WALLIS AND FUTUNA

42 team members
Adopt-a-country school: Rutaki School
Accommodation: Rutaki School
Dining: Calvary Hall

Capital:    Mata Utu
Land Area:    145 sq km
Languages:   Wallisan, Futunian, French
Currency:    French Pacific Franc

The island nation is composed of two separate groups with three main volcanic tropical islands, located between Fiji and Samoa. 
The island of Wallis was called Uvea by its first inhabitants, Polynesian navigators who came from Tonga around 1400AD. Its current name comes from Captain Samuel Wallis, the British sailor who came upon the territory in 1767 after his visit to Tahiti.
Due to the lack of resources on their home islands, their inhabitants have migrated in large numbers to New Caledonia where job opportunities have been greater.
However the population still stands at almost 15,000 people, the majority of which are of Polynesian ethnicity with a small minority of French descent.
Wallis and Futuna became a French protectorate in 1887 and an overseas territory in 1961, following a local referendum. However, since 2003 Wallis and Futuna has been a French overseas collectivity.