page_title: Futuna (Wallis and Futuna)
section_title: Culture
hierarchical_section_title: Futuna (Wallis and Futuna) / Culture
caption_attribution_description: Futuna and Alofi, also known as Horne Islands
context_page_description: Futuna is an 80 km² island with a population of 3,225 and a maximum elevation of 500 m in the Pacific Ocean, belonging to the French overseas collectivity of Wallis and Futuna. It is one of the Hoorn Islands or Îles Horne, nearby Alofi being the other. They are both a remnant of an old extinct volcano, now bordered with a fringing reef.
  On the island is the place where Pierre Chanel was martyred in 1841, becoming Polynesia's only Catholic saint. Futuna takes its name from an endonym derived from the local futu, fish-poison tree.
context_section_description: Two kings, elected from the local nobility every few years, rule the population in conjunction with French authorities. They are the king of Sigave, the western province, and the king of Alo, the eastern province including Alofi. Except for Poi all villages are along the southwest coast, and they are from west to east: Toloke, Fiua, Vaisei, Nuku, and Leava (capital with the wharf) in Sigave, and Taoa, Malaʻe, Ono, Kolia and Vele (at the airstrip) in Alo.
  As on ʻUvea, all Futunans are deeply religious Catholics and the number of churches, chapels and oratories is overwhelming. Although the island is closer to Tonga and farther from Samoa than ʻUvea, the vernacular and culture are more Samoan. The languages spoken are Futunan and French.
caption: Futuna and Alofi (photo: NASA)
exif: {}