History Wallis and Futuna

 Historical dates

Between 1500 and 500 BC: Wallis and Futuna are populated by original citizens from New Caledonia.
15th century AD: Futuna falls under the control of Samoa, while Wallis is invaded by Tongans.
1616: Dutch explorers, Jaques le Maire and William Schouten, discover the archipelago.
1767: after having discovered Tahiti, the British navigator Samuel Wallis arrives on the island that still bears his name.
1887: Wallis is named a French Protectorate, Futuna will become so a year later.
1961: the archipelago becomes a French overseas territory.
1993: Wallis and Futuna are victims of a huge earthquake.
2002: Christian Job is named prefect of Wallis and Futuna.
January 2004: the law forbidding the wearing of religious symbols in state schools is implemented.
9 October 2004, Senator Gaston Flosse is elected president of the Polynesian assembly.
3 June 2005, Oscar Temaru is elected president of Polynesia. 26.12.06: the mayor of Bora Bora Gaston Tong Sang is elected president of French Polynesia.
January 2007, following the adoption of the new law on overseas territories, Wallis and Futuna becomes a 'COM' or Overseas Collectivity with a great deal of autonomy.