The Wallis and Futuna Islands, which also include the uninhabited Alofi which may or may not have lost its population through a cannibal raid, became a French overseas collectivity in 2003.
There are problems with deforestation as wood is the predominant fuel source and the economy is for the most part based on subsistence agriculture. While opportunities for relaxation exist there are not the resorts that exist on many island destinations. Architectural sights include the King's Palace, Pierre Chanel Church and Talietumu, a Tongan archaeological site. On the other hand there are crater lakes showing some of the forces that created the islands, a few lagoons and of course the coast.
Although discovered by the Dutch and the British in the 17th and 18th centuries, it was the French who declared a protectorate over the islands in 1842. In 1959, the inhabitants of the islands voted to become a French overseas territory. There are still three ceremonial kingdoms within the territory: Alo, Sigave, Wallis.
