Country:  Wallis and Futuna
(overseas territory of France)
- Geography
Total area: 274 km2; land area: 274 km2
 
Comparative area: slightly larger than Washington, DC
 
Land boundaries: none
 
Coastline: 129 km
 
Maritime claims:
 
Continental shelf: 200 meters or to depth of exploitation;
 
Extended economic zone: 200 nm;
 
Territorial sea: 12 nm
 
Climate: tropical; hot, rainy season (November to April); cool,
dry season (May to October)
 
Terrain: volcanic origin; low hills
 
Natural resources: negligible
 
Land use: 5% arable land; 20% permanent crops;
0% meadows and pastures; 0% forest and woodland; 75% other
 
Environment: both island groups have fringing reefs
 
Note: located 4,600 km southwest of Honolulu in the South Pacific Ocean
about two-thirds of the way from Hawaii to New Zealand
 
- People
Population: 14,910 (July 1990), growth rate 3.0% (1990)
 
Birth rate: 28 births/1,000 population (1990)
 
Death rate: 6 deaths/1,000 population (1990)
 
Net migration rate: 8 migrants/1,000 population (1990)
 
Infant mortality rate: 32 deaths/1,000 population (1990)
 
Life expectancy at birth: 69 years male, 70 years female (1990)
 
Total fertility rate: 3.8 children born/woman (1990)
 
Nationality: noun--Wallisian(s), Futunan(s), or Wallis and Futuna
Islanders; adjective--Wallisian, Futunan, or Wallis and Futuna Islander
 
Ethnic divisions: almost entirely Polynesian
 
Religion: largely Roman Catholic
 
Language: French, Wallisian (indigenous Polynesian language)
 
Literacy: NA%
 
Labor force: NA
 
Organized labor: NA
 
- Government
Long-form name: Territory of the Wallis and Futuna Islands
 
Type: overseas territory of France
 
Capital: Mata-Utu
 
Administrative divisions: none (overseas territory of France)
 
Independence: none (overseas territory of France)
 
Constitution: 28 September 1958 (French Constitution)
 
Legal system: French
 
National holiday: Taking of the Bastille, 14 July (1789)
 
Executive branch: French president, high administrator; note--there are
three traditional kings with limited powers
 
Legislative branch: unicameral Territorial Assembly
(Assemblee Territoriale)
 
Judicial branch: none; justice generally administered under French
law by the chief administrator, but the three traditional kings
administer customary law and there is a magistrate in Mata-Utu
 
Leaders:
Chief of State--President Francois MITTERRAND
(since 21 May 1981);
 
Head of Government--Chief Administrator Roger DUMEC
(since 15 July 1988)
 
Political parties and leaders: Rally for the Republic (RPR);
Union Populaire Locale (UPL); Union Pour la Democratie Francaise
(UDF)
 
Suffrage: universal adult at age NA
 
Elections:
Territorial Assembly--last held 15 March 1987
(next to be held March 1992);
results--percent of vote by party NA;
seats--(20 total) RPR 7, UDF coalition 7, UPL 6;
 
French Senate--last held NA (next to be held NA);
results--percent of vote by party NA;
seats--(1 total) party of the representative is NA;
 
French National Assembly--last held NA (next to be held NA);
results--percent of vote by party NA;
seats--(1 total) RPR 1
 
Diplomatic representation: as an overseas territory of France, local
interests are represented in the US by France
 
Flag: the flag of France is used
 
- Economy
Overview: The economy is limited to subsistence agriculture.
The majority of the labor force earns its livelihood from agriculture,
raising livestock, and fishing, with the rest employed by the government sector.
Exports are negligible. The Territory has to import food, fuel, and construction
materials, and is dependent on budgetary support from France to meet recurring
expenses. The economy also benefits from cash remittances from expatriate
workers.
 
GDP: $6.7 million, per capita $484; real growth rate NA% (est. 1985)
 
Inflation rate (consumer prices): NA%
 
Unemployment rate: NA%
 
Budget: revenues $NA; expenditures $NA, including capital expenditures of
$NA
 
Exports: $NA; commodities--copra; partners--NA
 
Imports: $3.4 million (c.i.f., 1977); commodities--largely
foodstuffs and some equipment associated with development programs;
partners--France, Australia, New Zealand
 
External debt: $NA
 
Industrial production: growth rate NA%
 
Electricity: 1,200 kW capacity; 1 million kWh produced,
70 kWh per capita (1989)
 
Industries: copra, handicrafts, fishing, lumber
 
Agriculture: dominated by coconut production, with subsistence crops of
yams, taro, bananas
 
Aid: Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments
(1970-87), $118 million
 
Currency: Comptoirs Francais du Pacifique franc (plural--francs);
1 CFP franc (CFPF) = 100 centimes
 
Exchange rates: Comptoirs Francais du Pacifique francs (CFPF) per
US$1--104.71 (January 1990), 115.99 (1989), 108.30 (1988), 109.27 (1987),
125.92 (1986), 163.35 (1985); note--linked at the rate of 18.18 to the French
franc
 
Fiscal year: NA
 
- Communications
Highways: 100 km on Ile Uvea (Wallis Island), 16 km sealed;
20 km earth surface on Ile Futuna (Futuna Island)
 
Inland waterways: none
 
Ports: Mata-Utu, Leava
 
Airports: 2 total; 2 usable; 1 with permanent-surface runways;
none with runways over 2,439 m; 1 with runways 1,220-2,439 m
 
Telecommunications: 225 telephones; stations--1 AM, no FM, no TV
 
- Defense Forces
Note: defense is the responsibility of France