Located between Fiji and Samoa, Wallis and Futuna are a French Polynesian island territory in the South Pacific. It is split into two island groups but consists of three main islands and many smaller inlets. It has been an oversea territory to the French since 1961 and has since reconstituted into a collectivity.
Among the islands, Wallis is the most populated, with Futuna, and the uninhabited island of Alofi. There are about 20 other inlets, all of which are uninhabited as well. The area has a distinct season of hot and humid rainy weather and dry and cool weather for half of the year. Only a small percentage of the land is arable, and a sizable minority of it is cropland. Due to deforestation, the region suffers from serious erosion. The main reason for Alofi not being settled by humans is due to the lack of fresh water natural resources and the inability to procure them in an economically efficient manner.