In a 1985 Exchange of Notes, France, on behalf of its overseas collectivity (collectivité territoriale) of Wallis & Futuna, and Tuvalu established an equidistance line as a provisional maritime boundary. In 2014, the two States formalized this boundary by establishing its two terminal points and eleven turning points. The maritime boundary delimits the overlapping continental shelf and exclusive economic zone entitlements of Wallis & Futuna and Tuvalu. The boundary was drawn as an equidistance line between basepoints on the islands of Wallis and Futuna and corresponding basepoints on Tuvalu’s Niulakita Archipelago, which includes Nukufetau, Funafuti and Nukulaelae islands.

The boundary follows a general southwest directional bearing for approximately 300 nautical miles in the central South Pacific Ocean.