Alofi Island

Alofi is an island in the Pacific Ocean belonging to the French overseas collectivity (collectivité d'outre-mer, or COM) of Wallis and Futuna. It is virtually uninhabited (population 2 as of census of 2003 in the village of Alofitai in the west), and under the chief of Alo on Futuna, but in pre-European times it was as densely populated as Futuna, which would have been a population of almost 1900. Former villages were Sologa (north), Sa'avaka (southeast), Alofitai (west), and Mua (northwest). Some maps also show a village of Gaino in the north. Alofi island is only 2 kilometres southeast of Futuna. Those Futunians who have plantations on Alofi come there at least every Saturday to tend their gardens. A popular crop is tobacco, and they then take enough leaves with them to be able to have a smoke for the rest of the week.

The island has an area of 32 km² and Mont Kolofau (also called Mont Bougainville) reaches to an height of 410m. It is also known as one of the two Horne Islands, Futuna being the other.

References

Cartes institut géographique national (4902F)