Wallis and Futuna, officially the Territory of the Wallis and Futuna Islands, is a French island collectivity in the South Pacific, situated between Tuvalu to the northwest, Fiji to the southwest, Tonga to the southeast, Samoa to the east, and Tokelau to the northeast.
Mata Utu is its capital and largest city. Wallis and Futuna is associated with the European Union as an overseas country and territory (OCT). The territory’s land area is 142.42 km² (54.99 sq mi). It had a population of 11,151 at the July 2023 census (down from 14,944 at the 2003 census). The territory is made up of three main volcanictropical islands and a number of tiny islets. It is divided into two island groups that lie about 260 km (160 mi) apart: the Wallis Islands (also known as Uvea) in the northeast; and the Hoorn Islands (also known as the Futuna Islands) in the southwest, including Futuna Island proper and the mostly uninhabited Alofi Island.
Since 28 March 2003, Wallis and Futuna has been a French overseas collectivity (collectivité d’outre-mer, or COM). Between 1961 and 2003, it had the status of a French overseas territory (territoire d’outre-mer, or TOM). Its official name did not change with the change in its status.
The territory’s economy consists mostly of traditional subsistence agriculture, with about 80% of the labor force earning its livelihood from agriculture (coconuts and vegetables), livestock (mostly pigs), and fishing. About 4% of the population is employed in government. Additional revenue comes from French government subsidies, licensing of fishing rights to Japan and South Korea, import taxes, and remittances from expatriate workers in New Caledonia, French Polynesia, and France. Industries include copra, handicrafts, fishing, and lumber. Agricultural products include coconuts, breadfruit, yams, taro, bananas, pigs, and fish. Exports include copra, chemicals, and fish. There is a single bank in the territory, Banque de Wallis-et-Futuna, established in 1991. It is a subsidiary of BNP Paribas. There had previously been a branch of Banque Indosuez at Mata Utu. It had opened in 1977, but was closed in 1989, leaving the territory without any bank for two years.
Traditionally, bartering among family members is common; selling goods and pursuing profit is uncommon. It is expected that the family member with more will share with others. A person’s standing is not based on their wealth, but on their ability to give generously to others. Therefore, the accumulation of wealth and hoarding are not practiced in Valaisan and Futunan society. In fact, the Valaisan language has no word for either wealth or money.
Wallis and Futuna’s infrastructure includes a wharf in Halalo and another in Mata-Utu, allowing cargo ships to dock and unload the many imported goods. On Futuna, ships can access the island via the Sigave Bay, in calm weather.
Customary festivals are extremely important in Wallis and Futuna. During these ceremonies, several pigs are sacrificed and offered as tributes to the King and to the entire chieftainship, following a well-established protocol. In Wallis, these ceremonies are called katoaga and are deeply rooted in Wallisian culture, structuring daily life: they take place during religious celebrations (each district honors its patron saint annually), family events, or secular festivities such as Bastille Day on 14 July or the Territory Day on 29 July. These customary festivals have ancient origins and have persisted throughout the territory’s history: “this is not a form of folklore for tourists, nor an attempt to reclaim a lost cultural heritage.” Instead, it is an example of the circulation of goods following a logic of gift and counter-gift, similar to the potlatch.
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