZ and NH. Even though New Holland was far more successful than New Duveland, the ND colony had a larger population, having a population of around 50,000 by the end of 1840 but was mostly poor farmers from Europe as the fertile land was ideal for farming conditions with most of the wealthier settlers moving to New Holland. This resulted in both colonies being economically locked to each other, with New Duveland supplying food for New Holland, while New Holland supplied technological and banking services. This is still evident today, with both nations being heavily economically locked to each other to this day. By the time New Holland was classified as a different colony from New South Wales in 1851, New Duveland, along with Lapérouse became independent as well. Lapérouse was claimed as a French colony along with New Caledonia. The Colony was organized into 5 provinces, each keeping order over the province and of their settlements.