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| Territory of the Wallis and Futuna Islands Territoire des îles Wallis et Futuna |
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| Motto: Ateaina, Fakatatau, Fakatautehina | ||||||
| Anthem: La Marseillaise |
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| Capital (and largest city) | Mata-Utu | |||||
| Official languages | French, ʻUvean (Wallisian), Futunan | |||||
| Ethnic groups | Polynesian | |||||
| Area | ||||||
| - | Total | 264 km2 km2 102 sq mi sq mi |
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| Population | ||||||
| - | estimate | 15,289 | ||||
| - | 2008 census | 14,848 | ||||
| Currency | CFP franc and Barter | |||||
The islands of Wallis and Futuna are a federation of three kingdoms in Polynesia. Formerly a French protectorate and then an overseas territory, the islands helped to found the Republic of the French Southern Territories in 1999, becoming the smallest of its self-governing collectivities.
History[]
Although the Dutch and the British were the European discoverers of the islands in the 17th and 18th centuries, it was the French that were the first Europeans to settle in the territory, with the arrival of French missionaries in 1837, who converted the population to Roman Catholicism. Pierre Chanel, canonized as a saint in 1954, is a major patron of the island of Futuna and the region. Wallis is named after the British explorer, Samuel Wallis.
On 5 April 1842, the missionaries asked for the protection of France after the rebellion of a part of the local population. On 5 April 1887, the queen of Uvea (the island of Wallis) signed a treaty officially establishing a French protectorate. The kings of Sigave and Alo on the islands of Futuna and Alofi also signed a treaty establishing a French protectorate on 16 February 1888. The islands were put under the authority of the French colony of New Caledonia.
In 1917, the three traditional kingdoms were annexed to France and turned into the Colony of Wallis and Futuna, still under the authority of the Colony of New Caledonia. The kingdoms themselves remained in place and central to island society. In 1959, the inhabitants of the islands voted to become a French Overseas Territory, effective in 1961, thus ending their subordination to New Caledonia.
Untouched by Doomsday, the islands were well placed to survive in the aftermath. Most of the population still fed themselves on traditional farms. Life was guided by the kingdoms, the system of village chiefs, and the Catholic Church. The end of outside trade and investment, as well as food shortages caused by climatic effects of nuclear war, caused hardship, but Wallis and Futuna were in no danger of social or economic collapse.
During the years following the war, Wallis and Futuna transitioned to a more explicitly federal structure as the kingdoms took on more of the work of governing. The Territorial Assembly was expanded to allow the members from each to meet separately as needed and enact legislation applying only to their respective kingdom. The assemblies and chefferies collaborated more closely to settle disputes and provide for their people's needs.
The territory is located roughly midway between the two larger French territories in the Pacific, New Caledonia and French Polynesia. This made it valuable as a meeting place for the region. Throughout the 1980s and 90s, leaders of the French Pacific met periodically in Mata-utu. These meetings did much to maintain French distinctiveness in the face of the expanding influence of Australia and New Zealand, and they helped to redefine French identity in a world where Metropolitan France was no more. They also enhanced the political importance of Wallis and Futuna.
In 1998, leaders from the Pacific and Indian Ocean territories created the plan for the Republic of the French Southern Territories in Mata-utu. Citizens in Wallis and Futuna were the first to hold a vote on joining the new republic, which passed with near-unanimous approval. The Republic was formally declared at a public gathering just outside Mata-utu's cathedral the following year, an event now celebrated every year.
See also[]
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