PINS, LE DES

English Isle of Pines, also called Kunie Island island in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, within the French overseas territory of New Caledonia. With an area of 59 square miles (152 square km), it is forested with pinelike coniferous trees of the genus Araucaria cooki (hence its name) and is rugged, rising to Nga Peak (870 feet ). The island was once a penal colony but by the 1970s had a growing tourist trade. Exports include shrimp and oysters. The main town and administrative centre is Vao, on the south coast. Pop. (1989 prelim.) 1,465.