Wallis and Futuna, officially the Territory of the Wallis and Futuna
Islands, is a Polynesian French island territory in the South Pacific between
Fiji, Tonga and Samoa.
Its land area is 264 km2 with a population of about 15,000. Mata-Utu is
the capital and biggest city. The territory is made up of three main volcanic
tropical islands along with a number of tiny islets (up to 20), and is split
into two island groups that lie about 260 km apart, namely Wallis Islands
(Uvea) in the northeast, and Futuna Islands (Hoorn Islands) in the southwest,
including Futuna Island proper and the mostly uninhabited Alofi Island (the
population of Alofi was reportedly eaten by the cannibal people of Futuna in
one single raid in the 19th century).
The territory is divided into three traditional kingdoms; Uvea, on the
island of Wallis, Sigave, on the western part of the island of Futuna, and Alo,
on the island of Alofi and on the eastern part of the island of Futuna.
Although the Dutch and the British were the European discoverers of the
islands in the 17th and 18th centuries, it was the French who were the first
Europeans to settle in the territory, with the arrival of French missionaries
in 1837, who converted the population to Roman Catholicism.
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 (on the island of Wallis) signed a treaty officially establishing
a French protectorate. 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. In 1959, the inhabitants of the
islands voted to become a French overseas territory, effective in 1961, thus
ending their subordination to New Caledonia.
Between 1961 and 2003, it had the status of a
French overseas territory. Since 2003 Wallis and Futuna has been a French
overseas collectivity.
There are 3 different coins from Wallis & Futuna Islands:
- 100 francs Brass
- 200 francs Bimetallic Brass/Nickel
- 500 francs Bimetallic Brass/Nickel