Wallis Island

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Map of the Wallis Islands

Wallis (Wallisian: ʻUvea) is an island in the Pacific Ocean belonging to the French overseas collectivity (collectivité d'outre-mer, or COM) of Wallis and Futuna.

1 Geography
2 History
3 Demographics
4 Administration
5 Transportation
6 See also
7 References
8 External links

[edit] Geography

The island has an area of 77,5 km² and a circumference of c. 50 km. Its highest point is Mount Loka (131 m). There are also a handful of large lakes, sign of the volcanic origin, some of them almost perfect circles and with straight vertical walls, like Lano Lalolalo.

Lano Lalolalo

Wallis is located 240 km notheast of Futuna and Alofi islands. Together with some 15 smaller islands surrounding it, on its huge barrier reef, it forms the Wallis archipelago. Wallis has a fertile volcanic soil and sufficient rainfall to allow subsistence farming.

[edit] History

Archaeological excavations have identified sites on Wallis dating from circa 1400 BC.

It was part of the Tongan maritime empire from around the 13th to 16th century. By that time the influence of the Tuʻi Tonga had declined so much that ʻUvea became important in itself. Several current, high ranking Tongan titles, like Halaevalu, trace their descent from ʻUvea. A legendary large canoe, the Lomipeau was built on the island as a donation to the Tuʻi Tonga. The big fortress of Talietumu close to Lotoalahi in Mua was the last holdout of the Tongans until they were defeated. The ruins of the place are still a tourist attraction:

Ruins of the fortress of Talietumu

The island was renamed Wallis after an Cornish navigator, Captain Samuel Wallis, who discovered it while sailing the HMS Dolphin on August 16, 1767, following his discovery of Tahiti.

[edit] Demographics

The population of the island was 10,071 in 2003 (67% of the territory's population). Most of the inhabitants speak ʻUvean (or Wallisian) as their mother tongue. Almost all are Roman Catholic, and the number of churches, chapels, oratories, etc. is overwhelming.

[edit] Administration

ʻUvea (Wallis) is one of the three traditional chiefdoms of Wallis and Futuna, the other two being Alo and Sigave in the Hoorn Islands (Futuna Islands). Its capital, Matāʻutu, located on the east coast, is also the capital of the whole territory, Wallis and Futuna. The chiefdom is divided into three districts, which are listed from north to south:

District (meaning)	Capital	Area (km²)	Population Census 2003	Villages
Hihifo (west)	Vaitupu	23.4	2422	5
Hahake (east)	Matāʻutu	27.8	3950	6
Mu'a (first)	Mala'efo'ou ⁽¹⁾	26.3	3699	12
'Uvea (Wallis) chiefdom	Matāʻutu	77.5	10071	23