Pro-independence campaigners are boycotting the vote, saying they want it postponed to September because "a fair campaign" is not possible with high coronavirus infection numbers.
France's nickel-rich Pacific territory of New Caledonia has begun voting in a third and final referendum on independence.
Having rejected a breakaway from France in 2018 and then again last year, the inhabitants are being asked one last time on Sunday: "Do you want New Caledonia to accede to full sovereignty and become independent?"
The final vote is expected to be tight, after two previous polls, in 2018 and 2020, narrowed the "No" vote from 57 percent to 53 percent.
However, the indigenous Kanak population, who largely favour independence, have called for non-participation in the referendum as they are in a 12-month mourning period following September's surge in Delta infections of the coronavirus.
"Early signs in New Caledonia that the independence movement call for 'non-participation' is being heeded," a journalist in the Pacific, Nic Maclellan, said on Twitter.
"While there are queues of voters at Noumea town hall in the capital, few voters are turning out so far in Kanak-majority areas in the Loyalty Islands and Northern Province."
Boycott over Covid
Just over 41 percent of eligible voters had cast their ballots by 5 pm local time (0600 GMT), the French embassy in New Caledonia said. That was well below the figure at the same time during the 2020 vote, when nearly 80 percent of votes had been cast.
"I don't want to go and vote because I don't agree with this final poll," said Jean-Pierre Wadra, a resident of the capital Noumea.
New Caledonia's 270,000 inhabitants were largely spared during the pandemic's first phase, but have suffered close to 300 Covid-19 deaths since the recent appearance of the Delta variant.
The pro-independence movement has still threatened non-recognition of the referendum outcome and vowed to appeal to the United Nations to have it canceled.
The pro-French camp, meanwhile, has called on supporters to turn out, fearing the boycott by pro-independence parties may prompt them to stay at home with victory looking like a foregone conclusion.
"It is important that the mobilisation of the no-independence supporters remains absolute, to show that they are in a majority and united in their wish for New Caledonia to remain part of the French republic," said Thierry Santa, president of the conservative Rassemblement-LR party.
'War'
The territory of about 185,000 voters, 2,000 kilometres (1,250 miles) east of Australia, was granted three independence referendums under a 1988 deal aimed at easing tensions on the islands.
In June, the various political parties agreed with the French government that the referendum, whatever its outcome, should lead to "a period of stability and convergence" and be followed by a new referendum by June 2023 which would decide on the "project" New Caledonia's people want to pursue.
But hopes for a smooth transition were jolted when the main indigenous pro-independence movement, the FLNKS, deemed the government's insistence on going ahead with the referendum "a declaration of war".
The pro-Paris side won the 2018 referendum with 56.7 percent of the vote, but that fell to 53.3 percent in the 2020 election.
The vote comes against the backdrop of increasingly strained ties between Paris and its regional allies.
France regards itself as a major Indo-Pacific player thanks to overseas territories such as New Caledonia.
President Emmanuel Macron has insisted the French state takes no side in the referendum, other than to ensure fair and smooth proceedings.
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(With input from news agency language)
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