Capital: Mata'utu (Wallis) and Leava (Futuna)
Population: 14166 (1996)
Wallis: 9528
Futuna: 4638
Official language: French
Majority group: wallisian (67%)
Colonial language: French
Minority groups: futunian (32%), metropolitan French (1%)
Political system: French territory statute of overseas (TOM)
Constitutional articles (language): art. 2 of the French Constitution of 1958 (modified in 1992)
Linguistic laws: all linguistic laws of the French Republic of which the law n° 75-620 of July 11 1975relative to the education; the law n° 84-52 of January 26, 1984 considering the higher education; the law of orientation n° 89-486 of July 10, 1989 on the education; the decree no°93-535 of March 27, 1993 carrying approval of the notebook of the missions and the loads of the overseas French national Society of broadcasting and television (RFO).

I GEOGRAPHICAL DATA
Wallis-Et-Futuna is a French territory of situated overseas in the Pacific-South, either in the geographical zone from Polynesia to the East of Papua New Guinea and Australia, more precisely to the north of the Fiji islands and Tonga, but to the west of the Samoa islands (look at the card 1). The territory of Wallis-Et-Futuna is formed of two distinct archipelagos (look at the card 2): on the one hand, the Wallis island, named 'Uvea by the islanders (77,5 km²) and broadside of about fifteen islets (81,5 km2), on the other hand, to 240 km to the southwest of Wallis, the Futuna islands (64 km²) and Alofi (51 km²) separated one of the other by a fairway of 2 km (look at the card 3); only the Wallis/Uvea islands and Futuna are lived. This French territory of is situated overseas to 2100 km in the northeast of New Caledonia and to 3200 km of the French Polynesia.
To a few 22 000 km of Paris, Wallis-Et-Futuna represents the most distant territory of the Metropolis without a doubt. It is to note that Wallis-Et-Futuna constitutes one of the three French territories of the Pacific-South, with the French Polynesia and New Caledonia. Besides, the territory of Wallis-Et-Futuna is part of a vast whole covering a big part of the Pacific and forming that that one named the "Polynesian triangle" whose summits are Hawaii to the north, the island of Easter in the southeast and New Zealand to the southwest.

II HISTORIC DATA
The population in this part of Oceania began a few 1500 years before our era. Before, from access of Asia of the southeast, some populations had populated New Guinea, Vanuatu and New Caledonia. The population continued then eastward with the Fiji islands, Wallis, Futuna, Tonga and Samoa. Some archaeological excavations put on the day of the sites wallisians dating 1400 before our era and sites futunians dating of 800 years before our era. One also knows that colonized several archipelagos of the region of the Tanginess, inhabitants of kingdom of Tonga, of which Wallis, toward the XVth century. In Futuna, it is a migration of origin samoane that exercised a strong influence on the island. The system of "chefferies to titles" always in force today would be of origin tongienne.

2.1 The Dutchmen
The first European presence appeared April 28, 1616 whereas the Dutchman Jacob the Mayor and William Cornélius Schouten discovered Futuna and Alofi that they named Horn islands, of the name of their native city, that they also gave to the Cape Horn. But the Futuna Island only served place of restocking and the Dutchmen didn't install themselves of it.

2.2 The English
In June 1767, the frigate of the English navigator Samuel Wallis approached the beach of the island of Tahiti in Polynesia; Captain Wallis took possession of it in the name of the king of England. August 16 of the same year, the English navigator went one day by the island of Uvéa that was baptized Wallis then by its officers. But its passage limited itself to some exchanges of supplies and the discovery of Wallis Captain didn't know in succession.

2.3 The French
The European influence made itself feel more distinctly in November 1837 with the implantation of French Catholic missions. The archipelagos of Wallis and Futuna were converted quickly to Christianity by the father's maristes. The father Chanel, one of the founders of the Mission of Futuna, was murdered April 28, 1841, what entailed some conflicts between kingdoms. Since April 5, 1842, the customary authorities made a first demand of protectorate in France; some months later, kingdoms of Alo and Sigave (Futuna) made in the same way. This demand was only ratified in 1887, under the reign, in Wallis, of Queen Amelia. The signed treaty strengthened the French positions in the Pacific, while assuring the protection of the Wallans and the Futunians in case of conflict. However, Wallis and Futunas remained connected administratively in New Caledonia. The statute of protectorate was revised in May 1910 and was ratified again in November of the same year. It is only in 1931 that Wallis-Et-Futuna knew its first maritime link with New Caledonia as well as the introduction of the French franc in the economy. During World War II, in June 1942, the Wallis Island was used like strategic air base by the United States. The Americans created, May 28, 1942, the basis "Navy 207": it was 6000 soldiers who got settled in Wallis and endowed the island of modern infrastructures.

Then, December 27, 1959, the islanders of Wallis and Futuna chose the French territory statute of overseas (TOM). This decision was taken by a very large majority in the setting of a referendum with an expressed answer positive of 94,3% of the suffrages. The referendum has been confirmed one year and half juridical later by the law n° 61-814 of July 29, 1961 conferring to the Wallis islands and Futunas the statute of territory of overseas. Then, the decree n° 62.288 of March 14, 1962 fixed the assignments of the territorial Council of the islands. Finally, the law n° 73.549 of June 28, 1973 modified the article 12 of the law n° 61.814 of July 29, 1961. In all these legal documents, no disposition has not been foreseen about the language. In fact, the territory of Wallis-Et-Futuna, as French territory of overseas, depends on the French Constitution and the French laws, with some adjustments bound to the local common law (the chefferies).
Contrary to the two other French territories of the Pacific, New Caledonia and the French Polynesia, the two islands of Wallis and Futunas seem not to know any movement autonomist. The Wallisians and the Futunians kept their Polynesian traditions. It is the Lavelua, the king of Wallis, who watches over the custom, with his "big chefferie", as well as the two sovereigns of Sigave and Alo (island of Futuna). In this French territory of another world, the church and the monarchy share the power: the custom of the clans and the domestic conflicts supplant the political uses of the Metropolis comfortably. Besides, the small local aristocracy blocks all real modernization, but it takes advantage extensively of the metropolitan subsidies, which are considerable and impossible to encode with precision.