thumb|350 px| The Hoorn Islands.

Futuna (; ) is the largest island in Hoorn Islands or Îles Horne, located in the Pacific Ocean, part of the French overseas collectivity (collectivité d'outre-mer) of Wallis and Futuna. The island occupies an area of and as of 2018 it has a population of 3,225.

Futuna is a local name, the etymology of which is unknown.

Geography

Futuna and Alofi are both remnants of the same extinct volcano, now bordering with a fringing reef. Futuna's highest point is Mont Puke at above sea level, and the island has an area of , with in Sigave and in Alo. It is separated from Wallis Island to the north by water deeper than in the Vitiaz Trench. As recently as March 2000 this ridge was discovered to be a spreading center extending over a distance of more than from the north of Fiji to the northwest of Futuna Island and a boundary of the Futuna plate which is a slightly ill defined microplate with triple junctions with the Pacific and Australian plates. The northern part of the ridge contains basaltic volcanoes such as Utu Uli that are younger than 780,000 years old and at depths of more than precluding explosive eruptions, so that their eruptions are effusive. There is a wide area of seafloor to the east of Futuna, with a WSW-ENE orientation, and with many volcanoes known as the South-East Futuna Volcanic Zone (SEFVZ). Studies afterwards revealed past tsunami events have occurred.

Climate

Futuna (Maopoopo weather station) has a tropical rainforest climate (Köppen climate classification Af). The average annual temperature in Maopoopo is . The average annual rainfall is with December as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in February, at around , and lowest in August, at around . The highest temperature ever recorded in Maopoopo was on 10 January 2016; the coldest temperature ever recorded was on 12 August 1980.

Demographics

As of the 2018 census, the population of the island was 3,225, with 1,950 residing in the Alo district and 1,275 in Sigave. Futuna makes up approximately 27.9% of the population of Wallis and Futuna. The most spoken languages on Futuna are Futunan (94.5%), French (5.3%), and Wallisian (0.2%).

Culture

thumb|Futuna and Alofi (photo: NASA)

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, Malae, Ono, Kolia and Vele (at the airstrip) in Alo.

99% of the population of Wallis and Futuna are Catholic. Although the island is closer to Tonga and farther from Samoa than Uvea, the vernacular and culture are more Samoan.

Futuna is where Pierre Chanel was martyred in 1841, becoming Polynesia's only Catholic saint. The cathedral of Poi now stands on the site where he was martyred.

Education

There are six primary schools on Futuna. The island also has two junior high schools (collèges): Fiua de Sigave and Sisia d'Ono. Residents are served by a senior high school/sixth-form college, Lycée d'Etat de Wallis et Futuna, on Wallis.

See also

  • Pointe Vele Airport
  • Peter Chanel
  • Customary kingdoms of Wallis and Futuna

References

References

  • Cartes institut géographique national (4902F)
  • https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/wallis-and-futuna-islands-population/
  • Robert Kerr (1824): Voyage round the world, in 1615-1617, by William Cornelison Schouten and Jacques le Maire, going round Cape Horn. The comments of the editor to the original ship's journals are completely wrong, however.
  • Percy Smith (1892): "Futuna; or, Horne Island and its People" , Journal of the Polynesian Society, vol.1, pp. 33–52
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