Futuna Island is the largest of the two Hoorn Islands in Wallis and Futuna and it covers an area of 83 square kilometers. The other Hoorn island is Alofi Island which lies about 1.5 km to the south. Wallis, Futuna and Alofi are overseas communities of France.
History
[edit]The Futuna Island is known as the place where Pierre Chanel, a French priest, was martyred in 1841 and became the only Catholic saint in the Polynesian region. It is also said that it was marked on a European map when Willem Schouten and Jacob Le Maire, a Dutch navigator traveling around the world in 1616, touched the island. They called the island Hoorn Eylanden after the city of Hoorn, where Schouten was born, and it was settled under the name of Hoorn.
Understand
[edit]Regions
[edit]
- Alo - the chiefdom comprising the eastern two-thirds of the island. The Alo chiefdom also covers the neighbouring Alofi Island, which is uninhabited.
- Sigavé (Singave) - the chiefdom comprising western third of the island
Villages
[edit]- Leava - the capital of Sigavé, and the island's third largest village
- Mala'e - the capital of Alo
- Ono - the island's largest village, in Alo
- Taoa - the island's second largest village, in Alo
Get in
[edit]Air Louyaté offers daily flights between the Hoorn and Wallis Islands. Flights connect Aéroport de Pointe-Vele (NLWF) on the southern tip of Futuna Island with Aéroport de Hihifo (NLWW) on Uvéa Island. Strong winds can delay or cancel flights in either direction. The distance is about 260 km and flights last an hour each way.