Empire of Empty Rocks
France and Vanuatu argue over two uninhabited volcanic outcrops whose real value lies not on land, but in the Pacific waters
Two barren volcanic rocks in the South Pacific have become the focus of a geopolitical struggle involving empire, decolonisation, maritime law and strategic power. France and Vanuatu are quietly negotiating the future of Matthew and Hunter Islands — where sovereignty matters less for the land itself than the vast ocean and influence surrounding it.
When a major colonial power insists that two barren, uninhabited volcanic rocks are sovereign territory, it is rarely about honour.
More often, it is about strategic reach, maritime control, and the resources hidden beneath the sea.
That is the story behind the dispute over the South Pacific’s Matthew and Hunter Islands - collectively the MHIs - claimed by both France and Vanuatu.
In Paris, opponents of any compromise argue that recognising Vanuatu’s claim would set a dangerous precedent across the vast remnants of France’s overseas territories. The implication is that one concession in the Pacific could encourage challenges elsewhere, from the Indian Ocean to the Caribbean.
But the argument is not really about the land itself.
The MHIs cover just 130 hectares — roughly five times the size of the Champ de Mars beneath the Eiffel Tower.
What matters is the ocean surrounding them.
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Under maritime law, those volcanic outcrops help generate an exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of roughly 350,000 square kilometres — an area about the size of Germany. In the geopolitics of the Pacific, a few hectares of hostile rock can unlock an empire-sized maritime claim.
Matthew was sighted in 1788 by Thomas Gilbert, captain of Charlotte, who named it after the owner of his ship. Hunter was first charted in 1798 by Captain Thomas Fearn from his trading ship Hunter.
Nobody has ever permanently lived on the islands. They are waterless, harsh, mostly treeless and little more than volcanic rocks. They sit on the edge of the New Hebrides Trench — a seven-kilometre-deep scar across the Pacific seabed. Geologically, they sit on the Zealandia continent and remain both seismically and volcanically active.
