(CNN)New Caledonia voted against independence from France on Sunday for a second time in two years.More than 53.2% of voters said they wanted their territory to remain French, delivering a result that French President Emmanuel Macron welcomed “with a deep sense of gratitude” and “humility,” in a solemn address from the Elysée Palace in Paris.Despite the overall result, support for independence is growing in the New Caledonia, which was colonized by France in 1853. More than 46.7% of ballots cast were in favor of independence, up from 43.3% in the last vote in November 2018.Turnout was over 85% as the poll took place without any masks or social distancing measures. The pandemic has largely spared the archipelago, which has kept Covid-19 case numbers very low by drastically reducing international flights and imposing mandatory quarantine for all arrivals.The referendum was part of a decolonization plan under the Nouméa Accord, agreed in 1998, which ended a deadly conflict between the mostly pro-independence indigenous Kanak population and the descendants of European settlers. Another referendum can be held by 2022 if at least a third of the local legislature requests it.Located between Australia and Fiji, New Caledonia gives France a strategic foothold in the Pacific Ocean, where China is expanding its influence, as well as important nickel reserves. It has a population of 270,000.