Introduction: The Futuna island group was discovered by the Dutch in 1616 and Wallis by the British in 1767, but it was the French who declared a protectorate over the islands in 1842, and took official control of them between 1886 and 1888. Notably, Wallis and Futuna was the only French colony to side with the Vichy regime during World War II, a phase that ended in May of 1942 with the arrival of 2,000 American troops. In 1959, the inhabitants of the islands voted to become a French overseas territory and officially assumed this status in July...

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Economic Overview: A small, subsistence economy

Local economic activity is essentially limited to traditional subsistence agriculture, fishing and some livestock breeding (mainly pigs). Even so, the territory does not produce enough food to meet local demand - foodstuffs represent around one-third of its imports. Building materials are the other main import. Unemployment is the territory's most pressing economic and social problem, with only an estimated 1,800 of the Territory's 15,000 inhabitants in formal employment (and more than half are in the public sector). Some revenue is provided by remittances from relatives living in New ...

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