Wallis Island

Wallis Island

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

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, a sign of the islands volcanic origin, some of them almost perfect circles and with straight vertical walls, like Lano Lalolalo.

Wallis is located 240 km northeast 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.

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 Tuokinai Tonga had declined so much that okinaUvea became important in itself. Several current, high ranking Tongan titles, like Halaevalu, trace their descent from okinaUvea. A legendary large canoe, the Lomipeau was built on the island as a donation to the Tuokinai 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:

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.

Demographics

The population of the island was 10,071 in 2003 (67% of the territory's population). Most of the inhabitants speak okinaUvean (or Wallisian) as their mother tongue. Almost all are Roman Catholic, and there are numerous religious buildings on the island.

Administration

okinaUvea (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, Matāokinautu, 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:

(1) formerly called Mua

Transportation

The only commercial flights that go to Wallis are operated by the New Caledonia based Aircalin. There is an Aircalin office in Matāokinautu in Hahake.

ee also

* Hihifo Airport

References

* E.G. Burrows; Ethnology of Uvea; BPB 1937
*

External links

* [http://www.tlfq.ulaval.ca/axl/pacifique/wallis-futuna.htm French world linguistics site]
* [http://www.uvea-mo-futuna.com 'Uvea mo Futuna (Wallis and Futuna online magazine)]
* [http://www.quid.fr/departements.html?mode=detail&dep=986&style=map&secrec=1 Map showing details of Wallis Island]
* [http://www.angelfire.com/poetry/bopeep/Wallispics.html Pictures of Wallis]
* [http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/wf-w.html Flag of `Ueva chiefdom]
*ethnologue|code=wls
* [http://language.psy.auckland.ac.nz/austronesian/language.php?id=258 Wallis Wordlist at the Austronesian Basic Vocabulary Database]


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно сделать НИР?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Wallis (island) — Kingdom of ʻUvea Puleʻaga Hau ʻo ʻUvea …   Wikipedia

  • Wallis and Futuna — [wô′lis] French overseas territory in the South Pacific, northeast of the Fiji Islands: it consists of two groups of islands (Wallis Islands and Futuna Islands): c. 106 sq mi (275 sq km); pop. 14,000 * * * Wallis and Futuna Introduction Wallis… …   Universalium

  • Wallis Islands — Island group (pop., 1996: 9,528), forming the northeastern part of the French overseas territory of Wallis and Futuna, South Pacific Ocean. It comprises the main island of Uvea and eight islets, all enclosed in one coral reef, and it has an area… …   Universalium

  • Wallis — can stand for:*One of a number of places::*The German name for the Valais canton of Switzerland :*Wallis Island, an island in the French territory Wallis and Futuna:*Wallis, Texas*One of several people::*Alfred Wallis (1855 1942), a British… …   Wikipedia

  • Wallis and Futuna Islands — Island group, South Pacific Ocean. It is a self governing overseas territory (pop., 2000 est.: 15,283) of France; it includes Wallis Island (also known as Uvea), the Futuna Islands (Futuna and Alofi), and a number of islets. The administrative… …   Universalium

  • Wallis and Futuna — Territory of the Wallis and Futuna Islands Territoire des îles Wallis et Futuna/ Telituale o Uvea mo Futuna …   Wikipedia

  • Wallis and Futuna — <p></p> <p></p> Introduction ::Wallis and Futuna <p></p> Background: <p></p> The Futuna island group was discovered by the Dutch in 1616 and Wallis by the British in 1767, but it was the French who… …   The World Factbook

  • Wallis Bird — 2010 in Salzburg Chartplatzierungen Erklärung der Daten Alben[1] …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Wallis Bird — durante un concierto en Worms, Alemania en 2007. La imagen no es una inversión, pues aunque Bird usa la guitarra como zurda usa cuerdas estándar. Datos generales …   Wikipedia Español

  • Wallis Bird — en 2007 Surnom Wallisimo Naissance 29 janvier  …   Wikipédia en Français

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”