Caldoche is the name given to
European inhabitants of the
French overseas collectivity of
New Caledonia, mostly native-born French settlers. The formal name to refer to this particular population is , short for the very formal , but this
self-appellation technically includes all inhabitants of the New Caledonian archipelago, not just the Caldoche. Another "
white" demographic element (although they may well be French people of different ethnic backgrounds) in the territory is expatriates from
metropolitan France who live there temporarily as
civil servants. Caldoches are keen to differentiate themselves from these inhabitants, underlining their position as the permanent locals, referring to them as (short for ) or as
Zoreilles (informally ) in local slang.